Department of Defense education cuts adversely affect women

Just one month after presenting its enormous $708 billion budget, the U.S. Department of Defense has abruptly halted a popular program of providing educational grants to spouses of soldiers--who are typically women--claiming it ran out of money.

The year-old program, the Defense Department's Military Spouse Career Advancement Account (MyCAA), provided up to $6,000 in grants for college and other educational training programs to wives and husbands. About 98,000 people were involved in the program when it ended last week.

According to the Associated Press, these spouses greatly need additional education to boost their employment odds. Employers "are hesitant to hire military spouses," as their military connection often forces them to move an average of once every three years. In addition, "they often do not keep jobs long enough to earn promotions and raises." Indeed, the unemployment rate in 2008 for military spouses was three times higher than for civilians, according to the DoD.

Many spouses have expressed anger. The AP quotes Rebecca Duncan of Corpus Christi, Texas, the wife of a Navy sailor: "The DoD showed lack of respect for the spouses...To me this was a huge slap in our faces."

Because military spouses are mostly women (men comprise 86 percent of active duty soldiers and 83 percent of reservists), the development is particularly frustrating. American women already face tougher employment odds than their male counterparts in terms of salary and promotion, and military wives are likely to care for the family's children. These wives could truly use the cash. The DoD claims it could no longer afford the program. However, its 2010 budget, at $708 billion, is the largest ever since World War II, 33 percent higher than the biggest DoD budget during the Vietnam War. Much of the current budget funds the development and purchase of massive new weapons.

Several online hubs for military spouses, including MilSpouse.com and MilitaryWives.com, have posted updates on the MyCAA news. About 80 percent of 200 respondents to a MilSpouse.com poll have said their education plans were disrupted by the program's end.

The military, however, holds a weak track record for its efforts to improve conditions for women within the military world. Sexual assault of servicewomen within military ranks continues in huge numbers (check out this fact sheet from the Servicewomen Action Network here), and the military until recently refused emergency contraception to women soldiers.

The DoD has released little information on the future of the program. To continue the program, it could develop tougher standards of acceptance to the program or search for funds for the program elsewhere. If it chooses to definitively cancel the program, perhaps more Americans might wonder why the priorities of its military do not lie in the quality of life for its servicemen and women and their families, and what sort of military America values. -Jean