In the midst of controversy surrounding what truly defines an Army wife or soldier, I am reminded again of the fact that military spouses’ (and their soldiers’) experiences are so vastly different. From the branch of service to the duty status to the station location, there are great differences in the experiences of today’s military. Every individual in the military community has a unique perspective on the military lifestyle and this blog-turned-viral just serves to demonstrate the vast differences individuals in different branches, ranks and duty statuses perceive between themselves.
The government today has made a huge push to emphasize the military spouse career portability issue, but has failed to understand the very point this blog has demonstrated. No two military spouses are the same. What works for an Active Duty spouse may not work for a National Guard wife. Additionally, just because teaching and nursing are popular careers for the spouse population, there are those of us who are not called to do either.
Though the blog does allow for a very important dialogue to occur, I am disappointed that the experiences of National Guard service members and spouses were demeaned. The point that must be taken away is that whether you are the spouse of an officer, an enlisted service member, active duty or otherwise, your experiences are very important and need to be understood. This debate needs to be viewed as an opportunity to educate the civilian population and employers that we are all different and all valuable assets.
You make a great point that spouses come to the military with different skill sets and different life experience. Research has continued to tell the DoD the that need to create programs based of the difference among spouses. Check RAND Institute studies