Pawlenty, Army Secretary may hold St. Paul event later this month

Posted at 4:35 PM on June 4, 2008 by Tom Scheck

UPDATE: Gov. Pawlenty's spokesman Brian McClung called to say that the event will not feature Robert Gates but COULD include the Secretary of the Army Peter Geren. McClung said the Minnesota National Guard official I spoke with was misinformed. He said the governor and Geren's participation are not yet set but Guard officials wanted to reserve the space just in case. McClung said it was something that he hoped they could get done.

Governor Pawlenty will make a public appearance with Defense Secretary Robert Gates Army Secretary Peter Geren on June 16th. The Minnesota National Guard reserved the Capitol Rotunda for the signing of the Military Family Covenant. An official with the Minnesota National Guard confirmed the event. He said they would be sending out a news release next week.

Apparently, these signings are fairly common. The June edition of Soldiers (The Official U.S. Army Magazine) said 174 public signings of the Army Family Covenant have taken place since it was created in the fall of 2007 (see page 22).

Here's a news release touting a similar event that was held in Pennsylvania in April (which was also in a Capitol Rotunda). The news release said the Family Covenant is a "$1.4 billion national pledge from the U.S. Army to provide new family support programs and enhance existing programs available to all military personnel and their families..."

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