With the U.S. Department of War being the largest employer in the world, save one, and the Pentagon, the world’s second-largest office building, many of its offices, bureaus, initiatives, and efforts are bound to be overlooked, forgotten, or remain outright unknown. When it comes to supporting the “force that sustains the Force”—military spouses and families—the Defense-State Liaison Office (DSLO) might just be the Pentagon’s most unknown, and yet highly valuable, office. 

This is a shame. Because of the interdependent nature of state and federal authority, coupled with each state’s unique governance provenance and approach, state legislatures are often the most capable allies supporting military families and resolving their challenges. And it’s the DSLO that helps to educate state policymakers on unintended barriers created by state policies and other issues important to America’s 2,372,286 military families. Additionally, the DSLO works with those state policymakers to craft solutions that can extend even beyond state lines. 

Created in 2004 under the late Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld and then Under Secretary of Defense for Personnel and Readiness David S.C. Chu, the DSLO has eight regional liaisons strategically located across the United States that oversee state and territorial relations and interstate policy initiatives. Every year, in concert with the military services and the National Guard Bureau, the DSLO determines ten or so priorities affecting military families to focus on at the state level. These typically revolve around issues that impact warrior development, military family readiness, economic well-being, and quality of life in ways that go well beyond what their civilian counterparts experience.

Military family advocates will recognize many of the DSLO’s 2026 priorities because the issues have been longstanding concerns for this particular community. The priorities can be better understood if categorized roughly by the aim or end goal sought after: “ensuring military family agility, opportunity, and stability”; “supporting the warfighter on the homefront”; and “upholding warrior standards and force integrity.”

For each of the eleven priorities, the DSLO website has published a helpful map and a grid guide tracking the status of related bills or compacts at the state level, along with a brief explainer.

Occupational Licensure Compacts Developed Through The Council of State Government and DOW Cooperative Agreement

State occupational licensing might be the issue with the highest and widest profile, including among those outside of the military community. (Independent Women has long advocated licensing reform.) Underemployment consistently plagues military spouses (these have a 20% unemployment rate in the civilian workforce), and licensing requirements are a confirmed culprit. Around 81% of military families have at least one “permanent change of station” (PCS)—meaning a move—during their service member’s military tenure, with many PCSing every two to three years. And around 35% of military spouses require an occupational license to work in their chosen profession (including fields such as nursing, therapy, teaching, real estate, accounting, and cosmetology). 

This is just one area that affects military spouses and families, but that has spillover effects for civilians in the workforce or with children in the K-12 education system. Helping each of the 50 states understand the adverse effects of their policies on military families, including and beyond occupational licenses, is thus helping them improve their ecosystem for military and civilian families alike. 

Toward that end, since 2012, despite its relative anonymity in the eyes of the American public, the DSLO’s efforts have contributed to the passage of more than 1,275 state laws related to occupational licensing, consumer protection, child care, voting access, and education. Their purpose has always been to help improve military readiness, family stability, and retention, so that the U.S. military, if not the American nation, remains the strongest and best version of itself.