Ok. I've had enough. I've got to get this out so I can get back to my schoolwork. The decision of the Department of Defense (DoD) on Tuesday afternoon has me incredibly pissed off, along with alot of other military spouses I might add. This is not something that should go undiscussed or un-noticed.
A few years back the DoD established a program to help military spouses receive an education in a portable career field because the vast majority of our families move every 2 to 4 years. The program is called MyCAA, which stands for Career Advancement Account, and would provide a total of $6,000 in scholarship monies paid directly to your university. The payments are made on a term by term basis and there is a small amount of paper work that must be exchanged before the dispersal before each new term.
Great sounding program, right? We spouses thought so. Something to help us better help our own families, and quite honestly I know many of us viewed it as a thank you and recognition of OUR sacrifices for our spouses military service; something that far to often goes thankless and unrecognized.
Well, as of Tuesday afternoon at 4:00 p.m. EST, the DoD suspended the program indefinitely leaving thousands of military spouses worldwide with no way to pay for classes for their next term. They're either having to re-arrange classes such as I did (and take less than I intended), drop out all together, or pay out of pocket (which many of us can not afford to do) thus increasing our debt.
The DoD yanked the rug out from under our feet with no warning at all. It's a slap in the face!!! It also speaks to how little the DoD values or considers the sacrifices our spouses and our families make for the members service!!! You can read the announcement HERE There was no notice to those who had accounts already and were receiving MyCAA funding. No email. No nothing. I found out about it through a facebook military group I belong to for CRYING OUT LOUD!!!! Are you kidding me???
The nice little announcement put out by the DoD linked above makes it sound as if you've already been accepted into the program and receiving aid, that you won't be affected. Nothing could be farther from the truth. Remember that little bit of paper work I mentioned above that had to be completed after registering for each term? What they should have stated is this: If you have already completed and received your certification award number for your upcoming term, you won't be affected. If this is not the case then you are shit out of luck until the program is re-instated.
The DoD could have evaluated the program and continued to provide funding until the evaluation was completed, warning us spouses that changes may be coming and providing us with options to explore for additional funding resources, should they be needed. The DoD could have given us at the very least a warning, say two weeks, that the program was going to be suspended indefinitely and providing us with the above mentioned information.
I am really angry that I had to scramble and make hasty decisions about what I was going to do for my next term. I am really angry for every single other spouse out there who has found themselves in the same situation. And what angers me the most is that I know many spouses who are parents of children with autism who were using this scholarship to return to school and obtain either a new degree or certification which would enable them to provide services to children with autism across the board. Some were working on obtaining their BCBA certification, some were seeking a Registered Dietician licensure, you get the idea. And one of those spouses was me.
As I said in a comment earlier, it's a good thing the bozo who made this decision isn't sitting across the table from me. He or she would have a freaking pie in their face. On second thought, I wouldn't dream of wasting a good pie on the likes of them.
Now if you'll excuse me I have to figure out how to return the textbook for the class that I dropped today because of all of this. It's supposed to arrive today.
Thanks for the slap in the face DoD. Gee, do I need to worry about my kids healthcare being taken away next? Because Tricare and it's uneven distribution of stated provided services across regions could certainly use an evaluation and adjustment.
Again, thanks for the slap in the face. And for anyone interested in joining the facebook group of Pissed Off Military Spouses started because of this issue - here is the link http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=309235428847&ref=mf
