Salute to Spouses Blog

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Beware, reporters are everywhere!

To be fair, the command sergeant major did say he was available for questions.

He probably didn't count on having a spouse in the audience who was also a reporter.

At the Signal Corps Ball last week, the guest speaker, a command sergeant major, addressed the crowd and offered to answer questions afterwards. When he did, I leaned into my husband and said, ‘I’m going in’. He sighed and said, “I know.”

My question was simple: why has the Army failed to provide families with any information or guidance about the Qualitative Service Program process which serves to purge soldiers from the ranks who are not meeting performance standards?

There is confusion as to who is really on the chopping block. No guidance has been given to families regarding what happens once the soldier is pink-slipped. No one knows how many days, weeks or months they have until they are officially out of uniform. I’ve even heard spouses question whether or not the military would pay to ship their household goods as they move away from their current duty station and into civilian life.

For various reasons, I fully expect my husband to be among those considered for involuntary separation. When we learned this, I admit, we initially panicked. What did it mean? How long after the decision was made would we be out of the Army? Would he even receive retirement pay?

Luckily, my husband has been in the Army a long time and has made a lot of friends. He visited with a sergeant major who gave him the ins and outs of the program. We began making new plans for our future, several plans. And now I can confidently say we are ready to deal with the QSP or any other major change to his career.

Other families are not as certain. Other families I have heard from are terrified.

So my question to the command sergeant major that night was, “Why?”

Why should we have to search for the answers? Why can’t the Army give us the information we need to be successful; to end speculation and rumors; to do what we have always been told to do through deployments, PCS and field exercises: be prepared.

Instead, we have all been left in the dark grasping at ‘what ifs?”. That is no way to treat people who have endured multiple deployments and all the hardships that are inherent to being a military family.

This is no way to treat employees who have literally dedicated life and limb to the success of their employer.

We are all proud to have served. We are proud to have been military families. And we deserve to be part of the process and given a chance to prepare for what is ahead.

I suggested to the command sergeant major that the Army create something as simple as a fact sheet that lists what the QSP means, how long after receiving that designation that a soldier’s career officially ends and what the soldier and family is entitled to under the program. Language describing the program online is cumbersome and difficult to understand.

I don’t know if he will return to his office and take my suggestion to heart or if he will never offer himself up for questions at a military ball again.

What I do know is that military families are hurting and senior leaders hold the key to their success or failure. Knowledge is power. Please give us the knowledge, the information we need to take control over our futures and be prepared.

It will only make all of us better.

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