"Active spouse"

Military spouses are an interesting lot -- in some ways, even more than their service member husbands/wives. There are those who -- like mine -- prefer not to get involved too much, there are those who are active, and then there are those who are *euphemistically* referred to as "active spouses."

The company first sergeant has recently been dealing with just such an "active spouse." This person has expressed concern that their service member spouse is not being properly utilized in their career field, doesn't get out of work early enough, and needs to get out of work frequently to escort the children to appointments.

The heart of the issue -- in my opinion -- is that this spouse does not feel comfortable driving in Korea, doesn't want to deal with public transportation, and does not have a good network of relationships. It's understandable given we're all in a foreign country, but it's one of the things that makes command in Korea more difficult than in the continental U.S.

Dealing with "active spouses" can be risky. If you don't handle it correctly, they can call the inspector general's office and register a complaint, bringing unwanted attention to you unit. And considering how many spouses have prior military service themselves, many of them know just how the system works.

So we'll see how this pans out. Hopefully, we can get this spouse connected with the Family Readiness Group (FRG) before things work their way up the chain of command any farther.