Spousal Employement During Your Military Flight Career

[PaWOFTCandidate]

*Sorry for the thread name typo, I do not seem to be able to edit it.

Hello Everyone,

 

First, I’d like to say that this forum has been invaluable to a WOFT candidate such as myself. The information contained here has answered more questions and given me more insight to the WOFT application process and training than any other information source including my recruiter.

 

I am currently awaiting the results of the November USAREC board for final selection and my ship date.

 

I am posting on behalf of my other half, who has been very patient and understanding through the application process. We are trying to look at career paths and options for her that would allow her to keep utilizing her education and work background while I am performing my military duties.

 

She holds a MBA and currently is a brand and marketing manager at a large national company that is based here in Pittsburgh, PA. Currently salary is ~$65,000 a year. She is very ambitious in her career and it is certainly one of the biggest things I love about her, and neither of us see her as ever being a housewife.

 

We do not currently have children, and are not currently planning to.

 

Many conversations have been had about what the future of her career looks like for her as she doesn’t think she will be able to find anything fulfilling in Alabama. She may end up staying in Pittsburgh during my training time at WOCS and flight school, then hope for a duty station with a better job market than southern Alabama. The ideal situation would be if she can stay with her company and be assigned remote work, which is a option we are exploring.

 

I was hoping this community could chime in on real-world experience their working spouses have had and how the military has affected your spouses careers. Any resources you could point us to for spousal employment opportunities or companies that have remote career options would be very helpful. Input on unique working situations or general advice appreciated as well.

 

Thank you.

[MuffinMan]

I can definitely relate to your situation. I'm here at Rucker waiting for my WOCS class to begin. My wife left a job in Dallas, with a similar salary as your wifes', to come to Fort Rucker with me. The job market down here for anything of significance is almost zero it seems. She was a paralegal at a large lawfirm in Dallas, and she found a job in Dothan (about 30 minutes from post). She had to take a BIG pay cut to come here with my son.

 

I can't offer any insight to other bases and the employment situations there, but Alabama, and especially around Fort Rucker, isn't exactly known for their booming businesses and job opportunities. Good luck to y'all.

[choppereng]

She could consider looking for virtual positions on usajobs. They do exist. I know GSA has some (more than ever now) and I'm assuming plenty of other agencies do too. Considering that she hasn't been a gov't worker before (as far as I know) it might be hard to find something virtual that's entry level (since the intern/probationary period typically includes several weeks of on-site training offered at various military bases). Not sure if you guys would be interested in that, but you mentioned remote work so I figured I'd throw that out there.

[StockTrader]

My spouse had to leave her job at UPMC when she decided to tag along, but had a fairly easy time finding a company that has her travel. Works out nicely since I'm barely home during the week anyway. Honestly, most of the spouses I know, do not work when they come down here unless its travel or remotely.

 

If you're working out of the Robinson recruiting station you are in good hands.

[mike0331]

If you are going active, has she considered being an officer on the administrative side of the fence in the Army? Might be the best paying, most career oriented, most flexible with moving, and she would owe about as much time as you if she/you decided to get out.

Mike

[PaWOFTCandidate]

Thanks for the replies everyone.

I'm working with the Monroeville recruiting office. Things have been hectic at times and they haven't been very familiar with the process of getting a WOFT packet through. It took about nine months in total to get everything together. That being said, I found out I was selected today, so in the end they did just fine for me. Now it's time to get used to hurrying up to wait.

Thanks for the suggestion about USAjobs and her considering OCS. She was in Peace Corps for 4 years and lived in Nicaragua and Africa during that time. She is very fluent in Spanish. I will suggest looking in to USAjobs or another form of travel work.