Michigan Military Moms

Welcome Moms!

Welcome to the Michigan Military Moms.  We are a non-profit 501(c)3 support organization for moms or primary caregivers of children who are currently serving or who have served in the US military. Whether your son or daughter is in a delayed entry program, boot camp, serving state side or in a combat zone,  there is someone in our group that has faced the challenges that you are feeling today. Our group supports each other unconditionally in our concerns, fears, and joys during the daily trials we confront.

There are several chapters of the Michigan Military Moms in the Metro-Detroit area. We package quarterly sending boxes to our sons and daughters – and we do special packaging for combat battalions who are in need of specific items. At our meetings we schedule speakers knowledgeable in issues to help educate us in military matters, we host crafting meetings, game nights, hold discussions, invite you to share your questions, concerns, & joys that we experience. We invite all – to come and experience the support that only a Mother in your position can understand! We hope to see you at a meeting soon.

 

Membership

Are you interested in joining our organization? Please click the link below to begin your membership process ~ you will automatically be put onto our bi-monthly newsletters, and other announcements. We will be notified that you are interested in one of our chapters, and will notify the Chapter Chair that you will be visiting soon!

 

All members must update their membership annually. Click below to update.

 

Mission Statement

The Michigan Military Moms is a support group united by pride and dedicated to our sons and daughters, either serving or who have served, in the United States military. We have no political, ideological, or religious agenda.

About Us

Michigan Military Moms, was founded in July 2002, and has been providing support and encouragement to hundreds of Moms and families of military personnel since. The organization is a support group united by pride and dedicated to our sons and daughters, either serving or who have served in the United States military. We share our joys and sorrows with the level of understanding that only those with loved ones who are serving or who have served in the military can comprehend. In February 2007, the Michigan Military Moms was formally incorporated as a Non-Profit Corporation in the State of Michigan. In February 2010, the Federal IRS granted the Michigan Military Moms their 501(c)3 Tax Exempt status.

We meet to support and encourage while maneuvering through this chapter of our lives. We strive to support and provide much needed items to our troops – as well as -giving them a sense of comfort through knowing that our organization is assisting their families at home. We are strongly embedded in the community – with ties throughout the Metro Detroit area. We actively participate in parades & other patriotic events; hosting guest speakers at our meetings to educate us on the needs of the active duty and separated military personnel – and what a family can do to help; we maintain close ties with other organizations such as the American Red Cross, Veterans Groups, and Civic Organizations within in the community.

OPSEC

As a family member of the military community, you are a vital player in their success, and they could not do their job without your support. You may not know it, but you also play a crucial role in ensuring your loved one’s safety just by what you know of the military's day-to-day operations. You can protect your loved ones by protecting the information that you know. This is known in the military as, "Operations Security," or OPSEC.

What is OPSEC?
OPSEC is keeping potential adversaries from discovering critical Department of Defense information. As the name suggests, it protects U.S. operations — planned, in progress and those completed. Success depends on secrecy and surprise, so the military can accomplish the mission more quickly and with less risk. Enemies of freedom want this information, and they are not just after the military member to get it. They want you, the family member.

Unofficial Websites
Posting pictures and information that is pertinent to your loved one’s military unit to personal or family websites – such as Facebook – has the potential to jeopardize their safety and that of their entire unit. Never post specifics...use generalities like "I get to see my son soon," instead of "I am going to my son's homecoming from Afghanistan at Camp Pendleton next Wednesday & finally get to see him!"  Yes, you are excited & want to share, but this gives way too much information.

Examples of Critical Information
The following examples may help you define parameters for your communications. Remember that there are many more examples than those listed below:

1. Detailed information about the mission of assigned units.
2. Details concerning locations and times of unit movements or deployments.
3. Personnel transactions that occur in large numbers (e.g., pay information, power of attorney, wills or deployment information).
4. References to trend in unit morale or personnel problems.
5. Details concerning security procedures.

Puzzle Pieces
These bits of information may seem insignificant. However, to a trained adversary, they are small pieces of a puzzle that highlight what American forces are doing and planning. The elements of security and surprise are vital to accomplish U.S. goals and collective DOD personnel protection.

Where and how you discuss this information is just as important as with whom you discuss it. An adversary's agents tasked with collecting information frequently visit some of the same stores, clubs, recreational areas or places of worship as you do. Determined individuals can easily collect data from cordless and cellular phones and even baby monitors using inexpensive receivers available from local electronics stores. If anyone, especially a foreign national, persistently seeks information, notify your military child immediately.

What Can You Do?
There are many countries and organizations that would like to harm Americans and degrade U.S. influence in the world. It is possible and not unprecedented for spouses and family members of U.S. military personnel to be targeted for intelligence collection. This is true in the United States and is especially true overseas! Here’s what you can do:

1. Be Alert
   Foreign governments and organizations can collect significant amounts of useful information by using spies. A foreign agent may use a variety of approaches to befriend someone and get sensitive information. This sensitive information can be critical to the success of a terrorist or spy, and consequently deadly to Americans.
2. Be Careful
   There may be times when your child cannot talk about the specifics of his or her job. It is important to conceal and protect information such as flight schedules, ship movements, temporary duty locations and installation activities – just to name a few. Something as simple as a phone discussion concerning where your child is going on temporary duty or deploying can be very useful to U.S. adversaries.
3. Protect Critical Information
   Even though this information may not be secret, it is what the Department of Defense calls "critical information." Critical information deals with specific facts about military intentions, capabilities, operations or activities. If an adversary knew this detailed information, U.S. mission accomplishment and personnel safety could be jeopardized. It must be protected to ensure an adversary doesn't gain a significant advantage. By being a member of the military family, you will often know some bits of critical information. Do not discuss them outside of your immediate family – and especially not over the telephone.