The new Congressional Military Family Caucus held its first public event on Wednesday, promising to bring new attention to topics like the effect of multiple deployments on children, education and child care on military bases, and employment opportunities for military spouses.

A military-themed caucus on Capitol Hill is hardly news: Of the 235 official caucuses listed by Congress earlier this year, more than a dozen already have military themes (like the House Naval Mine Warfare Caucus), and that doesn't include the Afghanistan caucus or the Out-of-Iraq caucus.

But the new group does reflect the growing focus on the role that military families play in recruiting and retention in today's military.

While the launch of many new caucuses typically involves only a press release or quick photo-op, Wednesday's event featured a speech by Joint Chiefs Chairman Adm. Michael Mullen, who called families of deployed troops "the sustaining life of our mission."

Caucus co-chairs Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers, R-Wash., and Rep. Sanford Bishop, D-Ga., did not unveil any immediate legislative plans, but several of the groups' 76 members spoke at the event about increasing PTSD counseling for spouses and parents of servicemembers, investigating the low use of DoD services among rural military families, tackling education problems for military children and looking for ways to improve military healthcare for non-troops.

Earlier this month President Obama dubbed November the month of the military family, releasing a statment promising that "ensuring military families receive the respect they deserve and the support they have earned is a top priority for my administration."