It is never easy for the families left behind when a loved one deploys. The daily duties of running the household, taking care of the children, paying the bills and dealing with the constant stress and worry of knowing your spouse may never come home again can be overwhelming for military families. Families of active duty service members who live on or near base have access to the many resources and services available to military families. They can go to Community Services, base counseling, The Red Cross, legal aid, even the service emergency relief societies if the need arises. But what about the families of National Guardsmen or reservists who may not live near a military base? What about the wife of an Army reservist who lives in Evenston, Wyoming hundreds of miles from a commissary, exchange or volunteer network?

One Army wife has been thinking about the wives who are so far from military support and she is working on a plan to make sure they have access to the same services and support networks as the active duty families who live in the middle of base. Laura Stultz is married to Lt. General Jack Stultz, the Chief of the Army Reserve, and she is committed to making sure that wives who do not have in person access to military support, will be able to access a “virtual installment” to find the support they need. And her husband is on board with the idea. Having gone through numerous deployments with her husband, Laura knows how important it is for military families to find support during those difficult days.

The virtual installment idea would enable wives who are separated from military services to access the resources available to them, but potentially out of reach. Perhaps it is the wife of a reservist or perhaps the wife of an active-duty service member who decided to leave base during the deployment. One idea is for these families to be able to use the internet to connect to this virtual installation. A second idea is to set up soldier support centers around the country. These real life centers would be hubs for military families in the community.

In recent years, the military has made a concerted effort to address the needs of those who are all too often forgotten, the military families who sacrifice so much to support their loved ones. These virtual installation ideas will bring the resources military families need to those who may need the most.