If you are living the military or Veteran life, some of these results may come as no surprise. Others might be more surprising than you think. Even as an Army spouse of 17 years, these findings both resonate and surprise me. I am saddened by the number of military families who report experiencing food insecurity and who struggle to find suitable housing for their families, subsidizing their BAH benefit by spending thousands of dollars out of pocket for safe housing with good schools for their children. I see my neighbors, friends, and colleagues in the respondents who want to do whatever they can to support loved ones in crisis — through a deployment, miscarriage, health scare, or mental health crisis. I hear about families who rise to the challenge of finding affordable child care or mental health care for their children, only to relocate and start the search and the waitlist all over again. I celebrate the successes of military spouses who were able to maintain their remote employment through a relocation, starting off in a new duty station without having to leave their career behind. 

In case you missed it, you can catch the release event and the Data Deep Dives, where our research team discusses the findings and where we go next, in The Neighborhood.

Now comes the important part — sharing these findings with change-makers to continue the work. Military leaders at all levels, legislative representatives, local, state, and national governments, military- and Veteran-serving organizations, employers, and many others all have a role to play in supporting and strengthening our All-Volunteer Force. We are sharing these findings with all these stakeholders and more, so that they can incorporate the voices of real military and Veteran families in their policies and programs — to better support YOU. 

But there’s more! On May 2nd, we’ll release a special report drawn from the 2022 MFLS data that you shared with us: Building Bridges to Belonging for Military Families of Color. In it, the second report in our Campaign for Inclusion Research Series, we will highlight the community attributes that help build, or undermine, that critical sense of belonging to a community, as well as the impact experiences that racially/ethnically-motivated discrimination has on community belonging and willingness to recommend military service to young family members. 

It is an honor to be entrusted with the experiences and stories of so many of my fellow military and Veteran families. I know how precious your time is, and I sincerely thank you for sharing it with me and our Blue Star Families’ team! I look forward to hearing what you have to say next when our 2023 MFLS launches on May 24th!

Jessica Strong
Senior Director of Applied Research