Being a “dependent” is the worst.

Military spouses get a bad rap for being “dependas” and mooching off their service member.

I am a fiercely independent woman and being called a “dependent” makes me vomit in my mouth every time I hear the word.

This week, I discovered that my dependent ID card recently expired as I was trying to access the installation we live on. Being the independent woman that I am, I go to the ID card office website to schedule an appointment, and in ALL CAPS with exclamation points I discover that I am not allowed to make an appointment without my sponsor… AKA my husband.

Newsflash Army… I am not dependent on anyone. I do not need my husband to babysit me when I wait in line for an ID card. Calling spouses “dependent” is the worst possible label ever.

“Dependent” is one of many stereotypes that military spouses must fight before they ever walk into the door of an employer.

There are benefits to hiring military spouses, and the “benefits” such as healthcare they recieve through their service member is one of them. Emerald has a thing or two to say about that in a minute.

Meet Emerald Trejo.

Emerald Trejo is a Software Developer who currently works remotely for a growing cyber security start up based in Chicago. She codes in Python and Bash, loves automating programs and collaboratively working with her colleagues.

I know Emerald from LinkedIn where she comes highly recommended from her peers, both milspouses and non military spouses alike.

You can follow Emerald on LinkedIn.

“What benefit do you believe military spouses bring to the workforce?”

I asked Emerald, “What benefit do you believe military spouses bring to the workforce?” and here is what she said:

“Military Spouses are very exclusive and special kind of individuals. The best word to describe spouses (which drives the Software Engineering World as well): Agile.

Our lives aren’t straightforward where we can establish a routine as most families. We adapt to change and the circumstances that surround them. We as spouses, are forced to think and plan ahead in anticipation of multiple circumstances because we are always uncertain what the Military will move and take us next.

From June 2019-August 2020 I had moved between 5 residences. What this taught me was a few things: how to handle pressure when the going gets really tough (being away from my spouse), how to utilize my time to benefit my work in the most productive way (this included finding a new job in our next PCS Station while working full time), and how to stay calm. These are all really important traits that come with being a military spouse that benefit employers the most.

What else can be said about military spouses? We are low cost employees! We have some of the best healthcare being supported by our spouses, we can work remote from across the world so employers wont need to invest in office space for us and since we are such hardworking resilient human beings we put in more work effort into a work day to really highlight our skills.” ~Emerald Trejo