At first glance, living up to the commitments made by the Army Family Covenant seems like a very tall order.

In fact, some of the commitments require funding, manpower, and changes well beyond the scope of local Family support agencies.

But, upon further examination, the Army Family Covenant is more than dollars spent, staff positions created, and buildings constructed. In a sense, the Covenant is being met every day by people living up to the spirit of the Covenant at every level and in every organization.

In our little corner of Army life, Army Community Service relocation readiness is making life better for military personnel and their Families.

For some, moving is indeed exciting, adventurous, and educational. It can also be stressful, expensive, and challenging. Either way, it's an inescapable part of Army life. At our relocation readiness office, making moving easier is our way of living the Army Family Covenant.

Consider the situation of a young, married Soldier sent to Fort Gordon for military occupation specialty training.

The Soldier has never moved his Family before, except maybe across town.

Now he, or she, is likely moving across the country, or overseas. Depending on the length of his course here, the Family could be moving twice in less than a year.

Neither the Soldier nor the spouse has any idea about moving entitlements.

There is a very good chance that they will get their orders just days before they leave Fort Gordon. And, to top it off, they can't financially afford to spend much, if any, of their monthly pay for moving expenses.

So how does ACS live up to the Covenant with regard to this particular Soldier?

First, we aggressively pursue the Soldier in his first few days at Fort Gordon. During in-processing, the Soldier will receive a business card and be urged to call us when his orders are received. Rather than just sit around and wait for the Soldier to look for us, we go after the Soldier.

If the Soldier does visit us, we will first provide an estimate of his relocation entitlements. We want to make sure the Soldier knows what to expect financially, so he can make informed decisions.

We'll also refer him to finance to request an advance, if appropriate, so the Family won't have to travel, pay deposits, and move with nothing but the monthly pay.

Then, we'll help the Soldier understand the options for shipment of household goods, and will refer him or her to transportation. If need be, we will escort them wherever they need to go and get their questions answered.

To prepare them for the next duty station, we'll provide information from military installations and other sources. Depending on the destination, we may have printed publications, DVDs, or other information for them.

If the situation requires, we will also get on the phone and call the gaining installation for answers to the Soldier's questions.

What about arriving personnel? We were the first ACS office to publish our own complete web site; we went online in 1995 and are still considered one of the best at providing pertinent local information on the internet.

With a few clicks, arriving personnel can request a sponsor or a welcome packet on compact disk. Our welcome center offers plenty of local information and advice. We have four up-to-date computers for customer use; and our lending closet stocks kitchen kits, cots, and other household items.

Of course, if you just need a new ID card or a passport, we'll be glad to point you in the right direction.

While the commitments made by the Army Family Covenant are on a grand scale, we really don't have to wait for new housing, more child care facilities, or more accessibility to health care.

However, clearly, all of those improvements have been or will be realized in the coming months.

What's really important is that those of us who play an integral part in supporting the readiness of our Soldiers and Family members live up to the Covenant every time we provide a service with the intent to make life better for Soldiers and Families. The way we make it work is to constantly ask ourselves "what can we do to help?"