“Navy Wife: Toughest Job in The Navy,” goes the old adage about military spouses. Many of us have a mental image of that teary-eyed young wife standing on the pier in her flower-print dress hoping to catch a last glimpse of her husband as he sails toward the horizon. She struggles to maintain her composure as the baby in her arms begins to cry and the 3-year-old tugs at her dress vying for attention. She would soon return home to her life as a homemaker-turned-head of household. Although this scene is replayed hundreds of times a month in ports throughout America, military spouses have changed considerably over the years. In fact, that Color-by-Deluxe mental movie is less true as more military spouses pursue their own careers -- and nearly 10% of them are men.

Many military spouses are well-educated professionals with high expectations for their own careers. Unfortunately, the exceptionally mobile military lifestyle (read “7 moves in 20 years”) can wreak havoc on even the most promising career. With many military households relying on dual incomes and spouses justifiably harboring career aspirations, the military clearly faces lower retention rates unless those spouses can pursue a rewarding civilian career. Although there are no ways to eliminate this challenge altogether, America's work force has been changing, too -- creating tremendous, novel opportunities for this talented pool.

For example, Barb Chiles wakes up at 0330 every morning to make coffee for her husband, ready her kids for school, and write the news headlines for millions of Americans. Barb is the news editor at Military.com and has been one of my most valued employees during her three-year tenure at the company. In fact, I suspect she may be one of the best news editors in the country, and I'm thankful to have her on the team. It may surprise you to learn, however, that I have only met Barb once. She's the wife of an active-duty Coast Guard petty officer and, until recently, lived in San Juan, Puerto Rico. Despite the distance and lack of face-to-face contact, Barb is intimately involved with all aspects of the company.

The Internet created much more than just e-mail and websites, it fundamentally changed the way the world goes to work. It has enabled telecommuting on a vast scale, and its impact is seen by small companies and multinationals alike. Companies are increasingly virtual, allowing their employees to contribute from anywhere in the world. Additionally, corporate America realizes that by allowing their employees greater flexibility, they can obtain a higher quality team-member than they might otherwise have been able to recruit and can retain them longer.

The Internet allows real-time communication and contribution from anywhere in the world and it is literally the backbone for millions of jobs. Don't believe for a second that these jobs are unique to businesses with digital business models. This underlying driver behind globalization and outsourcing can work to the advantage of military spouses. It is also important in countries where the Status of Forces Agreement (SOFA) prohibits servicemembers and their spouses for obtaining jobs on the local economy. For the enterprising spouse, there are a plethora of career fields tailor made for home-office careers: writing, mortgage banking, accounting, legal, online teaching, customer service, and software engineering are but a few. If you expand the list to more traditional portable careers, you can include among them real estate, retail, teaching, medical/dental, sales, government jobs, and entrepreneurship.

Some companies, in fact, have specifically targeted military spouses as a highly valuable, yet untapped, talent pool. They've learned what we already know -- that military spouses are well-educated, hard-working, diverse, and loyal and represent a source of competitive advantage for companies willing to give them a chance. Self-proclaimed spouse friendly employers include: Apple Computer, Anne Taylor, CSC, Dell, Kaiser Permanente, Merck, Sprint, TSA, and many more.

For the military spouse job seeker, there has been a proliferation of resources to help make finding that portable career easier. What's more, the Department of Defense has recently launched a career portal for military spouses at www.Military.com/Spouse. The DoD site, for example, allows spouses to network and gives them access to more than 400,000 jobs throughout the world.

It is also important for employed spouses preparing to relocate to consider alternatives to resigning from their current company. More employers are willing to restructure employees' jobs to be conducive to working remotely. Another alternative is to request an intercompany transfer to another office/region. There is certainly no harm in asking. There is another benefit to making the transition; you would be paving the way for other military spouses. Your trailblazing success will help build demand for military spouses within your company -- and beyond.

Although military spouses face many challenges, the prospects for a meaningful career have never been brighter. Perhaps in the not too distant future, we'll all be asking our spouses for career advice.

Visit www.Military.com/Spouse for job listings and career advice.

This article originally appeared in Proceedings magazine.