Making it in the MilLife

Every spouse I know who has ever attended the Joint Spouses Conference in Hawaii has always raved about the events.  I don’t know whether it’s the fabulous “Armed for Entertaining” book they sell, the location, or the fact that it’s a two-day marathon of bonding with hundreds of other spouses over scintillating topics such as: Space-A Travel from Hawaii, Wine Tasting or Real Estate for Military Borrowers, but the conference has been wildly popular since its inception over 14 years ago.  This year was no different; with nearly 300 spouses attending, I think it’s safe to say that they have another success on their hands!

I was thrilled to be asked to present three seminars on: The Superwoman Syndrome, Dollars and Sense of Working Outside the Home and What Have You Done for Me Lately.  The first deals with lessons learned from women who have managed to find balance between career and the military lifestyle.  The second one talks about the hidden costs of working outside the home and demystifying employee compensation.  Finally, the last one talks about the best and most recent initiatives (in the areas of products, services, resources and legislation) to support military spouses and families.  Check out the homepage and you’ll find so many other varied topics – a veritable smorgasbord for people to choose from. 

The attendees ranged in experience from spouses of junior military members to spouses of those more senior members, yet it seemed like everyone was able to find a topic of interest.  I have to say though that my favorite part of the conference was the opportunity to meet and speak to other spouses.  I sat with different people during both of the lunches and was amazed at what I learned.  We talked about everything from joint basing, the challenges of living on an island to different spouse employment issues.  I was surprised to learn from one of the spouses that she is involved in an internship program with AFPC called the Palace Acquire Intern Program, “This program provides expedited, performance-based promotions in approximately 20 diverse occupations (from http://www.go-defense.com/usaf-palace.html).”  She is doing her internship with AF Contracting and had nothing but great things to say about the entire program.  When I asked how she found out about it, I wasn’t surprised to hear that it was through another spouse sharing the knowledge. 

In addition to Palace Acquire, there are other programs in place such as Copper Cap and the Naval Acquisition Intern Program (NAIP).  While not limited to military spouses, we are certainly eligible to apply.  My new friend did caution however that the time commitment was a deterrent to many because you have to guarantee that you can finish the program. 

See, it isn’t a myth….old dogs can learn new tricks!  I had no idea these programs existed.  Check it out for yourself.  If you have experience with one of these internship programs, I’d love to hear about them.  Share the knowledge!

When my son was a pre-schooler, it was an absolute pill trying to snag a drop in slot at the CDC so that I could squeeze in a workout.  It was also ridiculously frustrating that when I could find childcare, I’d spend more time taking him to and from there than I did at the gym.  I was thrilled when I found the YMCA a few miles away from our house.  They had a great gym and I would drop my son off for a few hours of “pre-school” class while I worked out.  It was awesome and so convenient.  I always left feeling better and he was always happy to have had some time with other kids engaging in productive activities.

I have very fond memories of our YMCA, so I was really excited when I found out that the YMCA, ASYMCA and DoD have entered into a partnership to provide free memberships to military families who live too far away from an installation to be able to take advantage of the facilities on base. 

When it comes to benefits, it seems like our Guard and Reserve families are often left out in the cold.  Since they’re generally geographically dispersed and often reside far away from a military installation, they’re unable to take advantage of many of the resources found in traditional brick and mortar buildings that we as active duty families take for granted.  So it’s nice to see that people are starting to think outside the box in order to deliver services to our Guard and Reserve troops and their families.  This way they can access their benefits without having to leave their community. 

In a related topic, how cool would it be to have access to a 24 hour library?  With our busy lives, it seems nearly impossible to get to a library during regular operating hours.  Now, you have access to resources around the clock through the e-library program launched by the Department of Defense.  This is a relatively new program, so the jury’s still out.  If you’ve had experiences using the e-library, let us hear from you.  Would love to know how well it works. 

Free gym memberships and a 24 hour library – benefits delivered when we want them where we want them….what a great concept!