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A White House Meeting

July 14, 2010

A week or two ago, I received an interesting invitation to attend a meeting at the Eisenhower Executive Office Building to provide feedback on different programs and initiatives currently underway to support military families. The meeting is part of an ongoing effort by the military family inter-agency policy committee announced by the administration a few months ago. The committee is charged with doing a review of the programs out there that exist to support military families. Headed by the NSC staff, the committee consisting of Federal Departments and Agencies have been “challenged with creatively adopting the military family as part of their own family.”

I wasn’t sure what to expect, but I don’t think I imagined that these senior leaders from the agencies would fill a room to hear the feedback from a handful of military spouses, but that’s exactly what happened. We started the afternoon with an informal reception in the “War Room” of the EEOB. Mingling with the other spouses and some of the staff on hand, we took a few minutes to enjoy refreshments and get acquainted. There were less than a dozen spouses in attendance….I very much felt like the kid that found the golden ticket and vowed right then and there that I would capture everything I could to share with you.

After our reception, we moved up to a larger meeting room. The interest from the other agencies to get in front of military spouses and hear the feedback far exceeded everyone’s expectations, so we were ushered into a big room where chairs had been set up around the perimeter to accomodate everyone.  We spouses sat at the table and were interspersed among senior officials from agencies such as: Justice, State, Treasury, Education, Health and Human Services, Agriculture, DoD, VA, etc….I’m sure if I had taken a harder look around, I would have noticed that all the agencies were represented. At the head of the table, our hosts from the NSC were seated beside representatives from Mrs. Obama’s office as well as Dr. Biden’s office. They were all there to update us on their initiatives and then listen to our feedback. Even though the time allotted to us was short at an hour, I have to commend them for presenting us with a great opportunity to share our insights. There was a lot of information flying around, but I thought I’d provide some of the highlights:

  • All the agencies are working on ways to integrate military families into their programs and initiatives.  Several agencies to include the Departments of Health and Human Services as well as Education have elevated military families to one of their top three priorities.  More importantly, they are also allocating money and resources to support their commitment.
  • There are a lot of programs out there supporting military families and service members that we are not aware of.  The challenge will be finding ways to get the information out to the families and communities who need them.  As an example, the Department of Education has an extraordinary amount of money allocated in a discretionary fund.  Since they have made military families a top priority, they are looking at ways to fund grants that address our demographic.
  • Reading between the lines, I would say that there are deep cuts coming our way [no surprise to anyone who's been paying attention].  Look for more programs to go away.  However, the good news is, I don’t think we are aware of all the programs out there supporting us, so hopefully where one program goes away, we’ll be able to find another with a little extra work.

Based on feedback I received from military spouses, I left the committee with two parting thoughts regarding military spouse employment:

  • As DoD reviews and revamps MyCAA, it’s important for them to understand that portable careers and 4 year degrees are not mutually exclusive.  There are any number of portable career choices (teacher, nurse, counselor) that require a 4 year degree.
  • The military spouse internship program is great in theory, but no one really understands it.  In addition to the website that’s been established to educate HR personnel, it would be helpful to have a checklist for military spouses on how the program works as well as a bellybutton we can reach back to in case we encounter an agency that is not familiar with the program.

Biggest takeaway from the meeting: when you’re out there looking for programs supporting military families, DoD should only be your starting point.  There’s a lot going on within the other agencies that get less attention.

Filed Under: Career, Events, News, Support Services & Resources Tagged With: DHHS, DoD, DoE, Interagency Policy Committee, Military spouse blog, Military spouse employment, MyCAA, NSC, White House

Launch Party

May 8, 2010

You know those moments in your life you inherently know you will remember forever?  Last night was one of those nights.

It’s amazing to think that months, years of dreaming of a network for military spouses to mentor, network and learn from one another finally culminated in the launch of the National Military Spouse Network.  I planned the launch of the NMSN to coincide with Military Spouse Appreciation Day because I could not think of a better way of spending it than hosting a party for some of the most amazing spouses out there, give them access to some phenomenal folks and get them to rethink the importance of networking.  Whether it’s because we as military spouses, we so often think of networking in a negative matter or because we just don’t know how to get started we often have a more difficult time getting connected every time we PCS.  With over 80% of people finding their jobs through the hidden job market, networking is a skill we need to cultivate.

Needless to say, the minutes before the launch, I was on pins and needles, unsure of how it would be received.  To say that I was silly to worry for even a moment is a supreme understatement.  Once the “doors opened”, people kept streaming in….people you only read about in the papers, spouses you know because you’ve read their books, listened to their radio show or seen their cartoons in the Stars and Stripes.  It was so overwhelming watching all the connections being made:

In one corner, Julie Negron (the creator of Jenny Spouse cartoons), Krista Wells (the Military Spouse Coach) and Wendy Polig (Founder and host of Navy Wife Radio / Military Life Radio) were hugging and chatting away, elated to finally be meeting in person after knowing each other online for such an extended period of time.

If you let your eyes drift left, you would have seen Rene Campos (from MOAA) holding court with MG Michael Sumrall and his wife, Paula from the National Guard Bureau.  They were chatted with former Deputy Undersecretary of Defense, Lesley Arsht and the Director of DoDEA, Dr. Shirley Miles.

Everywhere you looked, there were people making connections.

The Blue Star Family reps were chatting with LtCol Jay Updegraf and his wife Becky who had driven down from McGuire AFB for the event, updating them on all the great programs the organization provides for military families.  The Updegrafs were absorbing every word as they were there to learn more about military family resources.

Al Boone, the Military LA for Congressman Sanford Bishop stopped by enjoy the great food and mingle with spouses to learn more about their employment challenges.

There were over fifty people there and everywhere I looked, connections were being made.  Catching snippets of information as I flitted from one group to the other, I learned that invitations were being extended to provide breakout sessions at an upcoming conference, valuable partnerships were being formed for the benefit of military children, spouses were sharing their expertise with one another and businesses cards were being exchanged.  So much for the negative connotation associated with networking.  The feedback we’re receiving from blog posts, tweets, and word of mouth is that everyone is pretty unanimous in believing that this good ole boys’ network for military spouses is long overdue!  Can’t wait for the next networking event.

Filed Under: Career, Events, News, Resources Tagged With: DoDEA, Military spouse blog, National Military Spouse Network, Networking, Spouse Career Resource

MilSpouse Friday Focus

May 2, 2010

Last November, DoD hosted a National Leadership Summit on Military Families in conjunction with the US Department of Agriculture and the University of Maryland.  Over 150 leaders from organizations that provide support to military families along with some family members brainstormed ways to improve family support programs.  The report from that event is now out and available for your reading pleasure.  At the very least, the executive summary is an interesting read, though it won’t be a surprise to any of you.

Some highlights for you, attendees determined:

The Top 5 issues for military families:

  • Challenges of the deployment cycle
  • Psychological health of military families
  • Access to services and consistency of support
  • Communications challenges
  • Frequent relocations

Top 5 goals:

  • Evaluate programs and build on successes
  • Communicate critical information to all family members
  • Establish collaborative partnerships
  • Address psychological/behavioral health needs of military families
  • Develop and implement programs supporting military children and youth

Hopefully we’ll get some viable programs for military families out of this conference and report and what I anticipate will come out of the Congressional Military Family Caucus Spouse Summit.

Onto some new benefits/programs that hit the radar this week:

This Saturday, the VA will begin accepting applications for the Fry Scholarship program for eligible children of servicemembers who have died in the line of duty since September 11, 2001.   Under this program, each eligible child is entitled to 36 months of benefits at the 100% rate where normally, all eligible dependents would have to split a maximum of 36 months of GI Bill benefits.

Earlier this week, DoD announced their 2010 Military Spouse Intern Program.  There are 120 opportunities available under this pilot program help spouses secure employment with federal agencies.  Details are still forthcoming (a permanent website is set to launch in the next few weeks), though there is a fair amount of information available right now on their website.  The program is open to:

All spouses of active duty service members except:

  • Spouse who is legally separated from service member when the person begins the internship
  • Spouse who is also a member of the Armed Forces on active duty
  • Spouse who is a retired member of the Armed Forces

If you end up taking advantage of this program and manage to secure one of these positions, please let me know.  Would love to hear the feedback on how it’s working.  Thanks.

Filed Under: Career, Events, Resources, Support Services & Resources, Tips and Advice Tagged With: 2010 Military Spouse Intern Program, Congressional Military Family Caucus Spouse Summit, Deployment, Fry Scholarship Program, Leadership Summit, Military Families, military family support, Military spouse blog, Psychological Health

MilSpouse Friday Focus

April 16, 2010
Happy day after [tax day]!  Did you all get your returns in on time?  Personally, we’re thrilled that Virginia extends the deadline for the state income tax return to May 3rd, because this MSRRA stuff is proving to be complicated and frankly, we could use the extra weeks.  If you find yourself in the same boat of resarching how the MSRRA applies to you and where to find the pertinent paperwork, make sure you check your state’s Department of Taxation website to get the particulars.  Hopefully practice makes perfect and this will be a lot easier next year.
 
While we’re on the subject of military spouses, work and taxes, are you aware of a piece of legislation that was recently introduced by Rep. Kathy Dahlkemper?  The Military Spouses Job Continuity Act would provide a tax credit up to $500 to eligible spouses who have to renew or transfer a professional license as a result of a PCS that takes their family across state lines.  This could be a big boone to spouses who have to plan on shelling out hundreds of dollars out of pocket every time they move to maintain their currency.  Make sure you keep an eye on this and double check to see if your congressmen have signed on as co-sponsors. 
 
Just for fun…every week, I ask you all to let me know about the programs and resources that you’re hearing about.  Believe it or not, some of you actually do.  Thanks to one of my Twitter friends for letting me know that Dunkin Donuts has a Military Coffee Requests program where they take requests from (or on behalf of) troops stationed overseas.  Each month, they pick 50 winners to receive a case of Dunkin Donuts coffee.  How cool is that?  I’m going to feel a lot less guilty everytime I stop by Dunkin Donuts for a cup of coffee (still amazed by how they always get the cream and sugar EXACTLY right every time) or by some DD coffee in the grocery store.  Way to support the troops!
 
Another tremendous program that many of you are probably aware of, but may not have at the top of your mind is the NFL/eKnowledge program that provides free SAT/ACT test prep programs for eligible military families.  The program has given out over $30 million worth of programs so far.  It’s not limited to children either, so if you or someone you know needs the programs, check into it.  For those of you who are thinking about taking the LSAT, they also have a test prep program for that.  While not free, it’s offered at a significant discount.  My source tells me that when it comes down to choosing which set to purchase, go with the first, less expensive ($124.95) option as it has been updated and the set now includes the book…because every little bit helps!
Filed Under: Career, Finance, Miscellaneous, News, Resources Tagged With: ACT/SAT test prep, Dunkin Donuts, eknowledge, LSAT, Military Coffee Requests, Military spouse blog, Military Spouses Job Continuity Act, MSRRA, NFL, Rep. Dahlkemper, taxes

A New Adventure

March 24, 2010

A couple months ago, I left a dream job spearheading military spouse outreach initiatives for a wonderful military association. Many people thought I was crazy, but I wanted to create something out of whole cloth just for spouses.

Looking around at all the talented military spouses I know who have professional careers and aspirations and remembering my own experience with the job search in Washington DC, I realized that what we were all missing was a professional network. There are other organizations out there that already exist to support military spouses and they’re doing a great job in their niche, but we needed something more.

Forget the good old boys’ network, we needed a place we could go to meet like minded people; share great, relevant information and network with one another. I started reaching out to other spouses and the response has been overwhelming. Everyone could not have been more supportive or more excited. From all this, the National Military Spouse Network was born. We launch May 7th (Military Spouse Appreciation Day), but for now, you can follow us on Facebook or Twitter. If you’re in the DC area, you should plan on joining us at our launch event on the evening of May 7th. Cannot wait to update you all on the new endeavor as things progress.

As for those people who still think I’m crazy for leaving such a fantastic job, my days now are spent talking to extraordinary military spouses and creating a platform to highlight what we all do. I get to talk to people outside of our community and share our stories to elevate their level of understanding and make them more receptive and eager to hire military spouses because of everything we bring to the table. If we do this right, we are on course to change the face of military spouse employment and I can’t imagine a more worthwhile endeavor.

Filed Under: Career, Events, News, Resources, Support Services & Resources Tagged With: Mentoring, Military spouse blog, National Military Spouse Network, Networking, social media, Twitter

MilSpouse Friday Focus

March 8, 2010

The excitement this week follows DoD’s highly anticipated release of their new social media policy.  Amazingly enough, it is quite expansive and states that the default for DoD’s non-classified network is for open network, allowing DoD users access to use new media across the board.  Inappropriate content and sites will continue to be banned (eg: pornography, gambling, hate crimes sites, etc…)

Earlier this week, Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Public Affairs, Mr. Price Floyd and Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for New Media and Outreach, Mr. Sumit Agarwal hosted a

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to discuss the new social media policy.  The release of the new social media policy is quite significant in that this is the first time DoD has had an across the board policy.  Before this, each of the services had been developing their own policies and they varied greatly.  It’ll be interesting to see how this new policy is implemented and how the security issues are addressed.

As leaders check out the landscape and decide whether or not they want to engage, Mr. Floyd cautions that whether or not they choose to engage, the conversations are already taking place around them,  ”Question isn’t whether or not they want to participate, the question is whether or not they want to impact what is already being said about their unit or command.”  As people move forward and begin to get engaged with these new communications tools, DASD Price Floyd also encourages folks to continue to be mindful of OpSec considerations and utilize common sense in determining what kind of information to share, “Don’t say or do anything you wouldn’t say or do in front of your boss or your grandmother.”  More information on utilizing social media sites can be found at the DoD Social Media Hub.

In other news, MyCAA suspension continues to generate a lot of interest.  This past weekend, Representative Glenn Nye (D-VA) held a roundtable in Virginia Beach bringing together military spouses affected by the MyCAA suspension to share their stories.  Back on Capitol Hill, members of the Congressional Military Family Caucus sent a letter to Secretary of Defense Robert Gates asking his help, “to better understand the basis for this “pause,” how long this “pause” will be in effect and the impact it will have on spouses.”  The link to the letter includes the signatures of the representatives who signed in support of military spouses, so if you’re interested in whether or not your congressional rep signed on the dotted line, you can check that here.  Spouses continue to look for answers and unfortunately, the new information coming out is serving to fan the fires.  The surge in websites, roundtables, articles and demonstrations around the MyCAA suspension tells us that this is not an issue that’s going away anytime soon.  I’ll continue to keep you updated.

Short newsletter this week as I’m penning it from the road.  I picked up one my milspouse pals in Virginia Beach and we are trekking it down to Ft. Stewart, GA to visit with friends and check out the Armywifenetwork Field Exercise.  Tara and Star have always been so gracious about extending an invitation to their contributing writers to join them on the road, so it seemed like a great opportunity to kill two birds with one stone – visit friends and participate in a Field Exercise.  Can’t wait to tell you all about it next week.
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Filed Under: Career, Events, News, Resources, Support Services & Resources Tagged With: Armywifenetwork, Congressional Military Family Caucus, DoD Social Media Policy, Field Exercises, Military spouse blog, MyCAA, Price Floyd, social media