Military Spouses Now Benefit From Quick Hire for Government Jobs

U.S. Military Spouses are now set to benefit from an executive order issued by President Bush and approved by President Obama which fast tracks hiring for the spouses.

Military Spouses have always filled a much overlooked role in the military that supports the troops and their endeavors. Their service is done in the guise of charity and family readiness groups, and the hours they work as volunteers are reimbursed to their home base in grant money. However, that does not help them in their personal finances. In the current economy a two income household is necessary, but military spouses have difficulty holding down a career due to moving from base to base sometimes every 4 years. Spouses and military children have always been able to find work on base, but they have had competition with new immigrants being sponsored by the military as well as veterans, retired military, and even other civilians. According to the Military Times:

some military spouses could be quickly hired for federal jobs without going through the usual competitive process.

The new regulations of the Noncompetitive Appointment of Certain Military Spouses were finalized on Aug 12 and will take effect on Sep 11. This will give some preference to military spouses.

an agency may appoint non competitively a spouse of a member of the armed forces serving on active duty who has orders specifying a permanent change of station, a spouse of a 100 percent disabled service member injured while on active duty, or the un-remarried widow or widower of a service member who was killed while performing active duty.

Even though they can be appointed, spouses still must have the proper qualifications for the job. This news comes as a relief to many military spouses who must rely on work outside of the home to make ends meet.