Exciting changes are underway for military spouses that could affect families who serve for generations to come.

It used to be, in the not-so-distant past, that a decision to marry into the military was a decision to not have a career of your own. Even if a spouse could juggle the demands of military home life plus a paid position, who would hire her (95 percent are female, according to Defense Department figures) knowing she would be gone in a couple of years due to a forced military relocation? And how would she even get to the point of applying for a job if she had to renew her professional license - nurse, teacher, realtor, therapist, just to name a few with such requirements - in every new state?

Both of those employment hurdles are getting lower as Defense Department, White House and nonprofit entities rally state legislators and the corporate and business communities to make things easier.

Through the work of DOD's Military Community and Family Policy office and Michelle Obama and Jill Biden's "Joining Forces" campaign, 16 states have passed laws to improve professional license portability and another 11 have legislation pending. Also, DOD's Military Spouse Employment Partnership last week added 34 employer "partners" for a total of 128 that post jobs on the site specific to military spouses. As part of the program, the employers - CACI, General Dynamics, Dell, Microsoft, American Red Cross, GEICO, and Sterling Medical are just a few - agree that their positions can move with hired spouses.

The catalyst for change has been the spouses themselves who spoke up about the need. Indeed, DOD officials say 85 percent of military spouses have responded that they either want or need a paid job.

One spouse who turned her frustration into action is Lauren Weiner, a former federal employee analyst with the White House budget office, whose career came to a halt when she relocated with her husband, Charles, a Navy civilian, to Naples, Italy, in 2004. Unable to find a senior-level professional job on base - and spouses aren't permitted to work off-base in Naples - Weiner networked with Naples-based wives and found others in the same situation.

Weiner responded by starting her own government consulting business, Wittenberg Weiner Consulting, LLC. In just a few weeks, she hired her friend, Donna Huneycutt, a lawyer and Navy wife, to help keep up with the expanding workload. Together, the two built the business - Wittenberg as president, Huneycutt as executive vice president - to what is now a 60-person firm in which 75 percent of employees are military spouses.

Besides giving back by hiring other spouses, Wittenberg Weiner last year started the nonprofit, In Gear. It provides a forum for community support, information-sharing, and mentoring for career-minded military spouses. It also partners with other organizations working to support the professional endeavors of military spouses, such as the Military Spouse JD Network, which is working to ease state-by-state attorney licensure requirements for military spouses.

"We realized there was this incredibly talented pool of spouses out there," Huneycutt said, "and we wanted to make sure this was more than a pit stop in those spouses' careers."

Weiner and Huneycutt represent a growing number of spouses who refuse to accept that a military life means the end of their working life - or a 20-year hiatus. Military spouses who want to work outside the home in any field are getting more opportunities all the time, and that is good for everyone - spouse, service member, and the military community.

One of the many challenges facing military spouses is finding gainful employment with each new change of duty station. Many employers aren't willing to invest in someone that will probably leave within three years, so it seems the best job for military spouses is one within the military community. That's the aim of The Exchange's Spouse Employment Continuity Program.

The program provides continuity of employment and expands career opportunities for military spouses. It offers non-competitive priority placement to spouses of military members or AAFES management associates who relocate with their spouses.

"Before we arrived at JBLM, I already had a job waiting for me," said Andrea Silverhorn, an AAFES employee and military spouse who moved here last fall. "The great thing is, AAFES has the same values and mission, and it's the same organization no matter where you go."

Silverhorn is a military brat - her father is retired airborne, and she has brothers and uncles in the military. She's moved her own family seven times in 17 years because of her husband's job.

In her former life, she was a child advocate for children subjected to domestic violence at home. "When I couldn't find a job in my field, I applied to AAFES," she said. "It was nice to work so close to my husband's job." 

Silverhorn, who was a learning facilitator at AAFES' corporate university, is now in an entry-level management position at JBLM. "When my husband gets out," she said, "he'll be the one following me around for work, instead."

AAFES benefits include tuition assistance, retirement benefits, in-house certification programs, vacation and sick days, and a 401k and pension plan.

"We currently employ 500 military dependents here at JBLM," said Colleen Cushion, AAFES human resources manager. "If you need a job and get turned down elsewhere, come home to AAFES and we'll give you a job - you don't need experience."

"I applied for an internship and got it," said 24-year old Ashlie Crowell, "and I was a stay-at home mom with two kids."

Crowell not only landed the job as an intern, she also became a full-time employee earlier this month. She is also currently pursuing a bachelor's degree at an online university.

"This is our first duty station and everything is still new," she said. "I love that my job is less than three miles from home and that the kids are so close. I feel more connected to the Army and can relate more to my husband's world now."

"AAFES is an extension of the military community, and we go where Soldiers go," said Cushion, a former military spouse whose husband retired from the Air Force in 1990 after 25 years of service who will mark her 40-year anniversary with AAFES in May. "We understand when spouses need days off around deployment. We know it best because we have lived it and so have our employees."

For AAFES employment information, visit www.shopmyexchange.com or call (253) 964-2522.

FROM ARMY TIMES...

More employers - including many offering opportunities to work at home - have joined the ranks of those seeking to hire military spouses and veterans, first lady Michelle Obama announced April 4.

Some of the 11 companies that have pledged to bring on more than 15,000 more military spouses and veterans operate call centers with a variety of jobs. Some are near military bases, and some offer jobs wherever spouses are located.

The various jobs are being integrated into the Military Spouse Employment Partnership's online job bank.

SEE THE REST HERE

FROM USA TODAY...

Dana Kendall adored her dog, Toni, but struggled to manage the brindle-coated pit bull terrier she rescued from dog-fighting. The dog was unruly, had not been housebroken and did not respond to simple commands.

"She didn't even know she was a dog," says Kendall, 29. "I needed something that could help me help her."

So the young Navy wife enrolled in dog-training lessons in 2009 through a California-based obedience school, Animal Behavior College. And the U.S. military picked up the entire tab as part of a Defense Department program to give military spouses career skills they can use no matter how often their families move.

SEE THE REST HERE

This from Army Times: More employers - including many offering opportunities to work at home - have joined the ranks of those seeking to hire military spouses and veterans, first lady Michelle Obama announced April 4.

Some of the 11 companies that have pledged to bring on more than 15,000 more military spouses and veterans operate call centers with a variety of jobs. Some are near military bases, and some offer jobs wherever spouses are located.

The various jobs are being integrated into the Military Spouse Employment Partnership's online job bank.

The biggest chunk of those jobs will be with Arise Virtual Solutions Inc., which plans to add another 10,000 independent business and client services professionals from the military spouse and veteran community over the next several years.

Read more here.

From Army Times via AP: WASHINGTON - Opening another front in her nearly year-old campaign to support service families, first lady Michelle Obama on Wednesday unveiled a new push for jobs on or near military bases.

She also announced plans to mark the Joining Forces campaign's first anniversary with a two-day, four-state swing next week that will include stops in election battleground states Pennsylvania and Florida and a chat with comedian Stephen Colbert on his show "The Colbert Report."

The Joining Forces organization said it has lined up commitments for more than 15,000 jobs in the coming years. Most will come from telemarketing and customer support companies and will enable the spouses and veterans to work from home.

Mrs. Obama noted these jobs are especially helpful to military families because they move so often across state lines - about 10 times more often than the typical U.S. family.

"We're trying to meet these spouses where they are," she said in a conference call with reporters. "This will make such a huge difference ... When the next set of orders comes in for these families, and they have to move across the country, they'll be able to move these jobs with them."

Ahead of the Joining Forces anniversary, the first lady was visiting Walter Reed National Military Medical Center to distribute Easter treats from the White House pastry shop to military families staying there.

See the rest here.

From Spousebuzz.com: Every day I work with military spouses just like you who are looking for a job.  Over time,  I've come to think that spouse job search fears really have something to do with how often you have to look for work.  If you were not a military spouse, looking for a job would be less frequent and it would be on your own terms.  Yet when it comes to a military spouse's career, everything is on everyone else's terms.  It's like the world is saying, "Do it again.  Do it in a different area.  You need to learn something else new.  And, oh, by the way, we need to pay the bills, too.  So hurry up."

No wonder we all have some spouse job search fears.  I know that military spouses do have challenges.   Just like any other challenge in your life, a few specific strategies will help you get over it and get on with it.  Here are some tips that work for my clients:

1.  Set an "At This Base" goal.  Your long-term goal may be to have a master's degree.  But your reality is that you won't be at an installation long enough to complete that degree.  If you know you will live there for two years, two years is long enough to complete an associate's degree.  Completing an associate's degree at this base now becomes the "at this base goal".  The same thing works for your career.  You may have a goal to be the supervisor of all counselors in county schools.  Two years isn't long enough to reach that goal.  So set a goal of being the most innovative school counselor in the county for the next two years.

For the rest of the steps, click here.

With summer just around the corner, now is the time to apply for temporary positions with the Air Force.

Annually, federal agencies post summer opening announcements for positions that range from office clerk to food service worker and more. Participation in the program varies from base to base, but all listings will be posted either at www.USAJOBS.gov or the non-appropriated fund site, https://www.nafjobs.org/default.aspx.

To be considered for a summer position, individuals should check the announcement for "area of consideration", which identifies who may apply, to make sure they are eligible for consideration. Most summer hire positions are open to people eligible for the Student Temporary Employment Program, but some may be open to Veteran Recruitment Appointment, 30 percent or more disabled veterans, reinstatement, military spouse, and disability-eligible applicants, or to the public.

Student applicants must be enrolled in an accredited high school or enrolled/accepted for enrollment as degree-seeking students, taking at least a half-time course load in an accredited technical, vocational, two- or four-year college or university, or graduate or professional school.

VRA applicants must be disabled veterans or veterans who served on active duty in the armed forces during a war, or in a campaign or expedition for which a campaign badge has been authorized, or veterans who - while serving on active duty - participated in a United States military operation for which an Armed Forces Service Medal was awarded, or a recently separated veteran.

To qualify under the veterans' 30 percent disabled hiring authority, individuals must have served in the military, be able to produce proof of service and disability (DD Form 214 Member 4 copy and VA Disability Rating), and have a service-connected disability of 30 percent or more.

Reinstatement eligible applicants must have held a federal career or career-conditional appointment at some time in the past. If so, there is no time limit on reinstatement eligibility for those with veterans' preference or who acquired career tenure by completing three years of substantially continuous creditable service. Applicants who do not have veterans' preference or did not acquire career tenure may be reinstated within three years after their date of separation.

Appointment of Certain Military Spouse eligibility refers to active duty military members' spouses who accompany the military sponsor on a permanent change of station move.

Under the People with Disabilities eligibility, applicants are considered disabled if they have a physical or mental impairment that substantially limits one or more major life activities. Veterans and non-veterans may apply under this authority.

For more information about specific summer hire positions, contact the civilian personnel section at the base advertising the position. For more information about civilian careers opportunities, go to www.afciviliancareers.com. For information about other personnel issues, visit the Air Force Personnel Services website at https://gum-crm.csd.disa.mil.

Alongside the nation's top defense officials, First Lady Michelle Obama and Dr. Jill Biden, wife of Vice President Joe Biden, unveiled a new report yesterday that spotlights military spouses' employment challenges and aims to remove barriers for the thousands of spouses with occupational licenses.

Speaking alongside Defense Secretary Leon E. Panetta and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Martin E. Dempsey, the first lady and Biden described the magnitude of spouses' licensing challenges and the commitment this report represents in helping to quickly resolve them.

The report, produced by the Defense and Treasury departments, offers a roadmap states can use to streamline or expedite licensing procedures.

"We are all here today to say this to America's military families: We are incredibly grateful for your service," the first lady told a packed audience of leaders and military families in the Pentagon Auditorium. "We understand the unique challenges that you face, and we are going to do everything that we can to make sure that you can pursue your careers and provide for your families."

Throughout this decade of war, military spouses have kept moving forward despite the challenges of frequent moves and deployments -- all while juggling children and a household. But when it comes to moving forward in their own careers, "far too often, you can't just keep moving, because you've run into a brick wall," the first lady said. Much of this is due to issues with licensing and certifications, she noted.

Obama said she and Biden have heard of these issues at every stop they've made to speak with military families.

"It is the No. 1 issue that military spouses tell us about," she said.

Military spouses in careers that require licenses must confront varying requirements from state to state, she explained. A lack of license portability -- the ability to transfer an existing license to a new state with minimal application requirements -- can cause spouses to bear high administrative and financial burdens as they attempt to obtain a license.

Obama noted the magnitude of this issue. More than one in every three military spouses in the workforce has a job that requires a professional license or certification, she said, citing the report.

"This licensing issue affects more than 100,000 individuals -- 100,000 individuals. And the vast majority of you are clearly ready to work when you get to your new state," Obama said.

The first lady cited teachers, the most common career among spouses, as an example. In some states, they're required to take an entry-level course in state history or another subject before the licensing board will grant them a license. Teachers with years of experience may end up having to take extra classes before they can even apply for a job, she noted.

"And that's just what happens in one profession," she said. "When you're talking about dozens of careers, the web of requirements and standards can get pretty thick."

Army spouse Ann Wells, who sat alongside the leaders on the stage, explained the difficulties she had in maintaining her nursing career throughout her husband's 32-year Army career.

Wells said her family moved 10 times and she's long since lost track of how much time she's spent waiting for licensing paperwork to process. In one state, she said, the process was so difficult she decided to forgo her efforts during that assignment.

"We are not looking for a handout, or to change a state's standards," Wells said. "We are simply looking to be able to provide for our families and continue the career that we love."

Spouses like Wells are "why our efforts here today are so important," Biden said. "They are another way we can show our support for those who serve this country."

The first lady lauded the efforts of state officials who have stepped forward to address this issue. In Tennessee, she noted, officials are granting temporary licenses in many professions, which enable spouses to get a job as they work to complete state licensing requirements. In Colorado, the director of their state licensing agency now has the power to waive cumbersome requirements for military spouses who clearly demonstrate their competence. And in Arizona, officials passed legislation to grant licenses, in most professions, to military spouses who have at least one year of experience, she said.

These are different solutions, she noted, but all enable military spouses to get to work quicker, and all enable states to maintain their professional standards and requirements. Eight other states have followed in their footsteps to create laws of their own, and 15 others have legislation pending or waiting to be introduced.

"But that still leaves 26 states --- that still leaves more than half the country --- that have yet to address this issue," she said.

This report outlines best practices these states have implemented that others can adopt, but avoids a "one-size-fits-all" solution.

"This report," Obama explained, "simply provides a roadmap of best practices that leaders across the country can use as a resource as they explore ways that their state can better support these military families. The report contains tips and ideas, not edicts and decrees. But the point is that there are solutions here. This is a solvable problem."

Obama said officials are setting a national goal today: By 2014, they want to see all 50 states pass legislation to address licensing issues.

"We know it's an ambitious goal. We know it won't be easy to achieve, but we also know that our nation's military families have waited long enough," she said to applause.

Panetta said this issue is a personal one for him. His wife worked as a nurse while he was in the service, and her ability to practice her career often was inhibited due to licensing challenges.

Panetta stressed the importance of supporting the nation's "extraordinary" military spouses and family members, who serve and sacrifice so much.

"In this building we do everything we can to provide service members with the best support system in the world with everything they need in order to do their mission," he said. "But there is no support system like the family.

"The love, the devotion, the support, the loyalty, the dedication of our loved ones is what makes us get through each day, through thick and thin. We simply could not do this mission without you," he said to resounding applause.

Today is a "good day for our military families and a good day for our nation," Dempsey noted. "These are practical real steps to bring more flexibility and portability with fewer obstacles for our military spouses with portable careers. It takes some of the rocks out of their rucksacks and it gives them the fair shot that they both need and deserve."

A decade of war has "crystallized exactly how important our families are to the ability to succeed in our missions, and just how fundamental they are to the health the strength the readiness of our armed forces," the chairman added.

While the report marks progress, the first lady noted, the efforts won't end here today. Obama said she and Biden plan to present this issue to all 50 state governors and their spouses later this month at the National Governors Association Conference here.

They'll also rally state legislators, professional organizations and advocacy groups to engage on this issue at a state level, she said, noting the work of the American Bar Association, which is encouraging its state affiliates to make licensing accommodations for military spouses.

"We are ready to roll up our sleeves and do some heavy lifting on this issue," the first lady said. "We are ready to make this happen. And if we can do this, if we can work together so that every state can find its own solution, we'll once again show all of you -- our incredible military families -- that America has your back."

Just as troops and their families have committed themselves to their nation, this nation is committed to them, Panetta said.

"This department, our job, our commitment, is to protect this nation and to keep America safe," he told the audience. "In helping our families, you are not only protecting them, you are in a very real way, helping to protect America."

Over the past year, veterans and military spouses have been invited to a host of career fairs across the nation that connect dozens of employers seeking to support the military community with hundreds, sometimes thousands, of job-seeking troops and spouses.

While face-to-face exposure is an asset, many career seekers aren't able to attend these fairs, whether it's due to distance, finances or life demands.

Hoping to fill this opportunity gap, organizations are forgoing local fairs in favor of online offerings. With the only potential barrier being Internet access, virtual career fairs and other online job resources are steadily gaining popularity.

Milicruit, a sponsor of virtual career fairs, hosted a national career fair in November that attracted about 80 employers and more than 30,000 job seekers.

They'll host another nationwide virtual career fair for service members, veterans and military spouses Feb. 23 from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. EST.

In this fair, veterans and military spouses will have access to about 27,000 jobs, Kevin O'Brien, Milicruit spokesman, said. Military career seekers will have the opportunity to meet and interact with recruiters and hiring managers from dozens of military friendly employers.

People should register to reserve their space at this free fair online at http://www.veteranscareerfair.com.

The company also will offer some resume-writing advice in a virtual resume workshop Feb. 16 from 4 to 7 p.m. EST, according to a news release. Employers will be online to review resumes and provide guidance on designing a civilian resume.

Milicruit also has more than 20 regional career fairs planned throughout 2012. People can find out more on the site's event calendar.

Also aimed at the virtual front, through the Defense Department's Military Spouse Employment Partnership, employers have direct access to job-seeking spouses, and spouses can connect with long-term employment opportunities. MSEP, launched last year, partners with local, national and international businesses to foster job opportunities.

In a blog last month, Robert L. Gordon III, deputy assistant secretary of defense for military community and family policy, noted the site's success. In just six months, the program has partnered with nearly 100 employers. And as of mid-January, nearly 60,000 jobs were listed on MSEPJobs.com. Since June 2010, more than 10,400 spouses have found employment through the MSEP program.

Gordon noted the site is undergoing a design overhaul to enhance functionality. The site will have a resume builder function and provide email alerts when the job seeker is matched to a job posting.

"With your help, we will build on this momentum as we move into 2012 to make MSEP an even more effective tool in empowering our military spouses to find jobs and career opportunities," he wrote.

Connecting veterans and spouses with jobs is one of the primary objectives of the White House's Joining Forces campaign. Launched by First Lady Michelle Obama and Dr. Jill Biden, wife of Vice President Joe Biden, last year, this campaign calls on Americans to better support troops, veterans and their families.

In November, the first lady announced that a range of businesses plan to hire 100,000 veterans and military spouses by 2014. She noted the Veterans Jobs Bank hosts more than 550,000 job postings from military-friendly employers.

"This commitment of 100,000 jobs isn't about making headlines," she said in a Joining Forces blog. "These wonderful programs don't just provide a good opportunity for a press conference. All of these efforts are about upholding our sacred duty to our veterans and their families."

At the time, 16,000 veterans and spouses had found new positions since Joining Forces launched, the blog said.

More recently, President Barack Obama outlined his Veterans Job Corps initiative to hire veterans to replenish the ranks of the nation's first responders. He also noted the progress that's already been made.

"Already, we've helped 600,000 veterans and their family members go back to school on the Post-9/11 GI Bill," he said Feb. 3. "We've hired over 120,000 veterans to serve in the federal government, [and] we've made it easier for veterans to access all sorts of employment services."

Additionally, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce has been steadily working toward its goal of hosting 100 hiring fairs within a year. Last month, the chamber hosted its first military-spouse-only hiring fair, which brought together more than 100 employers and more than 1,000 military spouses.

"As companies large and small have shown, the private sector has enormous capacity to help our troops, veterans and families," Navy Capt. Brad Cooper, executive director of Joining Forces, recently told me. "The people of this great nation clearly want to help - people want to have impact. Everywhere we've turned, and with every company we've asked to step up, the answer has been ‘yes.'"