May 06, 2010 
Nearly 100 military spouses hailing from bases like Marine Corps Air Station Yuma, AZ and Grand Forks Air Force Base in North Dakota came to Capitol Hill to address issues affecting military spouses including: employment, education, deployments, families with special needs children, child care, children's education and health care.
Congresswoman Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-WA) chairs The Congressional Military Family Caucus and gave closing remarks after hearing the spouses' bucket list of suggestions for current and future legislation affecting the military family.
"Your outlook, experiences and day to day challenges are what we need to hear," said Rep. McMorris Rodgers.
Joy Dunlap, an Air Force spouse, moderated a portion of the spouse summit and said the group came prepared to discuss concerns and come up with real-world solutions.
"I found the spouses participating weren't entitlement oriented or me focused," said Dunlap. "They were looking at solutions, ones that can improve the quality of life for the military family member and impact readiness, retention and recruitment."
Some of the ideas included: Creating targeted Charter/DoDEA schools in under-performing areas, transitioning to full electronic medical records for military families, adequate funding for evidence-based behavioral health treatments for exceptional family members, and funding for the MyCAA (Military Spouse Career Advancement Account) program, an educational grant designed to help spouses advance or start portable careers.
Tania Mercurio, a Marine Corps spouse, attended the summit and hopes that the specific ideas put forth will resonate with members of Congress.
"As a military spouse who has relocated several times and changed careers numerous times, empowering military spouses with training and portable careers is very close to my heart," said Mercurio.
Stacey Hatfield, an IT professional and Army spouse, agrees with Mercurio. Both women are pushing for fast-tracking spouses' security clearances and preference for spouses who apply for on-base contracts or jobs.
"I think there are some unique solutions that could come out of this," said Hatfield.
Dunlap lauds the caucus for its past support of military family issues. Most recently, when MyCAA was abruptly halted in late April, the caucus sent a letter to Defense Secretary Gates expressing their support for the program and concerns with its sudden cancellation.
"Halting this program without notice is not the way to support those who sacrifice so much to make our military what it is today," the letter stated. MyCAA was eventually reinstated for spouses who were previously enrolled in the program.
"This caucus is engaged and active," said Dunlap. "And this is no exception."
Hatfield thinks participation showed otherwise, however. Rep. McMorris Rodgers was the only caucus member who attended the meeting.
"I would like to see more members of the Congressional leadership show up," said Hatfield. "It was a good beginning but there's a lot more work to be done."
The caucus was formed in late 2009 has 76 members on its rolls. Rep. McMorris Rodgers, whose husband served in the Navy for 26 years, chairs the caucus with Rep. Sandford D. Bishop (D-GA). The caucus' Facebook page states, "This new caucus will foster the interest of family members of the uniformed service members by educating Members and staff on resources the military provides as well as discuss the barriers that a military family faces."
Dr. Shelley MacDermid Wadsworth, a professor in the Department of Child Development and Family Studies at Purdue University and director of the Military Family Research Institute and the Center for Families, presented recent research on military families to the spouses. Wadsworth says most civilians are for the most part indifferent to the issues facing military families, despite the fact that our nation has been engaged in two wars for a decade.
"Unfortunately, there is little regular daily awareness of war," said Wadsworth. "And society's apathy shapes the experience for military families."
Wadsworth pledged to continue studying the military community and said that all her research does show one common factor among military families.
"There is a tsunami of research underway," said Wadsworth. "But one thing we do already know is that you are all resourceful, resilient and strong people."