An official website of the United States government
A .mil website belongs to an official U.S. Department of Defense organization in the United States.
A lock (lock ) or https:// means you’ve safely connected to the .mil website. Share sensitive information only on official, secure websites.

Home : News : Article View
NEWS | Dec. 16, 2011

DOD sets goal to financially empower service members, families

By Elaine Sanchez American Forces Press Service

WASHINGTON - The need for quality financial education and protections for service members and their families will not diminish even as more than a decade of war begins to draw to a close, a Defense Department official said Tuesday.

"Even though the force will be transitioning - we hope, of course, out of a high-operations tempo - over the next five or six years, we can't presume our service members and their families will have more stability at the end of the day," said Robert L. Gordon III, deputy assistant secretary of defense for military community and family policy, to a group of financial experts.

Speaking at the Financial Fitness Forum here, Gordon stressed the importance for the Defense Department, other government agencies and financial institutions to continue working together to improve military families' financial well-being.

The forum was hosted by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's Office of Servicemember Affairs.

Representatives from a host of banks, defense credit unions and other financial organizations and institutions attended the forum to identify the most pressing financial issues service members and their families face and to brainstorm ideas to help them.

It's a young military force, Gordon noted, citing 46 percent of service members are 25 or younger. They start families younger than their civilian counterparts, and are highly mobile, moving every two to three years.

Youth combined with financial inexperience may expose service members to unfamiliar financial products with new terms and options, leaving service members to make decisions and take what's handed to them without a full understanding of conditions of product to accommodate their needs, Gordon said. "Who do they trust?"

Compounding the issue, the nation's been embroiled in economic turmoil over the past five years, and military families aren't immune, he said. Many families depend on two incomes, but spouses can have a tough time finding employment as they contend with a struggling economy, frequent moves and deployments.

As a result, military members may find themselves vulnerable to quick fixes and poor financial choices, Gordon said.

Gordon called on financial institutions to play a role in the military community's financial education so they're better equipped to make informed and judicious choices.

"We need assistance to help service members and their families take advantage of opportunities," he said. "We need to forge a partnership that educates and empowers them [and] it will take the commitment of everyone in this room."

Gordon cited the Defense Department's Military Spouse Employment Partnership as an example of a partnership that "will pay enormous dividends for military families."

The DOD has partnered with companies large and small, stateside and overseas, to offer spouses employment opportunities. The program includes banks and credit unions, Gordon noted.

The goal, he said, "is to help our spouses to not just gain a job, but the potential of an ongoing career."

Since the program's inception in June, MSEP has gained 96 partners - 11 from financial institutions - with more than 200 employers in the cue. Spouses can browse through more than 120,000 jobs located around the globe, Gordon said, noting more than 15,000 jobs - from a global account executive to a pastry chef - already went up on the website over the course of the morning.

"What a significant opportunity for our spouses to be able to find a career choice," he said. In the long term, aiding spouses with careers will help military families bridge a time of transition, he added, when a number of service members will be entering the workforce as veterans.

Above all, the aim is for service members and their families to remain resilient and to gain the tools so they can more confidently manage their financial affairs, Gordon said.

This will prove particularly important in today's fast-paced world where people can execute financial transactions on the go in mere seconds. "This environment of immediacy and access in many cases moves faster than our ability to educate and ensure proper policy protections," Gordon said.

"We not only need to update our message for the 21st century," he added. "We need to deliver that message with the tools and opportunities presented by the 21st century."

 

 

Related Articles
U.S. Soldiers assigned to the 108th Medical Company Area Support, 213th Regional Support Group prepare dummies for a simulated casualty evacuation at Fort Indiantown Gap, Pennsylvania, July 17, 2025. The 108th Medical Company engaged in a weeklong field medical exercise to validate their readiness and elevate their medical and basic Soldier skills. (U.S. Army National Guard photo by Capt. Christopher Booker)
Pennsylvania Guard Medics Simulate Chaos in Exercise
By Capt. Christopher Booker, | July 18, 2025
FORT INDIANTOWN GAP, Pa. - Soldiers assigned to the Pennsylvania National Guard's 108th Medical Company Area Support, 213th Regional Support Group, are engaged in a comprehensive two-week field medical exercise here.The...

Nevada Air National Guard's 152nd Maintenance Group and 152nd Logistics Readiness Squadron personnel load Modular Airborne Fire Fighting System (MAFFS) equipment onto MAFFS #8, aircraft #554 at the Nevada Air National Guard Base on July 12, 2025. U.S. Northern Command activated two Modular Airborne Fire Fighting System (MAFFS) Aircraft, one from the 152nd Airlift Wing out of Reno, Nevada, and one from the 146th Airlift Wing out of Channel Islands Air National Guard Station in California. Two C-130 aircraft equipped with MAFFS and their associated personnel will support firefighting efforts in the Western United States. The 152nd Airlift Wing’s “High Rollers” and 146th Airlift Wing's “Hollywood Guard” report on July 14, 2025, and will be initially based out of Channel Islands Air National Guard Base in California and are anticipated to be in place through August 14, 2025.
Nevada Air Guard Wing Assists in Firefighting Efforts
By Senior Master Sgt. Paula Macomber, | July 18, 2025
RENO, Nev. – U.S. Northern Command has activated two Modular Airborne Fire Fighting System Aircraft, one from the Nevada Air National Guard’s 152nd Airlift Wing out of Reno, Nevada, and one from the 146th Airlift Wing out of...

Air Force Gen. Steve Nordhaus, 30th Chief of the National Guard Bureau, and Senior Enlisted Advisor John Raines, SEA to the CNGB, join Texas Gov. Greg Abbott and Air Force Maj. Gen. Thomas Suelzer, the adjutant general of Texas, for an aerial assessment of flood-affected areas in Central Texas and to visit Guardsmen on duty supporting civil authorities with response efforts, Kerrville, Texas, July 15, 2025. To date, National Guard search and rescue operations, led by the Texas National Guard, have resulted in the rescue of more than 525 Texans. Hundreds of Guardsmen remain on mission to continue working with interagency partners in search and rescue and recovery operations.
Nordhaus, Raines see Heroism, Partnerships in Central Texas
By Master Sgt. Zach Sheely, | July 18, 2025
KERRVILLE, Texas – Early on July 4, almost 30 inches of rain fell within hours across Central Texas’s Hill Country, surging the Guadalupe River and triggering catastrophic flash flooding.Within hours, Texas National Guard...