Author: Danielle Medolla, 2014 Armed Forces Insurance Coast Guard Spouse of the Year
Just yesterday while taking about the Department of Homeland Security funding issues I candidly said to my co-worker “If I had the opportunity to meet and actually speak with President Obama or Congress, I would ask them ‘Why don’t you love the Coast Guard?’”
I was being very egocentric at the time but also very truthful. Since my husband’s enlistment (shortly after the formation of the Department of Homeland Security under which the Coast Guard falls) the words “shut down, furlough and budget cuts” have become everyday language in our life. Now as a Coast Guard civilian employee, the lapse in funding will mean that come March we will have a monthly income of ZERO until this is rectified.
Throughout history the Coast Guard has always been a service that has done more with less. We take hand me downs from other services to decrease spending and to be mindful of budgets. Our families play second fiddle to the other larger branches of the Armed Services, YES the Armed Services. The United States Coast Guard is ONE of the SIX Armed Forces. It is our unique humanitarian missions that our service performs that allow us to also be a part of the Department of Homeland Security.
Because of this the Coast Guard was not only affected by the government shut down in 2013, but again today we wait for Congress and the President to come to a compromise that will fund our Coast Guard….
Read more on Military.com’s SpouseBuzz blog here.
