Deanie Dempsey, wife of General Martin E. Dempsey the current Chairman of the Joint Chiefs, answered questions about spouse employment at the 2012 Spouse Summit. She recalled her own original quest to get in-state tuition when her husband was stationed in Colorado. Even though Deanie had an in-state drivers license, registered to vote, and had completed all the other requirements for in-state tuition, the registrar’s office denied her request. Deanie recalled that the clerk told her, “It isn’t a matter of residency. It is a matter of permanency.”
As if the guy who worked down the road at Hewlitt Packard was going to swear permanency to the state of Colorado before his wife went back to school!
After Deanie educated the Registrar’s Office on the error in their logic, the decision was reversed and in-state tuition granted. Deanie told the crowd: “We as military spouses don’t want special treatment. We want fair treatment.”
That is what we are actually talking about when we ask for military spouse employment and military spouse education. We aren’t asking for a handout. We are asking that the unfair practiced that dig a moat around our careers be eliminated. Then we can get on with the job.
Navy wife Jacey Eckhart is Editor of SpouseBuzz and author of I Married a Spartan?? The Care and Feeding of Your Military Marriage available on iTunes, Amazon, and on www.jaceyeckhart.com.
About Jacey Eckhart
Comments
Deanie's story is almost funny, I lived in Kansas for 7 years with the military, got a job, registered to vote, tagged, titled and everything and the university still classified me as a non-resident, 7 years is the longest I have ever lived in any state, including when I was a kid. The only advantage I had was military members and dependents automatically got in-state resident status for school. However, that didn't make it any better in this day of electronics when I had to stand in line at the beginning of every semester just to show them my ID and have them make a photocopy of it, every single semester. As if my status would change, after 7 years…. Government Bureaucracy exists at all levels.
This makes me scared about the post PCSing job hunting in my near future…. *gulp*
Really Deanie?
Yes, really Tomorrow1. It is a growing issue that needs to be addressed at all levels of employment and education for spouses. The longest we have stayed in any town is 3 years and it is playing havoc with the career I am trying to build for myself!
When my husband was in Afghanistan in 2008 and 2009, we got orders cut in Feb. 2009 to come to Fort Knox, Kentucky while he was still down range and when did not have to report until October 2009. I signed up for the PPP program and applied for jobs and finally I was selected for a job, I was called by CPAC and I was told my Spouse's Preference was expired. It has a two year limit on orders to the post you are assigned. I really don't see where that is fair and when they had a hiring freeze for 18 months. I wish they would lift this rule and change it. When you apply for the PPP you should be able to keep your status until you leave the post. I don't think alot of their rules are fair and maybe one day they will be changed.
The problem is even the "handouts" you speak of aren't really hand outs… I PCSed to Fort Benning last June and did all I could to secure a job. I've gone to civilian affairs, submitted all the paper work and am still in trouble. I have 15 years of logistics and big box retail management experience, a bachelors degree in business administration and a masters in public administration and am sill out of luck. The problem is those 'handouts" we get from the DOD just aren't helpful. With all the experience and education I have they will only refer me for GS5 or lower. Tell me if that makes sense?As for the education "handouts"… Only certain ranks can partake in them. My wife happens to be an O-3 and so I do not qualify for any help there either. in an ideal world it would be fair but it's not nor ever will be.
In short…
Life isn't fair … we just need to roll with the punches.
I love the story of Deanie Dempsey. Her resilience and persistence served to remind me that you should not take your first closed door or "no" as a final answer. She had to educate those who just simply did not know. I believe a lot of times the "unfair" treatment is an outgrowth of limited knowledge of the military spouse experience. If someone hardly ever deals with military spouses (or anything for that matter) it is unlikely they will understand the intricacies of our lives. We must become our own advocates, and we can do it professionally and respectfully, which will serve future generations too!