REGIONAL: Military spouses offered career grants

By: GARY WARTH - Staff Writer | Monday, March 24, 2008 6:55 PM PDT ∞

CAMP PENDLETON -- An age-old problem for military spouses who often have to leave jobs behind when their husbands or wives are transferred is being addressed in a new program that provides grants to learn in-demand careers.

Eligible spouses can receive $3,000 a year for up to two years to study health care, education, financial services, information technology or construction.

The U.S. Departments of Labor and Defense, which jointly funded the grants, have identified those industries as having high demand and portable jobs, meaning employees in those fields are likely to find work in many cities.

Linda Hoffman, an education specialist at Camp Pendleton who works in the Joint Education and Lifelong Learning Center, said portable jobs are valuable for workers with a military spouse who may be transferred at any time.

Learning a career as opposed to working in temporary jobs has been an appealing alternative for many spouses, said Hoffman, who estimated that about 100 people have applied for the grants since they began in January.

"This is the first program I've heard of that has made a concerted effort to teach the spouses," she said. "There are tons of scholarships and grants out there for family members, but none of them are run through the service."

The Military Spouse Career Advancement Account, set up by the two federal departments, funds the pilot program. The fund is offered in eight states during its first year, and in California the grants are available only to military personnel stationed in Camp Pendleton or Naval Base San Diego.

Grants are available for spouses of enlisted personnel in paygrades E-1 through E-5 and for spouses of officers in paygrades of O-1 through O-3.

In the Marines Corps, an E-5 is a sergeant and O-3 a captain. In the Navy, an E-5 is a second class petty officer and an O-3 is a lieutenant, but the pay designations cover many other ranks.

Applicants also must be married to a spouse with at least one year remaining on their assignment at Camp Pendleton or Naval Base San Diego.

Application forms are available at the Defense Activity for Nontraditional Education Support's Web site, www.dantes.doded.mil. Look for the red box that reads, "Military Spouse Career Advancement Account Information."

For Camp Pendleton spouses, completed forms should be brought to Building 13150, the Marine and Family Services Building, at 9 a.m. any Friday morning.

The grants can be used at any school offering certification programs, including Palomar College and Cal San University, San Marcos.

Wendy Evers, senior director of program development of the College of Extended Studies at San Diego State University, said about six people already have enrolled in certification classes through the grants.

"We received countless e-mails and phone calls," she said.

About 80 percent of the inquiries have been from Camp Pendleton spouses interested in taking the school's online courses, she said.

For more information on the program, call Sunita Alwerdt at (760) 725 6414.

-- Contact staff writer Gary Warth at (760) 740-5410 or gwarth@nctimes.com.

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