THE MILITARY SPOUSE DILEMMA


NEW EMPLOYMENT RESOURCE In a modest effort to ease the employment burden through more transparent and accurate information sharing, a new resource guide for military spouses and veterans, “Navigating Civilian Employment,” was recently released to ensure the most up-to-date information on laws, policies and programs are consistently avail- able in a living document to help better understand the federal hiring process. Te guide was created in response to a 2020 survey of military spouses currently employed as Army civilians, conducted by the Office of the Assistant G-1, Civilian Personnel. Findings from the survey illustrated a need to increase employ- ment information sharing and improve the consistency and ease of access to employment information. Te guide includes illus- trated example hiring paths for different scenarios and experience, descriptions of job classifications, hiring requirements and forms.


Raulerson, who began her career as a contract specialist at the Missile Defense Agency (MDA) before becoming an active-duty


spouse—also referred to as a dependent—agrees that more infor- mation on the hiring process is needed for military spouses.


THE NUMBERS Te consistently high unemployment rate among military spouses is not from a lack of willingness to work, education or know-how. Tese numbers are the result of circumstances placed upon fami- lies in consequence of an outdated view of military service as a family unit, where only one member is actually paid to serve.


In a 2021 study, the Government Accountability Office estimated a 25 percent unemployment rate for spouses in credentialed fields. Fortunately, a new law announced this January has come to frui- tion requiring states to recognize professional licenses from other states (except for law licenses) if a move was because of military orders. Still, 43 percent of active-duty families say spouse employ- ment is their biggest stressor. Tese circumstances can continue after service members transition to civilians as well. According to USAJOBS, DOD employs 950,000 civilians serving in critical positions worldwide, and states, “DOD civilians are not active- duty military, but still serve as an integral part of the Army team to support the defense of our nation.” Families of DOD civil- ians overseas especially face the same unemployment issues as active-duty spouses.


As Air Force spouse and author of “Silent Sacrifice on the Home- front,” Michelle Still Mehta, Ph.D., wrote in a 2019 op-ed: “It is time for DOD to do more than provide window dressing in support of military spouses. Instead, it is time to aggressively attack and eliminate this problem, just like an enemy on the battlefield.”


A CHECKED BOX Te 2020 survey outreach in the Army family web portal that ultimately resulted in this hiring guide, prompted military spouse civilian employees to “Help be a ‘change agent!’ ” and “improve


DETERMINED MILITARY SPOUSE


Jessica Raulerson began her career as a contract specialist at the Missile Defense Agency before becoming an active-duty spouse. (Photo courtesy of Jessica Raulerson)


“I spent an entire year applying to jobs without one referral.”


96 Army AL&T Magazine Spring 2023


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