Yesterday, during remarks at Bolling Air Force Base, First Lady Michelle Obama announced that President Obama's 2011 budget will increase funding for military families by more than 3%, bringing funding for military family support programs to $8.8 billion.  The additional funding follows increased attention to the unique challenges now facing military families.

The funding increases will bring spending for counseling and support for military families, including National Guard and reserve families, to $1.9 billion and includes $1.3 billion to reduce shortages in military child care and additional money to fund the effort to repair or replace more than half of the DoD schools currently in service.  Mrs. Obama reported that the budget will include an increase of $84 million for spousal career development, tuition assistance and a federal internship program as well as $14 million in new funding for Coast Guard housing.

Mrs. Obama also spent much of her remarks thanking military families for their service, stating, "When people ask me what I am most proud of this first year, I have two responses: As a mother I’m most proud that our two girls have adjusted and built a new life here and are happy and healthy. As First Lady, at the top of the list is the time I have spent highlighting the service of our incredible military families."

The First Lady went on to share her experience when welcoming a military family to the White House earlier this year:

Staff Sergeant Robert Henline was deployed to Baghdad with the 82nd Airborne Division out of Fort Bragg when a massive explosion destroyed his Humvee. He was the sole survivor and suffered terrible burns over more than a third of his body.

Back at Fort Bragg, his wife Connie had to leave their three kids with family and made the trip to a hospital in Texas to care for her husband. Day after day, month after month, Connie stayed by his bedside—feeding him, tending his wounds, helping him through dozens of painful surgeries.

 Back at home, their oldest child—Brittany—helped to hold the family together. Overnight, she went from being a 15-year-old teenager to a mom for her younger brother and sister. She got her driver’s license early so she could run errands and do the shopping. She made meals, did the laundry and helped with homework. And at night, her younger siblings would crawl into Brittany’s bed seeking the security of their big sister.

When Operation Homefront named Brittany their Military Child of the Year, I was honored to welcome the whole Henline family to the White House. The father who had endured such grievous injuries. The wife who never left his bedside. And Brittany, the daughter who grew up faster than she had planned.

When a reporter asked Brittany how a teenager could take on so much responsibility, she didn’t speak of herself but of her younger brother and sister. She said simply, “They needed me…my priorities changed. My family came first.”

You see, that’s the spirit and strength and courage that our military families display every day. You put your own priorities aside. You take care of one another. You take care of America.

 President Obama is expected to address the military family funding increases in tonight's State of the Union Address.

(Photo by Staff Sgt. Tim Chacon)