Today my husband came home and told me he’d been offered his indefinite period of service. More commonly referred to as IPS, this contract is usually offered sometime in military members’ third to last year of their twenty year career.
So what does being offered this IPS thing mean? It says, in writing, that the member is guaranteed employment with the military until age 60. So, unless my husband breaks some big rules, he has a job until he doesn’t want to have a job anymore.
It’s a good feeling in this age of downsizing corporations and cutbacks in all areas of employment that we’ve got the security of a job for many years to come. I suppose we could look at it as a sign that those who need to go to war in some fashion are never really out of a job, but with two girls who will eventually need to go to university you’ll have to pardon me if I find myself looking on the bright side.
I will admit that having a husband working for the military does have its disadvantages. I think every military wife has cursed her husband’s job at one time or another. Whether it is because our spouses have to go away for so long or we’re forced to move yet again. It is a demanding job and takes over so much of your life at times that it really does become a lifestyle.
Yes, it does have its downside but knowing that my husband is doing something good with his career and that he’s able to do it (and pay the bills!) for another twenty years is comforting. I guess this means I too have signed my own IPS, as I’ve just been guaranteed the position of military wife for another twenty years. I’ll take it…but I wonder if I should have held out for a signing bonus. 🙂