Case Study: Similar to the civilian sector, managing the requirements of a career and a family can be challenging.  Some civilians are afforded the opportunity to work part-time if these obligations conflict.  As an active duty Soldier, this opportunity does not exist.  Allowing the aforementioned would create a readiness challenge.  Family considering whether to have children or not, women have the added concern of their family timelines with key development positions.  The lack of family friendly programs in the U.S. Army has women to exit the military- individuals who cold have added value to the organization.  The Army, like most organizations, understands the need to retain and groom the best talent to serve as its future leaders.  In order to accomplish this, it is essential that well-qualified individuals are not leaving the force because having a career and a family seems dichotomous.   
Over the past year, the DoD has taken tremendous steps toward retaining talented female military personnel and to set the conditions for women to be success.   Secretary of Defense, Ash Carter, has introduced the Force of the Future program as an initiative to ensure that the military recruits and retains top talent in the military, ultimately adding value to the organization.  Most organizations understand that their success and future depend on grooming the subsequent generation of leaders.  Add sentence tying family to success.  As such, this program is a positive move to balance work and family demands by engendering a more equitable military.  Some of the initiatives that pertain to gender equality and families are the Career Intermission Program, the Breastfeeding Policy, the new Maternity Leave Policy, expanded childcare services and more stability with assignments.  If the military culture changes to be more supportive of the force of the future program, these efforts will help bridge the career gap between male and female military personnel.In February 2016, Secretary Carter implemented a DoD-wide military maternity leave policy that provides 12 weeks of non-chargeable maternity leave. Prior to this policy, each service had their own maternity leave policy.  Soldier and Airmen were given six weeks of postpartum leave, while Sailors and Marines were given 18 weeks of postpartum leave.  Secretary Carter has also required that breastfeeding rooms be made available in all DoD facilities with more than 50 women.  Under his Force of the Future program, Secretary Carter has also increased child care access to 14 hours on military installations in an attempt to minimize the use of outside care providers, since on-post facilities do not adequately align with military work hours.  Secretary Carter is also empowering commanders to allow military members more time at a duty location when doing so does not interfere with the needs of the military; an additional service obligation will apply.   
The U.S. Army introduced the Career Intermission Pilot Program (CIPP) in 2015 if assigning an active duty soldier to a nonparticipating inactive status in order for the soldier to pursue professional or personal outside of the Army is an effective mean of enhancing retention (Army Human Resources Command, 2015).  This program essentially provides the opportunity for the Army to retain the experience and training of the soldier that would be lost if the soldier instead, exited the military.  This program would allow participants to remain in inactive status for up to three years.
The U.S. Army has made great strides in facilitating work life balance among active duty military personnel.  Through his Force of the Future initiative, Secretary Carter had served as a catalyst for implementing change in the military. As the military continues to build the future force, it is vital that the best talent is being retained.  

Read less