While the military culture is a subculture of America, the military spouse community is a subculture of the military. Similar to our military kids, these subcultures experience a unique perspective separate from what service members and government employees experience. While they are not employees and (mostly) aren’t regulated by the institution, their relationship with the Department of Defense has a history of confusion, expectations, entanglement, and deeply personal experiences. It is unfortunately too easy to make their voice secondary, secondary to the mission, and secondary to our priorities and interests. And yet, we are told we are the backbone of force readiness. To skip over the spouse chapters in the book as well as this episode only enforces that narrative. So I’m inviting you to lean in. The best way to discuss the spouse chapters of the book was to bring in a multi-generational spouses roundtable with various experiences. Ending Credits song is "Cool" by active duty Army service member Tyler Smith. This podcast is based on the book Military Culture Shift by clinical consultant and SME on military family culture, Corie Weathers.  Order your copy of Military Culture Shift https://militaryfamilybooks.com/products/military-culture-shift-by-corie-weathers Listen to Corie's Lifegiver Podcast https://corieweathers.podbean.com/ Find out more about how you can work with and contact Corie https://www.corieweathers.com