Fort George G. Meade: The First 100 Years

224 THE FIRST 100 YEARS
In 1982, while recognizing the role proper child care
plays in the ability of a warrior to concentrate on the
important work they do for the nation, the General
Administrative Services conducted an extensive study of
child care services. The results of the study became the
basis for which the Department of Defense established
DOD child care standards which were implemented
across DOD for group size, adult/child ratios, staff
training and nutritional guidelines. In 1989, Congress
passed the Military Child Care Act. This provided much
needed resources for a growing program, but also insisted
on strict standards to ensure high quality care, a system
of inspections and evaluations, expanded child abuse
prevention and safety, and better pay and training for
child care workers with increased wages tied to training
completion and competency. In 2000, the National
Women’s Law Center published a report reflecting the
“dramatic turnaround” in the military child care system
and how lessons could be learned from the military
system which was thought of as a “model for the nation”.
I continued to work for MWR and witnessed the
changes happening at Fort Meade and the Army in terms
of child care and the significant transformation which
occurred over the years. Fort Meade constructed two new
Child Development Centers in 1993, a strong system of
60-70 Family Child Care Homes.
Child Care Homes, which are considered a “Center
without walls.” CDS merged with Youth Services in 1998
and became Child and Youth Services, expanding quality
programs to infants through age eighteen.
I was fortunate to be selected as the Director of Family
and Morale, Welfare in August 2009, twenty-four years
after starting my career at Fort Meade.
Entertainment
One of the most ironic things is, my work as director
of Family and MWR has a distinct parallel to my Aunt
Dorothy’s experience in the Women’s Army Corps. The
Special Services unit of my aunt’s era was a precursor to
today’s DFMWR and offered many of the same programs.
Like concerts, Farmers’ Markets, and large scale events
like our Red, White and Blue celebration. We sell tickets
to local and non-local recreational venues such as Disney
World, local dinner theaters, sporting events and movie
theaters. The business programs provide entertainment
choices via the Bowling Center with programs like
Karaoke, Trivia Nights, Open Mic Nights, New Year’s
Eve Parties, etc. Club Meade has social events such as
Salsa Night, and Right Arm Nights. Our aim, like those
of the Special Services unit, is to offer entertainment for
all of the service members of Fort Meade.
Family Connection
While my aunt rarely talked about her service, she left
a visual record of her time in uniform, in a scrapbook
her daughter, Linda shared with me. The scrapbook
tells the story of how Aunt Dorothy met and married
Linda’s father at Fort Meade. After her military service,
Aunt Dorothy moved with her husband to Gary, Indiana,
his hometown. They had a child together, Linda, but the
marriage did not last and Aunt Dorothy returned to her
small hometown of Smithfield, Illinois with a young child
to face, what was described by my cousin, as, ‘a shameful
life as a divorced single mother.’ I can only imagine that
the mantel of unhappiness that my Aunt wore for many
years was a result of how she thought the world viewed
her. She exemplified the single working mother and for
years worked at the local bank in Smithfield, Ohio.
But she must have been a strong woman. Something
she demonstrated by being the first of my mother’s
three siblings to enlist during WWII. My Uncle Victor
enlisted in the Navy in 1943 and my Uncle Bob became
a soldier that same year. It was many years later that I
understood and appreciated the significance of a picture
of my grandparents’ home with a banner of three stars
in the window, representing the three siblings who had
all volunteered to serve. In the picture, my oldest sister,
Becky is standing on the sidewalk in front of their house.
While she was the focus of the picture, the three star
banner tells its own story.
During WWII, my sister and my mother lived with my
father’s parents, while my father served with the 79th
Infantry Division. He landed on Utah Beach and was
wounded with life threatening injuries on July 9, west of
Cherbourg, France.
Sadly, my father, mother, uncles and Aunt Dorothy
are no longer living to share their stories. I could only
gather information from my cousin Linda Wilton and
my uncles’ widows. If anything I have learned from this
project it is to capture the history of your family when
you can. It is part of you and those who follow you.