They also serve (and then some)

These are tough times for Army spouses at Fort Lewis, even before this week’s tragic news that nine more local soldiers had died.

Most of the 10,000 Fort Lewis soldiers now deployed to Iraq left a wife or a husband back home. And most who are there have had their combat tours extended from 12 to 15 months.

So it might come as a little bit of a lift to learn that one of their own was chosen to represent all Army spouses Friday in a White House ceremony to mark Military Spouse Appreciation Day.

Cindy Bjerke also received the President’s Volunteer Service Award for her work helping fellow spouses at Fort Lewis keep their homes, hearts and heads together the past four years.

Three other women – one chosen from each branch of the service – were also honored Friday.

“It was awesome,” Bjerke said after meeting President Bush in the East Room. “He gave me a peck on the cheek and a hug and said he thanked me for the difference I’m making in families’ lives.”

Bjerke’s husband is Command Sgt. Maj. Alan Bjerke, serving in Iraq as the top enlisted adviser to the commander in the 2nd Battalion, 3rd Infantry Regiment – one of the three infantry battalions in the 3rd Brigade, 2nd Infantry Division.

He also held that post on the brigade’s first deployment to Iraq, in 2003-04.

The Bjerkes are senior leaders in the Fort Lewis community. They live in Spanaway with their kids, Katie, 14, and Kyle, 10, who attend Bethel schools.

They’ve been married 16 years and stationed at Fort Lewis on and off for nearly 10.

She’s been active on issues ranging from local concerns among the families in her husband’s battalion, to those affecting spouses and families across the military.

“She’s down to earth, she’s compassionate, she knows her way around the Army and Fort Lewis,” said a friend, Monica Chappel, “and she’s not afraid to do whatever it takes to get a job done, whatever that job is.”

Chappel said Bjerke worked with her to put on the Fort Lewis Women’s Conference, an annual day-and-a-half event aimed at helping women meet the challenges of military life.

Melissa Townsend, whose husband, Col. Steve Townsend, is commanding the 3rd Brigade in Iraq, said Bjerke has been “a great mentor and adviser” to the spouses in the battalion and the brigade.

“She’s very grounded, has great common sense, and she’s very creative at the same time,” Townsend said. “And she knows how to talk to a group of people to get a point across in a very animated and entertaining way, so she has your attention.”

Bjerke has worked on the Army Family Action Plan conference, an annual gathering of ideas and projects submitted up through the chain of command. Past conferences have led to increases in life insurance coverage for soldiers and other changes related to the hardships of deployments.

She is credited with helping set up a program to give spouses the same quick access to mental health care as a soldier, rather than going through their primary care doctor for a referral.

It’s still in development at Madigan Army Medical Center.

But Maj. Bob Bennett, the 3rd Brigade’s rear detachment commander, said it has already helped soldiers’ spouses get help with problems before they reach a point of family crisis.

When that happens, soldiers sometime must be flown back from the war zone.

The program is helping spouses handle tough issues while preserving the combat power of the brigade in Iraq, Bennett said.

“Cindy has been the common-sense voice in all these discussions,” he said. “She makes us focus, and she makes us do things, and she’s doing it for all the right reasons.”

Michael Gilbert: 253-597-8921

mike.gilbert@thenewstribune.com

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