The U.S. Coast Guard Tuesday announced it will begin reimbursing spouses of Coast Guard servicemembers for qualified relicensing costs incurred by them due to the transfer of an active duty servicemember to another state, U.S. territory or the District of Columbia.
The term “qualified relicensing costs” means costs, including examination and registration fees, imposed by the state of the new duty station to secure a license or certification to engage in the same profession the servicemember’s spouse engaged in while in the state of the original duty station.
This reimbursement is authorized by the 2018 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA). Since the NDAA was signed Dec. 12, 2017, the Coast Guard will allow spouses to back-file for reimbursement back to that date.
“Spouses, just like our servicemembers, endure many sacrifices during the course of a military career,” said Adm. Matthew Sibley, assistant commandant for Human Resources. “These sacrifices are especially hard on a spouse’s career with the frequency of military moves. We are pleased to provide our military spouses with the Coast Guard License and Certification Reimbursement Program to assist them with easing their own career transitions.”
The Coast Guard has roughly 2,500 working spouses of servicemembers, with about 10 to 20 percent of them in occupations requiring a type of state licensing for their professional credentials (doctors, nurses, teachers, massage therapists, hairdressers, attorneys, etc.). This key initiative is just one way the Coast Guard is working to better support the total workforce and their families as they transition to a new place to live.
For more information on the Coast Guard’s reimbursement process, please go to https://dcms.uscg.mil/military/Spouse-License-Reimbursement.
