Gov. Josh Stein signed an executive order last week aimed at strengthening North Carolina’s military communities by coordinating efforts in improving communication and disseminating information to the military and their families.
He talked about the importance of recognizing service members during Military Appreciation Month at a press conference.
“North Carolina is home to the fourth largest military presence in the nation, including the most populated Army base in the world, and the largest East Coast base for the Marines,” Stein, a Democrat, said. “We’re also home to more than 90,000 active-duty military personnel, more than 40,000 National Guard and reserve members, more than 600,000 military veterans, and nearly 150,000 military family members. Service men and women choose a career that separates them from their families and can put them directly in harm’s way, and they do it because they are patriots who love this country and the values that it stands for.”
He added that the state owes them profound gratitude and is committed to becoming the best state in the nation for veterans and military family members.
The executive order, the governor said, builds on and modernizes two prior orders from 2012 and 2013 by recognizing the central role of the state’s Department of Military and Veterans Affairs (NCDMVA) in coordinating the state support of service members. Under the order, each cabinet agency will designate a military affairs coordinator, including Council of State agencies.
The military affairs coordinator in each agency will have two main jobs: being knowledgeable about their agency’s work that could impact service members and their families, and coordinating with the NCDMVA and other agencies about shared efforts to support service members. The NCDMVA will convene each agency’s military affairs coordinator regularly to develop strategies for tackling gaps in state services to the military and their families.
Secretary of NC Military and Veterans Affairs Jocelyn Mitnaul Mallette stressed the importance of the military’s presence in North Carolina as it is the second largest sector of North Carolina’s economy and touches every aspect of the state’s communities, including health care, education, housing, and workforce development.
“We cannot be one of the most military friendly states based on population and number of installations alone,” she said. “It takes intentional coordination and collaboration at all levels and within all sectors to ensure that we are supporting our service members and their families, the installations they call home, and the surrounding communities who ensure their readiness because they deserve it and because our national security depends on it… This executive order is another step toward North Carolina truly being the No. 1 state for military and veterans, and I want to thank my colleagues in the cabinet for their dedication to these communities.”
Blake Bourne, CEO of Veterans Bridge Home, a former army officer who served two deployments to Iraq and completed his service at Fort Bragg, also spoke about the need for better communication and connectedness for the military, veterans, and their families when receiving needed information.
“We have the people, we have the institutions, and we have the commitment to be the best state in the nation for veteran and military families, and the challenge is not a lack of goodwill,” he said. “It’s fragmentation. “Too often service members, veterans, and their families don’t know where to start, don’t know where to turn, or are challenged to navigate the myriads of programs, and at Veterans Bridge home. I’ve seen this firsthand.”
Stein also mentioned that over the past year, he signed into law three bipartisan bills to support veterans and their families including: helping military spouses transfer their professional licenses from out of state, making it easier to remotely renew drivers’ licenses, aiding parents enrolling their children in public schools, and helping military students afford tuition in the University of North Carolina System.
He also discussed an initiative started in August about making North Carolina a Do Your Part state, a joint initiative between Blue Star Families and the National Governors Association that supports military families.