In addition to culture and etiquette, the Navy teaches spouses to speak the host nation’s primary language.
According to ISC Kim Michael, attaché affairs chief for the Office of Naval Intelligence, the Navy expects a lot more from spouses than most Navy jobs.
“Anyone applying for the operations assistant job with family members needs to be aware that the family must go through the same security checks and top secret security clearance investigation as the candidates,” said Michael. After all, according to Michael, wherever the Sailors are, so are their family members, so the security concerns are the same.
According to Michael, there are other benefits if you’re an operations assistant including: some billets count as sea duty; you may receiving special duty assignment pay or language pay (if applicable) there’s a civilian clothes allowance; complete immersion in a foreign culture as an education; small offices with short chains of command. For applicants with family members, spouses attend language and spouse training. In most cases government quarters are provide; and all children receive fully-funded educations through DOD, usually at the best schools in the country.
Ambassador Mull offered the following insight into why a Sailor may want to choose embassy duty:
“An OPSCO’s position offers a lot of variety in who you work with and how, more than on most bases,” said Mull. “I think OPSCOs get a chance to broaden their skills and their experience, for onward assignments or for positions after they retire from the Navy. It’s also a chance to live abroad with the benefits of being part of an American community, so it’s not too alien, and to work with and live among the local population, so it’s more challenging and exciting. And, while many Sailors might prefer to be at sea, sometimes it’s time to stay on dry land for a while,” Mull added.”
