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I have to write a paper on the importance of providing morale and welfare support to military personnel and their families. So, all you military and ex-military people out there, would you tell me what M&W programs you enjoy(ed) and how they helped you and your family?
Military family members, if you have something you want to share, please do.
Thanks so much. I look forward to reading your replies.

-heh- I was in the Marines and wasn't married. So I had no real M&W support, per se other than "Suck it up and don't be a pussy."

Dave said:

-heh- I was in the Marines and wasn't married. So I had no real M&W support, per se other than "Suck it up and don't be a pussy."

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Nothing? No messes or clubs or extra-curricular events that were offered to you?

Well, every base has a mess hall (quality of the food varies) and most have an NCO club of one sort or another. Ours was like a small town bar where you got to see the same sad sack people every day drowning their sorrows in booze. It was dark, it was dreary and it was kind of depressing.

But then again we could have gone down the road a bit to a much better one. Ours was just small and not well kept because it was a recruit depot and they didn't want people drinking where a recruit could possibly see them.

The one here on base is different in that one building hold the Jr Ranks and Sr Ranks messes, as well as the bar (not run by the messes). No one has put alot of time, effort, or money into the place, which is one of the things I plan on correcting if I get the job.
If you have any suggestions on what you would have liked to have seen in your mess, let me know.

I was stationed near gurnee Illinois and one of the things they offered was discounted tickets to sporting events. I believe that the AHL games you could get tickets to for free. This place was a training grounds for various rates and had a lot of young recruits and as such for the ones that couldn't drink they had an arcade area and every game there was free

One more thing. Low cost movies we ha a two screen movie theatre that offered dollar movie prices on new releases. And for patriotic movies Black Hawk Down for example we got to see a week before the theatrical release for free. Every now and then they would set up a big screen on an open field an play movies there I remember them doing that wit one of the star wars prequels

In Finland, every male is expected to take part in the homeland defense. For most, this means armed service in the Army, Navy, Air Force or Border Patrol (six months basic training; nine months for drivers, specialists etc.; twelve months for NCOs), unarmed service (usually clerical duties in garrisons, twelve months) or civilian service (working for a nominal fee in a hospital, kindergarten etc. for thirteen months). Me, I was your basic six-month "turf fucker", stationed at the Huovinrinne Garrison.

I was seeing somebody at the time, but since we weren't married (good thing, too, she proved to be a real b****), there were no benefits for her. My tuition at the university was put on hold for the time, meaning I had a place to go back when my service would end. The garrison was pretty standard: there was an officers' club where the career officers would meet, and then there was the mess hall for us grunts and NCOs. We had it pretty good: stable internet connection with 30 minutes of user time; a wide-screen TV downstairs for football and hockey games; a really, really wonderful mess and kiosk for those daily things you will need (eg. rubber bands for tying your trouser sleeves neatly, canned tuna, tobacco etc.). There used to be a movie theater at the garrison as well, but that was defunct by my time. But we did have a kick-ass grill with awesome burgers served three nights a week. I tell you, people were lining up like hell just to get that piping hot burger in their hands.

Otherwise we had a swimming hall and a gym, and sometimes we would get visitors "performing for the troops", such as the girl band PMMP that did a quick, one-hour gig one hot July evening, and a performance by the Tappara (ice hockey team) cheerleaders later that year.

Sometimes I think they offer the families too much in the way of entertainment and not so much as far as actual support. We can get discounted tickets for shows and events, take trips around the island, take all kinds of classes, and so on. That doesn't help me when I can't find a babysitter so I can go to a doctor's appointment or go to a command family group meeting. When my husband was on an "individual augmentee" deployment (meaning he wasn't with his own command, but sent on his own to take someone's place), I had no actual support. If I needed information and couldn't get in touch with him, then I was fucked. I went to their support group meetings. They consisted of us adults playing games to get to know one another better and make friends. It was ridiculous especially when you had no idea what was going on with the deployment or your spouse. I'd rather have information and actual help than activities and stupid crap.

I didn't think about that, Wasabi, as I wasn't married when I was in, but yeah that would be a great idea babysitting/daycar services (discount or free?) or some type of shuttle service for family members?

There are daycare services, but those are usually for people who are dual-income families and need care 5 days a week. It's not for someone like me who needs childcare a few times a month. They don't normally do drop-in care at the base facilities or the homes approved as childcare centers in housing because they can only handle a certain number of children per age group at a time.

I'm doing my national service in Taiwan right now.

We have a sort of "convenience store" at our camp, selling drinks and snacks and other stuff, along with a coffee shop that sells coffees and teas and cakes. We also have a restaurant that offers better food than the mess hall, but you have to pay for it.

Wednesday evenings are sort of like "activity nights," when they'll show a movie, or we can play basketball, or other non-work-and-non-army-related stuff. Basically we get an evening off to do something different and relax.