Posted on 10/24/2022 5:46:46 AM PDT by Blood of Tyrants
Heather Campbell has been a military spouse for years. She walked away from a full-ride Ph.D. when she met her husband and later became a mother to three kids.
Campbell was once even selected as Eielson Air Force Base spouse of the year but she also faced unemployment as the family moved to remote locations such as Alaska. As a result, Campbell, who is now a registered dietician, and her family joined the nearly 25% of military families this past year that struggled to feed themselves, according to the Department of Defense.
"We get told to do more with less often in the military, but this is one of those things that we are not going to be able to do [alone]," she told Military.com in an interview Thursday. So, Campbell turned to advocacy and eventually made her way to Congress, where she helped persuade several lawmakers to try and close one of the biggest problems for service members struggling to put food on the table.
(Excerpt) Read more at military.com ...
Heather’s not the first woman to have made poor life choices over a man.
You are the one full of crap. I spent 4 years in the USAF and got married while I was in. We did just fine.
I was in 4 years AHOLE.
I think a couple key points are being missed. When stationed in a remote location (Alaska was mentioned in the article) the spouse might have a tough time getting a job. Most young couples are dual income houses.
Also, when I was getting transferred in my corporate job every 18 months, I was given accommodations for housing and to “maintain the family unit.”
So, this stuff is dealt with in the private sector. We should examine the same pressures in the mil sector as well.
You’ll see men in uniform standing at intersections holding signs saying “Active Duty Soldier. Need food”
The real problem is for the lower ranks (E1-E5) in high cost of living areas that have a family. Simply provide a COLA in these areas like they do overseas and that should help close the gap.
You were in the Oil Industry just like me. :>)
i hated being a military spouse.
The upper ranks had such a shit attitude about families.
I never told my husband that until many years later.
whatever. we never got any food assistance. You don’t get rich on the military budget. Maybe the officers do.
which is a complete bullshit attitude. Then don’t let folks get married.Hope your gunny gets hit by a bus. I’ll drive.
Agree, as a dependent—we did just fine.
Your post makes me wonder if the whole arrangement is designed to discourage married people from joining the military in the first place. This may not be a bad idea in the long run.
Pumping gas was how I paid for my own apartment in high school.
Food stamps have been going to GIs since the 1960s, under Nixon we could collect food stamps.
They provide a COLA for all locations in the US as well as housing assistance, if you choose to live off-base. In the more expensive places the rate is higher, but it is not in keeping with the cost of living, not even close.
They just need to raise the allowance, but that won’t happen anytime soon. Their goal is decimating the military.
“Otherwise you can take your anti-military whining and go to hell.”
I served 22 years, so I have the right to whine. It is rude to tell people you do not know to go to hell. You must not know any better, I forgive you.
It isn’t the basic allowance for housing (BAH) that plays into whether they qualify for food stamps; it’s the basic allowance for subsistence (BAS).
I’m going to comment even though I probably shouldn’t. My bona fides are serving 20 years in the Navy, after growing up as a dependent of a 20 year Army retiree. I did fine on my Navy salary. While on sea duty in my early career I had no bills. At all. I lived on the ship and mostly ate on the ship. After 4 years of sea duty I started recruiting and did that for the rest of my career, 16 years. Most of my friends were civilians. My salary was equal to or better than most of them of comparable age and education. I had no medical or dental bills. I was comfortable. Should military people make more money? Damned straight they should. But the ones who are financially responsible will do okay. If they get in a jam there are organizations to help them (Navy Relief for example), that you won’t find in the civilian world. One thing that irritates me, though, is the ads I see from the military exchanges. They advertise almost exclusively top of the line products. Should you advertise $2000 tvs to E nothings? Sorry, that’s just a pet peeve.
millions of illegal aliens get free everything, and enlisted military families NEED and are DISALLOWED food stamps ... this is indeed a sick country ...
“A Staff Sergeant receives a monthly basic pay salary starting at $2,849 per month, with raises up to $4,413 per month once they have served for over 18 years.”
$50,000 a year after 18 years of service is a pittance. And that’s before taxes.
L
F these Senators. Instead of blowing billions to Ukraine and walking away from billions of equipment in Afghanistan, you could have raised their wages by a lot. So FU, Senators. Reduce your own wages and redistribute those dollars to the enlisted men. Bastards.
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