ChristianMilitaryWives

I wrote this a couple of years ago and came across it. I must have been in quite a mood and in deep need of a break when I wrote it. I hope it encourages you! 

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06:30 and all is quiet on the home front.

Too quiet for a seasoned veteran like me.

I am not a veteran of foreign wars, mind you, but I am a veteran of the home front. I am in many occupation specialties, and I hold many ranks.

I am the acting Commander in Chief, General, and every rank known down to Private.

I am an Infantry soldier while I run after a busy and precocious toddler.

I am Cavalry and my transportation is my noble Windstar (complete with emptysippy cups and toddler music galore -- it could scare the toughest enemy!).

I am in Artillery and I can launch a dirty diaper and hit the destination target faster than the speed of light.

I am in Special Forces and my handle is "Stealth Mom." I am able to walk down hallways past a sleeping child's room more quietly than a feather on the wind. I put Spider Man to shame - he has no moves on me. I can go undetected by toddler radar for up to 20 minutes in the morning. I have also been known to know much more about a teenager's friends than they thought I should know as well as their exact global location.

Legal services, medical, psychological and special equipment? Been there doing that. Oh, and let's not forget about the Physical Fitness requirements. I can sprint faster than a toddler running through the toy isle at Toys R Us. I can jump baby gates like an Olympic runner jumping hurdles, and my life consists of a constant squat thrust as I walk through my house picking up toys, socks, shoes, and cheerios off of the floor. "Two steps, squat, grab, back up we go..." and the reps continue. All day long. Sit ups? Well I will have to actually have time to lay on the floor before I can tell you how many of those I can actually do.

Recruiting and retention have been successful. We have had 50% of our recruits stay until retirement, and we fully expect the other 50% to do the same. So far it looks as if this home base is being run quite well. I think we have earned a little R& R!

The curly headed pirate is gone for the day. She is at a sister base and will receive some additional training from another unit. So, today this veteran mom is actually off duty. My house is spotless, laundry done, and the baby is away. I think this calls for a pedicure, a nap and maybe a hair cut. A Stealth Mom can dream!

By Gerry J. Gilmore
American Forces Press Service

WASHINGTON, Aug. 14, 2009 - Under a personnel rule that takes effect next month, some military spouses could be quickly hired for federal jobs without going through the usual competitive process.

The new hiring authority takes effect Sept. 11. The Office of Personal Management issued the authority's final regulatory guidelines Aug. 12. The guidelines are posted in the Federal Register under the title: "Noncompetitive Appointment of Certain Military Spouses."

The intended effect of the rule, according to documents listed in the Federal Register, "is to facilitate the entry of military spouses into the federal civil service as part of an effort to recruit and retain skilled and experienced members of the armed forces and to recognize and honor the service of members injured, disabled, or killed in connection with their service."

"Military spouse employment is a key to the quality of life of our military families," Kathleen Ott, director of talent acquisition, development and management in the Office of the Deputy Undersecretary of Defense for Civilian Personnel Policy, said yesterday during an interview with Pentagon Channel and American Forces Press Service reporters.

The availability of jobs for military spouses contributes to the sustainment of the all-volunteer force, Ott said, citing a recent survey in which employed military spouses reported that their work income constitutes about 48 percent of total family income.

"But, it's really hard to keep a job if you have to move from station to station," Ott said. Federal employment, she said, offers military spouses a portable career with transferable benefits and worldwide presence.

"We thought, in order to help our military spouses continue their employment, it would be a good thing for us to facilitate their entry into the federal government," she said.

Eligible individuals, Ott said, include spouses of active-duty servicemembers who have been called on to relocate. This includes spouses of Guardsmen or reservists who've been called up for more than 180 days of active service other than training. Eligible spouses must be moving to another duty station accompanied by their servicemember husband or wife.

Spouses of former servicemembers listed as 100-percent disabled and separated or retired, as well as widows or widowers of servicemembers who died on active duty and who have not remarried also are eligible.

The new hiring authority does not constitute a hiring preference for eligible military spouses, according to OPM. "This authority is a noncompetitive hiring mechanism; it does not establish or constitute a hiring preference for eligible spouses, nor does it create an entitlement to a federal job for an eligible spouse," according to regulatory documents listed in the Federal Register.

Applicants still must meet specific job-qualification criteria listed for individual positions, according to OPM documents.

"This is not a preference. We firmly believe that our spouses can compete on their own merits," Ott said, noting that the new hiring rules provide military spouses with "a streamlined, facilitated means of obtaining federal employment."

Use of the new hiring authority "is completely at the discretion of hiring agencies," according to OPM documents, and "it is one of many hiring tools agencies may use to recruit needed individuals."

Spouses who complete three years of continuous satisfactory service will be converted from a career-conditional appointment to career appointment, Ott said.

Personnel officials do not anticipate that the new military-spouse hiring authority would adversely affect the hiring of military veterans into the federal government, Ott said.

Military spouses can find out about federal job opportunities through OPM's USAJobs Web site, Ott said.

The new hiring authority "sends a very important message to our military families that their sacrifice is recognized by the federal government, and that they recognize that having a career opportunity is really critical for their family's well being," said Barbara Thompson, director of the Pentagon's Office of Family Policy/Children and Youth.

More than 77 percent of military spouses have indicated in surveys that they are interested in establishing careers, Thompson said. Other data, she added, indicates that military spouses are, overall, more highly educated than their civilian counterparts.

"I think it's a win-win situation that the federal government is accessing a pool of spouses who have the same levels of commitment and caring and service to the nation," Thompson said.

The department's Military Spouse Career Advancement Account, also known as MyCAA, provides employment, career, education/training, counseling and financial assistance for spouses of active-duty military and activated Guard and reserve members worldwide, she said.

President George W. Bush issued an executive order establishing guidelines for the hiring authority in September 2008, but implementation of the order was delayed while it was reviewed by the Obama administration.

*Related Sites:*
Federal Register  [ http://www.gpoaccess.gov/fr/ ]
USAJOBS  [ http://www.usajobs.gov ]
MyCAA  [ https://aiportal.acc.af.mil/mycaa/default.aspx ]
Quick Hire of Military Spouses Starts in September [ http://www.defenselink.mil/news/newsarticle.aspx?id=55492 ]