Michelle Obama kicks off national drive April 12 to highlight plight of military families; launch coming after month delay

WASHINGTON–First Lady Michelle Obama is going to step up her support for military families, launching a national drive on April 12–along the lines of her “Let’s Move” anti-obesity campaign–to highlight her new initiative.

Mrs. Obama is partnering with Dr. Jill Biden, the wife of Vice President Biden; the two women have been headlining military family events since the beginning of the Obama administration. While assisting military families has long been in Mrs. Obama’s portfolio, her speeches and events related to obesity have overshadowed her military work–being done at a time the nations has been in two wars–and now has a third, in Libya.

The anticipated high visibility roll-out, long in the planning, has been delayed a month. “We’ve got military families. We’ve been laying the foundation for that. You’re going to be watching a pretty big initiative in March,” Mrs. Obama told her beat reporters on Feb. 8.

In a statement, the White House said Mrs. Obama’s “initiative aims to educate, challenge, and spark action from all sectors of our society — citizens, communities, businesses, non-profits, faith based institutions, philanthropic organizations, and government — to ensure military families have the support they have earned.

“In the days following the launch, Mrs. Obama and Dr. Biden will travel across the country to highlight the courage and strength of our military families, and the ability of our veterans and military spouses to strengthen our communities. They will also meet with men and women who are taking action, and lending a hand to those that have served our Nation.”

As part of the overall push out of Mrs. Obama’s enhanced military activities, Mrs. Obama will visit West Point on May 20 to address the 2011 graduating class of the U.S. Military Academy.

On June 3, Mrs. Obama delivers the commencement speech to graduates of Quantico Middle High School, located on the Marine Corps Base at Quantico and serving military children.

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