The San Antonio Chamber of Commerce President and CEO Richard Perez, along with Chamber Military Affairs Council members, attended the Blue Star Families (BSF) “Our Nation’s Call to Action” event hosted by USAA on January 12. Founded by military spouses in 2009, BSF is the largest and fastest growing chapter-based nonprofit in the country. It services 1.4 million active duty, guard and reserve members and their families.
USAA Director of Personal Finance and Military Life Advice Ingrid Bruns moderated the event, and speakers included Kathy Roth-Douquet, CEO and Founder of Blue Star Families (BSF) and Cristin Orr Shiffer, Senior Advisor for policy and survey at BSF. The panel shared insights gained through their 2016 Annual Military Family Lifestyle Survey. The comprehensive seventh annual survey illuminates the lifestyle, employment, and financial challenges faced by our military community and provides perspective and insight from our active duty, veteran, and military spouse communities.
The Military Family Lifestyle Survey is the most comprehensive of its kind and is a vital resource for information about the current state of the military community, assisting policy makers, corporations, and non-profits in understanding the issues military families face. Leaders in local communities and government officials within the White House, Congress, and the Department of Defense often reference this survey. More than 8,000 military spouses, active duty service members, veterans, and family members responded to the 2016 survey.
The top military family issues continue to be military pay, changes to retirement benefits, and military spouse employment. Quality of life and wellness concerns are an increasing concern, as well as the impact of deployments on children, family stability, and operational tempo. These results reveal that our current day all-volunteer military is much different compared to our military in the past.
The perception that our Nation’s finest are no longer deployed or in harm’s way is inconsistent with the numbers reported in this survey. Despite the troop drawdowns, military families experience high rates of separation with 42% reporting more than six months of separation in the last 18 months. In addition, 16% of active duty family respondents have a family member currently deployed and 37% of military couples report relationship challenges related to the time apart and future deployment worries. Respondents also reported worries about the immense restraints on budgets and adecrease in funding for military family programs, and they feel a gap in support and look for added resources as many of our military decide to transition to civilian life. Finally, the respondents again prove the rule – services recruit families, not just individuals.
The Chamber is proud to host San Antonio’s oldest and most active Military Affairs Council. The Council strives to connect business members to our military community in order to provide resources, solutions, and advocacy on many of the issues discussed in the survey. Those of us in Military City USA have a unique opportunity to aid our service men and women, veterans, and family members by being aware of how integral our military partners are to our growing city and surrounding communities. The Chamber will continue to increase support for our military and their families, as well as bolster transition assistance and employment opportunities.
For more information on Blue Star Families and their survey, visit their website at www.bluestarfam.org.