Our mission is to elevate military spouses and family members as uniquely qualified advocates and organizers on matters of foreign policy.
We are a group of proud military spouses, united by our love of country and commitment to service. We understand better than anyone the consequences that decisions over war and peace have here on the homefront. We are ready to make our voices heard.
Too often, military service is leveraged on the political stage to push for aggressive, hawkish policies. Not only is this the wrong direction for U.S. foreign policy, but it does not accurately reflect the sentiment of many of us in the military community.
Sending our troops into protracted conflicts is one of the exacerbating factors that drive many of the unique challenges facing our troops. Veterans suffer from a suicide rate that is double the civilian average. Frequent deployments and moves place undue stress on families, making it notoriously difficult for spouses to find gainful employment in their field. As a result, many families rely on WIC, and some use SNAP to make ends meet. Military children are more likely than their peers to receive a mental health diagnosis and suffer from higher levels of stress and anxiety.
No amount of Department of Defense-sponsored family support programming can solve these problems: we must instead focus on tackling the root causes of these issues. We need to end these forever wars and reprioritize diplomacy as our foreign policy tool of first resort.
This is a solvable problem.
We believe that mobilizing members of our military spouse community to vote and advocate is not only the right thing to do on principle, but an effective way of reshaping our country’s conversations around military intervention. Foreign policy decisions have consequences for our military families, which is why we deserve a voice at the table.
The Secure Families Initiative exists to train military spouses and family members on how to be effective spokespeople on these issues, and encourage them to share their stories fearlessly.