Author of When the War Came Home: The Inside Story of Reservists and the Families They Leave Behind (2006).

Founder/Director of Sanctuary Weekends™ for Women Veterans

Campaign Creator and Director of:

• Oregon State Military Family Leave Act (H.B. 2744; effective June 2009)
• Proposal to establish a Oregon State Military Family Advisory Council
• Federal Military Family Leave Act of 2009 (HR. 3257; S 1441)
• Federal Military Family Mental Health Care Improvement Act of 2010 (seeking sponsors)

Recipient of the Patriotic Employer Award, National Guard Commission for the Employer Support of the Guard & Reserve, April 2009.

Thank you to Congressman Adam Smith for sponsoring H.R. 3257, and to the House Veterans Affairs Subcommittee on Economic Opportunity for considering this important bill to support the families of the troops who are serving or will serve in the war on terror, and other combat deployments.  In a few short months, another 30,000 troops will be deploying for Afghanistan - again.  The majority of those troops are married with children; most of the spouses left behind work outside the home.  Many of us have to choose between work and family when our loved one deploys.  It’s an impossible choice, and one that military families should never be asked to make when America is at war.

Changes to the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) allow military families to take time off for a number of reasons connected with a deployment, but the law protects only a very few military family members.  Most of us, who work for smaller companies, or work part-time, or are seasonal or contract labor, or, because of a recent PCS, have less than one year on the job, aren’t eligible under current law. H.R. 3257 would offer protection so that we are able to spend much-needed time with our loved ones immediately prior to, during, and/or after deployment, without fear of losing our jobs, or being forced to choose between work and family. 

My husband is a Sergeant First Class with the Army National Guard, and his Brigade spent several months training at Ft. McCoy, Wisconsin, more than a thousand miles away from home and family, prior to shipping out for a second tour in Iraq.  I had recently moved to southern Oregon to accept a new position in order to implement programs to help military families and veterans. I had been on the job at this small non-profit agency for a few months, and didn’t have any sick leave or vacation time available.  It would be more than one year before I saw my husband again.

If we support the troops, and by extension, military families, then passing the Military Family Leave Act of 2009 H.R. 3257, to provide 14 days of unpaid leave per deployment for immediate military family members, should be at the top of this nation’s to-do list.  Because when the soldier goes to war, so does the family.  And when the veteran comes home, family support is the single most critical factor in successful reintegration.  The demands of the war on terror and the demographics of the 21st Century military are very different from the past, and adapting to those realities must, by definition, include expanding support for military families.

For the first years of the Vietnam War, married men were exempt from the draft, and for the duration of the war, married men with children were given deferments so that they wouldn’t be deployed as it would constitute too much of a hardship on the families.  During Vietnam, the majority of troops were single soldiers serving one tour, and comparatively few citizen soldiers served in combat.  Today, the bulk of the boots on the ground in Iraq and Afghanistan are married.  They have served, or are serving, multiple tours; and most of them have children.  Around 40 percent are citizen soldiers. 

The men and women in uniform are serving longer and more frequent tours than ever asked of the military in this nation’s history.  And so are their families.

Here’s a comment from a military wife about why we need a Military Family Leave Act now:

I have heard too many times now of women who have had no cooperation from their employers for time off before their husbands have deployed, or no time off when their husbands come home for R&R or are home for good. Women have had to make the choice sometimes of quitting their jobs in order to have that time with their husbands and in today's economy that may not be the best choice for some families.

And another:

I think it is a great idea. I have had friends treated poorly over asking for time off when their hubbies were coming home from 15 month deployments...and friends who subsequently quit their jobs in order to get that time that is well-deserved and much needed. I just can't believe any normal person wouldn't understand the importance of this time!!!

One more:

I just want to say yes, it is about time we need a federal military leave act. My husband left in October last year on his second tour to Iraq. I went to see him for four days at Fort Dicks, N.J., and I almost lost my job because of it. I had to fight for it after calling upper management and the mayor’s office they finally backed off. There is still a lot of tension at work and he will be home in June for his 2 weeks and I am already fighting the time off as we speak. They always ensure that they support the troops and my husband but they are sorry I can’t have the time off.  I hope it passes so I won’t have to worry about spending time with him and our children in the future. I just wanted to say thank you and I agree with you a 100%. - Mandy Trujillo, Portland, Oregon

Two weeks:  that’s what we’re talking about.  For the businesses that would be affected, it’s a tiny sacrifice to help shoulder the burden of war borne exclusively by our troops and their families for nearly nine years.  But for the military family members that would be affected, 14 days would be a great gift.  And, for some of us, the reality is that our soldier will come home in a box.  In the very worst case scenario, we would spend the rest of our lives wishing for those last two weeks of time with our beloved.  Two weeks.  Surely America’s military families deserve that.