Military Family Friendly
Employer Partnership Initiative
Employer Partnership Initiative
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Initiative Background
Initiative Background
Caldie Rogers, President/CEO, Greater Marysville Tulalip Chamber of Commerce
In 2006 I received a tearful call from a young lady that I have had the privilege to help raise and mentor through the years.
She holds a Bachelor’s and a Masters in International Business backed by a stellar eight year career path filled with achievement and awards. She recently married an Air Force Officer with exciting orders to start their new life in a new duty assignment.
She mounted an advance job search as they prepared their new life together and had two major companies competing to hire her as they arrived to their new duty station. So why the tears?
Both companies withdrew their job offers and both companies denounced her for having wasted their time upon learning that she was now a military family member.
She started over sending out almost a hundred carefully researched job inquiries. Used to receiving a 95 percent response to her resumes, she received none.
She went to the local post office and asked if she replaced her base with the local city, would she be able to receive mail. They said YES and she did so, returning quickly to her customary 95% employer response rate, but only in the end to be summarily dismissed during her each and every interview once they discovered that she was now a military family member.
Even more disheartening were the employment signs in windows throughout that community announcing job openings but also including the announcement that Military dependents need not apply.
I began to research and soon discovered that this has been the scenario facing military spouses for literally decades.
Was this not "hiring discrimination" - providing military spouses recourse under federal law? NO. They have no recourse.
The Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act (USERRA) protects civilian jobs and career tracks of service members only - not their family members.
This was in April 2006. The following month I had lunch with Rear Admiral French, Captain Gardner and CMDR. Leingang where I shared this story - sadly, to no surprise from them. Indeed, I learned that this silent but active prejudice has haunted our Armed Forces for years, has become one of the top major concerns facing our Armed Forces today - and which now has expanded, since 911, to include Reservists.
And so here we are today, ready to launch a campaign to ensure that Snohomish County, as a new Military Community, does not follow the path of seasoned military communities - that we, with a booming economy and urgent need for talented workforce, can and will today and for all our tomorrows welcome and utilize the amazing talent and skill of our Military family members.
Let me end with this:
Every branch of service has Special Forces, and everyone calls them the “Silent Professionals”
But remember from the battlefields of the Revolutionary War, to those of the Civil War - from manning the trenches of World War I, to hitting the beaches of World War II - from enduring the freezing mountain tops of Korean to running the jungles of Viet Nam, to standing the line in the desert today - It was as true then as it is now.
That the resilience of those left behind manning the home front free these brave men and women to focus upon the defense of our great nation - directly contributing to the success of the most powerful military force in the world to date.
Perhaps, the true mark of a “Silent Professional” is not always those who go to war after all, but rather to those who stay behind.
For this reason we dedicate ourselves to ensuring that Snohomish County is and will remain Military Family Friendly.
Caldie Rogers, President/CEO, Greater Marysville Tulalip Chamber of Commerce
In 2006 I received a tearful call from a young lady that I have had the privilege to help raise and mentor through the years.
She holds a Bachelor’s and a Masters in International Business backed by a stellar eight year career path filled with achievement and awards. She recently married an Air Force Officer with exciting orders to start their new life in a new duty assignment.
She mounted an advance job search as they prepared their new life together and had two major companies competing to hire her as they arrived to their new duty station. So why the tears?
Both companies withdrew their job offers and both companies denounced her for having wasted their time upon learning that she was now a military family member.
She started over sending out almost a hundred carefully researched job inquiries. Used to receiving a 95 percent response to her resumes, she received none.
She went to the local post office and asked if she replaced her base with the local city, would she be able to receive mail. They said YES and she did so, returning quickly to her customary 95% employer response rate, but only in the end to be summarily dismissed during her each and every interview once they discovered that she was now a military family member.
Even more disheartening were the employment signs in windows throughout that community announcing job openings but also including the announcement that Military dependents need not apply.
I began to research and soon discovered that this has been the scenario facing military spouses for literally decades.
Was this not "hiring discrimination" - providing military spouses recourse under federal law? NO. They have no recourse.
The Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act (USERRA) protects civilian jobs and career tracks of service members only - not their family members.
This was in April 2006. The following month I had lunch with Rear Admiral French, Captain Gardner and CMDR. Leingang where I shared this story - sadly, to no surprise from them. Indeed, I learned that this silent but active prejudice has haunted our Armed Forces for years, has become one of the top major concerns facing our Armed Forces today - and which now has expanded, since 911, to include Reservists.
And so here we are today, ready to launch a campaign to ensure that Snohomish County, as a new Military Community, does not follow the path of seasoned military communities - that we, with a booming economy and urgent need for talented workforce, can and will today and for all our tomorrows welcome and utilize the amazing talent and skill of our Military family members.
Let me end with this:
Every branch of service has Special Forces, and everyone calls them the “Silent Professionals”
But remember from the battlefields of the Revolutionary War, to those of the Civil War - from manning the trenches of World War I, to hitting the beaches of World War II - from enduring the freezing mountain tops of Korean to running the jungles of Viet Nam, to standing the line in the desert today - It was as true then as it is now.
That the resilience of those left behind manning the home front free these brave men and women to focus upon the defense of our great nation - directly contributing to the success of the most powerful military force in the world to date.
Perhaps, the true mark of a “Silent Professional” is not always those who go to war after all, but rather to those who stay behind.
For this reason we dedicate ourselves to ensuring that Snohomish County is and will remain Military Family Friendly.
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