Now that I'm "out" I finally feel the freedom to confidently say if you want to increase military retention, you have to start with military families. I heard a prominent military spouse share the anecdote that service members are beautiful flowers, and military spouses are the, ahem, fertilizer they need to grow (keeping it profesh for the LinkedIn crowd). Frankly, that's exactly how it feels most days as a military spouse - and I'm one of the lucky ones with a remote career, who is not underemployed, and currently loves where we live. Think about it: in what world would you, at most, want to be second-best to your spouse? You cannot plan anything from vacations to five-year plans with any certainty, much less where you might live. You give up everything you know: friends, family, support, hair stylists (this one is tough), doctors, etc., to follow someone else around and support their career - one that often leaves you on your own. And yet, we do it. I did it for 18 years, and it was hard, and I had to fight for silver linings. I know the military has much, much bigger issues than caring about spouses, but here's an idea: don't move folks around so much. In the civilian world, it's rare to ship you off to different locations every two-to-three years - especially when you have to travel so much for work, anyway. Also, it would save the military precious dollars. It's not that simple of a solution, but taking care of families will go a long way with military retention.
Yesterday’s State of the Military Family Summit put the cost of service—and its toll on the family—front and center. Hosted by NMFA, this premiere event brings together military families, partners, and policy makers to explore these critical issues facing families. Read more about the stories shared during yesterday’s event that highlighted the truth we stand by: together, we’re stronger. https://loom.ly/iKqmSCg
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6moWell said! My family didn’t have to move much by military standards (3 times in 20 years) but the deployments were relentless —27–and, with kids at home, made it impossible for me to even consider advancing my career. So I’d add, don’t move people do much and don’t deploy the same people over and over again. It absolutely broke us.