Career Advancement Accounts for Military Spouse Education and Training

While you are serving in the defense forces it is necessary to prepare yourself for a post military career should you decide to leave the forces at some point in the future. In the initial stages adjusting to a civilian life and work place is more often than not painful and involves a lot of problems for separated military people. Keeping this in view you must plan your transition to civilian career while still in military service. To let you adapt to civilian like in a better way the government has various assistance programs that allow you to earn a college degree, gain vocational skills or get technical education in your free time while you continue serving the nation. Innovative technological advancements in computers and the Internet allow you to undertake educational programs from any place in the world through the distance-learning mode that you can complete at your own pace. Subject to certain conditions the government takes care of all your training and educational expenses in order to give you every opportunity to prepare yourself for a desirable post military career.

In pursuance of these objectives the government also provides assistance to spouses of serving personnel who want to prepare themselves for high demand careers that can greatly help the serviceman family’s transition to civilian life and also provide military spouses with jobs following military moves as long as the member remains in service. There are a number of accredited institutions in the country that offer educational and training courses to military spouses under the CAA (Career Advancement Accounts) that funds the educational expenses of military spouses of active duty military personnel under the Military Spouse Career Advancement Initiative.

The CAA program is geared to provide military spouses with portable career opportunities. A ‘portable career’ is one that has a credential which is recognized in several states and for which job opportunities can be found across the nation. A number of ‘high demand occupations’ that exist in several ‘high growth industries’ for military spouses have been identified by the Department of Defense and the Department of Labor. These are selected high growth industries, which are expected to add a large number of jobs to the economy. These are industries that offer the widest scope in portable careers.
The high demand occupations within these industries are growing at a pace much faster than average creating high employee demand.

Five industries have been identified by the government and categorizes as ‘hi-growth’. These include Financial Services, Health Care, Information Technology, Construction and Education.

Given below is a list of portable careers under each separate category. The list is not exhaustive but provides a fair idea of available job opportunities for qualified military spouses and is important from the point of eligibility for funding under Career Advancement Accounts.  Any occupation under these industries is eligible for CAA funding.

Financial Services:- Credit Analyst, Claims Adjusters, Bookkeeping, Accounting and Auditing Clerks, Bank Teller, Tax preparer etc.
Health Care:- Dental Hygienist, Radiology Technician, Practical/Vocational Nurse, Pharmacy Technician etc.
Information Technology:- Database Administrator, Data Communications Analyst, Computer Support Specialist etc.
Construction:- Pipe fitters, Steamfitters, HVAC mechanics and Installers, etc.  
Education:- Teacher's Aide/Assistant, Child Care Worker etc.

Some occupations outside the above industries but falling under the CAA ‘in-demand occupations’ are also eligible for CAA funding support.