Jill Biden’s White House Initiative Has Special Meaning To Her As A Military Mom

The nation's next first lady is already looking to make good on her campaign promises. Days before her husband is set to be inaugurated as the 46th President of the United States, Jill Biden revealed she would revive a program geared at supporting veterans, military personnel, and their families as one of her first projects when she becomes the nation's next first lady. While initially launched under the Obama administration, Jill Biden's first White House initiative holds special meaning to the military mom.

"In 2011, @MichelleObama and I launched Joining Forces to support military service members, veterans, their families, caregivers, and survivors," the incoming first lady wrote in a tweet posted over the weekend. "As a military mom, I was so proud of this work and I couldn’t wait to get our White House team started."

President-elect Joe Biden's two sons were still in elementary school when Jill began dating the then-senator in 1975. As their relationship progressed, so too did her relationship with his sons, Beau and Hunter. In fact, the president-elect revealed in his memoir Promises to Keep: On Life and Politics, that Beau and Hunter were so thrilled by Jill that they approached him one morning to say they thought he should marry Jill. When Joe and Jill Biden married in 1977, she officially took on the role of stepmom to Beau and Hunter.

Twenty-six years later, in 2003, Beau joined the Delaware Army National Guard and served as a Judge Advocate General before being deployed to Iraq in 2008 and later being promoted to Major in 2011. His time in the Army National Guard has given both Biden and Jill a unique awareness of the issues military families face, something she used when first launching Joining Forces with former First Lady Michelle Obama in 2011.

When first launched, the Joining Forces program aimed to expand employment opportunities for veterans and military spouses, expand and support military children's academic achievement by raising awareness of their unique needs, and expand military families' access to wellness programs. While the Trump administration did not continue the Joining Forces program following Donald Trump's election in 2016, PBS News has reported that Jill continued working with military families through the Biden Foundation after leaving the White House.

She took the first steps toward officially re-launching Joining Forces last week when she announced Rory Brosius has been appointed executive director of the program and vowed her office would be "ready on day one to begin serving and supporting military families."

"Congratulations to our new Executive Director of Joining Forces, Rory Brosius," Jill tweeted. "She will be a tremendous asset to my office as we continue the honor of serving and supporting military families."