Leaders are Champions for the QoL Cause

I want to acknowledge all the delegates and invited guests who participated in last week’s Quality of Life Conference and thank you for the work you did making a difference in quality of life for Families.

When General Craddock hired me as EUCOM Senior Enlisted Leader three years ago, he laid out four priorities for me. One of them was quality of life for Service members and their Families. A couple years ago at the December 2006 QoL conference, I spoke to the delegates and laid out what I foresaw to be our greatest quality of life challenges. A lot has happened since 2006. As co-chairman of the EUCOM Quality of Life Executive Steering Committee, I’ve seen tremendous diligence as we address issues brought to us from the conferences and resolve them through the QoL Action Plan.

This year’s conference was my third and last. I’m planning to retire in a couple months. As I prepare to leave, there are some concerns I have that I hope my successor and fellow senior enlisted leaders will fight to improve. Some of my primary concerns deal with infrastructure, especially with housing and schools. We also cannot overlook quality of life and services at emerging locations within our theater. Compensation and entitlements is always a big issue with me – every one of us should be paid for the level of work we perform on behalf of this nation. In a joint environment, we must address joint basing policies and standards. We must take care of our Families, but also ensure we have the backs of our single service members, who are about 40% of our force, and minimize distinctions between single and married QoL services.

Likewise, I look to EUCOM leaders and their spouses to continue their hands-on level of involvement in fighting the QoL fight. The conference provides a great forum with diverse participation. Let’s keep this forum going, and keep the grassroots voice and the interaction with senior DoD officials alive. Deployment support is absolutely critical and we must look holistically at the process from start to finish, especially when we look at mental health care and counseling services. Finally, and probably most important – we must challenge the “status quo.” We must never settle for “this is what we’ve always done,” if we know we can do things better. We need to stand up for our people at the highest levels of government. It’s what the good men and women of EUCOM deserve.

Senior leaders must understand the dynamics of the current contemporary operating environment and push for policy changes and resources for quality of life services – it’s important to the Service member and the Family members. We are about our people; they will always be our most precious resource.

The issues we fight for aren’t easy. The solutions may be even harder. But we will fight the good fight on your behalf. Thanks for allowing Kim and me to be quality of life champions on your behalf.

God Speed,
CSM Mark Farley
Senior Enlisted Leader, US European Command