Army Spouse Employment

[WMMCDNLD1]

I will be entering medical school next fall and I'm currently trying to decide if the HPSP is right for me/ my family. It seems like there is A LOT to digest in regards to the current status and future changes to milmed specifically dealing with GME. While I am keeping all that in mind I was hoping someone could elaborate on how flexible the Army is with a spouse's job. My fiance will have been practicing optometry for three years by the time I start residency. We are concerned that I could get ordered to locations where she would have a hard time finding work. So how does the Army view/handle a situation like with this? Are there any military physicians on here who's spouse is a civilian health professional?

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[colbgw02]

The Army won't care. At all.

 

[deleted480308]

I will be entering medical school next fall and I'm currently trying to decide if the HPSP is right for me/ my family. It seems like there is A LOT to digest in regards to the current status and future changes to milmed specifically dealing with GME. While I am keeping all that in mind I was hoping someone could elaborate on how flexible the Army is with a spouse's job. My fiance will have been practicing optometry for three years by the time I start residency. We are concerned that I could get ordered to locations where she would have a hard time finding work. So how does the Army view/handle a situation like with this? Are there any military physicians on here who's spouse is a civilian health professional?

There will be literally no consideration

 

[WMMCDNLD1]

Post residency how small are the cities I could be stationed at? What sparked the concern was reading about these BFE, skill atrophy sites where guys are driving over and hour to do moonlighting on leave. In cities the size of Clarkville or Augusta she should be able to find work no problem, but less than 100k population seems to complicate that.

 

[colbgw02]

Post residency how small are the cities I could be stationed at? What sparked the concern was reading about these BFE, skill atrophy sites where guys are driving over and hour to do moonlighting on leave. In cities the size of Clarkville or Augusta she should be able to find work no problem, but less than 100k population seems to complicate that.

One of the side effects of BRAC is that the remaining posts are larger. Even Killeen, TX, which isn't exactly the center of the universe, is well over 100K in population. Legitimately isolated Army installations aren't too common anymore, but Ft. Polk comes to mind, for example. Now whether your SO would be happy living in Killeen, TX, or Fairbanks, AK, for a few years is a different question entirely.

The bottom line is that any spouse of a servicemember should expect to have substantial limitations placed on his/her career, assuming the couple remains collocated. It's an often overlooked downside, both financially and otherwise, when considering the military.

 

[Matthew9Thirtyfive]

The military often doesn’t even care when its dual mil. They will take it into consideration when it’s not inconvenient for them. But be assured, they will not hesitate to put you somewhere that makes her employment super inconvenient or impossible.

 

[BC_89]

Just about to leave active duty myself. As others stated, Army will never consider anything concerning a working spouse. When you sign the dotted line, the Army is your spouse.

That being said, I’ve seen some physicians able to pull off a short term civilian contract for the significant other, and many others could not.
If service is something you seek, sign the dotted line. If family time and dual job security is more important, just eat the loans. I’ve seen people support each other and others divorced. If any fact exists it’s that the Army will get its money’s worth out of you and then some.

 

[Gastrapathy]