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DoD family programs chief resigns

The Pentagon official responsible for family programs has resigned.

Tommy Thomas, deputy undersecretary of defense for military community and family policy, had been in his position for 10 months before resigning March 11.

Thomas resigned “for personal reasons,” according to a statement released by Defense officials. “Mr. Thomas came into the position to make a difference in the lives of our military members and their families and was very passionate about it. We wish him and his family much success; the Department will miss him.”

Thomas resigned the same day the embattled family policy office reinstated the military spouse tuition program My Career Advancement Accounts after abruptly halting it Feb. 16. The program was shut down with no warning, setting off a firestorm of protests from military spouses. Defense officials said 12,592 spouses had called the department about the shutdown since Feb. 16.

MyCAA was reinstated March 11, but only for spouses who have already enrolled in the program. It is not accepting new applicants at this time.

Thomas, who was responsible for MyCAA and other family programs, acknowledged that officials made a mistake in failing to notify spouses quickly when they realized a temporary halt was necessary. “As a result of our failure, we know we will have to work hard to restore their faith in us,” Thomas said in a statement on the program reinstatement March 11.

The program provides spouses up to $6,000 in tuition assistance for a variety of educational programs. Officials initially provided no information to spouses about why tuition payments were halted, but said a week later that a surge in the number of spouses enrolling in the program overwhelmed the system and threatened to drain the program’s budget. About 95,000 spouses enrolled in the first six weeks of the year for a program that, until then, rarely received more than 10,000 applications a month.