Laura L. Miller

Advancing the Careers of Military Spouses: An Assessment of Education and Employment Goals and Barriers Facing Military Spouses Eligible for MyCAA

This document and trademark(s) contained herein are protected by law. This representation of RAND intellectual property is provided for noncommercial use only. Unauthorized posting of this publication online is prohibited. Permission is given to duplicate this document for personal use only, as long as it is unaltered and complete. Permission is required from RAND to reproduce, or reuse in another form, any of its research documents for commercial use. For information on reprint and linking permissions, please visit The RAND Corporation is a research organization that develops solutions to public policy challenges to help make communities throughout the world safer and more secure, healthier and more prosperous. RAND is nonprofit, nonpartisan, and committed to the public interest. RANDs publications do not necessarily reflect the opinions of its research clients and sponsors. Preface The My Career Advancement Account (MyCAA) is a Department of Defense (DoD) financial assistance program designed to help eligible military spouses pursue associ-ates degrees, occupational certificates, or licenses in portable career fields. The current version of the program dates from 2010. As part of an effort to understand the value of MyCAA and to identify options for improving it, the Office of the Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Military Community and Family Policy (MC&FP) asked the RAND Corporation to analyze data from DoDs 2012 Active Duty Spouse Survey (2012 ADSS) to learn about the education and employment goals and experiences of military spouses eligible for MyCAA. This research is part of a larger RAND project to address the design, monitoring , and evaluation of MC&FPs portfolio of Spouse Education and Career Opportunities (SECO) programs and initiatives. MC&FP sponsored the 2012 ADSS, which it developed with the Defense Manpower Data Center (DMDC). This research should be of interest to policymakers responsible for programs or oversight of programs supporting military spouse quality of life, as well as scholars who study military spouse issues. It may also interest scholars who study education and employment benefits more generally. Summary Since the move to an all-volunteer force, the U.S. military has increasingly recognized the importance of considering the well-being of families of military service members. The military services currently provide an array of services to support military families , including programs to assist spouses in pursuing their education and employment goals, child care assistance programs, and many others. Education-and employment-related programs are particularly important, given that military spouses face several unique challenges …

Today's Soldier: Assessing the Needs of Soldiers and Their Families

This report describes results of a unique survey approach to understanding the mostpressing problems that soldiers and their families face, the needs those problems generate, soldiers’ use of Army and non-Army resources to address their needs, and barriers to using those resources. It also reports soldiers’ perceptions of the effectiveness of the resources used and the implications of unmet needs for soldiers’ attitudes toward military service.