Mike Wood was typical of many young Air Force recruits. “I was 17 when I came in,” he says, and when it came to his finances, he admits, “I didn’t know a whole lot about anything.”
W
The average age of servicemem- bers in the U.S. is just 25. Combine that with the fact that a military base might have one of the largest payrolls in a state, and you have a tempting target for those who don’t have the best interests of service personnel at heart.
“Those checks come in twice a month, absolutely guaranteed, and that can be very attractive to scam- mers,” says Holly Petraeus, assistant director for the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s (CFPB’s) Office of Servicemember Affairs (OSA). “And scammers can be very, very good at taking advantage of people — both in person and online.” It’s more than the steady pay-
check. Young servicemembers — many away from home for the first time — often lack financial know- how. “Some companies, I’m sorry to say, exploit that,” says Wood, who now serves as chief of transition support services for the Army and works with the CFPB on financial readiness. Other problems range from debt collectors who threaten security clearances to online scams that target veterans.
That’s why the OSA was created. Financial education, monitoring complaints that come in, and co- ordinating with other federal and state agencies on military consumer protection measures are the prior- ity. The agency’s most powerful tool, however, might be its abil- ity to understand the particular financial challenges associated with military service.
Unique insight “When we were setting up the con- sumer agency, we were very lucky that Holly Petraeus came on board to lead the Office of Servicemember Affairs,” says Sen. Elizabeth War- ren (D-Mass.), who, in her previous role as assistant to the president and special advisor to the Secretary of the Treasury, was tasked with setting up the CFPB. “Holly understands the sacrifices our men and women in uniform make each day, and her team is doing an excellent job protecting servicemembers and their families from predatory lenders, financial scams, and other bad actors.” Petraeus became interested in financial issues impacting military
“Scammers can be very, very good at taking advantage of people — both in person and
online.” — Holly Petraeus
66 MILITARY OFFICER DECEMBER 2016
HEN HE BEGAN his military career,
families because of what she saw at Fort Campbell, Ky., when the 101st Airborne Division deployed during the first year of the Iraq war. “As the wife of the commanding general, I saw firsthand the impact that the de- ployment had on the finances of the 101st families, as well as the National Guard and Reserve families in the area who came into our family assistance center,” she says. She began advocat- ing for the military community on the local, state, and national levels. Even- tually, her experience landed her a job as the director of the Better Business Bureau’s (BBB’s) Military Line. When she left the BBB to join the newly formed CFPB, shock waves from the housing crisis still were reverberating — and they were tak- ing a heavy toll on service person- nel. “So many of them owned homes that had lost value, and they were underwater,” Petraeus says. When PCS orders came in, these families found themselves with a house they couldn’t sell for the amount they still owed. “I had a lot of conversations here in Washington — with Treasury, with the Federal Housing and Fi- nance Agency, with Fannie Mae, with Freddie Mac — to really explain the special circumstances of the military population,” Petraeus says. Her voice was heard. On “a re- ally good day,” the Federal Housing Finance Agency announced a new policy: If servicemembers with a Fan- nie Mae or Freddie Mac mortgage would have to do a short sale because of a PCS move, the difference between what they owed and what they could get for the house would be forgiven. “That was wonderful news,” she says.
Unique possibilities Of course, Petraeus isn’t the only one at the OSA with firsthand knowledge of the issues affecting the military community; the office has veterans from every service but the Coast Guard.
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