Military Impacts on Pierce County

I will proudly say that I represent District 6, home of Joint Base Lewis McChord (JBLM). I often remind people that JBLM is the largest military installation west of the Mississippi. When working with leaders across the country they are often familiar with JBLM because it is a strategic, power projection platform into the Pacific theater of operations. So, it’s kind of a big deal.

Apart from its national security implications, locally, our communities are enriched by having such close proximity to the people serving our nation in the Armed Forces and through the thousands of veterans who choose to make Pierce County home. We utilize their leadership and other skills earned through military service right here in our communities. We all are touched by the impacts of the sheer size, location, and number of service members and veterans living in our county.

I’ve had the opportunity to visit JBLM several times over the last four+ years of my time representing District 6. Each time, I learn something new, or I’m asked about a new challenge that is causing stress for active-duty families or veterans. As a county that has such an intertwined relationship with the military, holidays related to those that serve or have served are often more impactful. We acknowledge and support those serving and our veterans; and we remember those we lost.

Visiting the Base

On April 25, I had an amazing tour of the Air Force side of things. Lt. Gen.  LTG Matthew McFarlane, Commanding General of America’s First Corps, invited elected leaders from the county, state and federal levels to join his leadership team to gain knowledge and understanding of their operations.

The tour was phenomenal. We had the chance to learn about several different divisions and the work they are doing to prepare and train for missions overseas. Because conflict can happen at a moment’s notice and in many different environments, it was fascinating to learn how the organization shifts the training depending on who they may be facing AND where they might be going.

We also had the chance to get up-close and inside a C-17 Globemaster. I happen to live under one of the flight paths of these large planes, so I know what they sound like. This was the second time I was able to get inside, though, and large doesn’t quite capture it; they are massive is a more apt description.

The versatility of these airplanes is an incredible asset to our country. These planes are the flying moving vans for every branch of the military and are used to move people, vehicles, fuel, supplies, run a hospital, or create shelter. They can land in deserts or on ice. They can land day or night. With proper support, they can fly all day. They really are the workhorse for the Base, and the military.

We also spent some time learning about the newer aviation assets, including a helicopter, some drones, and the kind of training that our service members are provided. One part of the training that probably slips under the radar (no pun intended) is training on how to navigate the inter-personal relationships both with colleagues and any of the people they may encounter.

No matter how you serve our country, in Pierce County we work hard to make this a great place to work, raise a family and even play. There are so many opportunities here, and our employment opportunities and higher education options continue to entice people to want to establish roots right here in the Pacific Northwest.

Active-Duty Opportunities and Challenges

Whether someone is serving their first tour of duty here, working in the professional career service occupations that help defend our country, or they work as a civilian on our Base, there are a lot of opportunities and challenges to being involved with the instillation.

Thankfully, in Pierce County, we have an amazing organization called the South Sound Military and Community Partnership (SSMCP). This brings elected leaders from cities and towns, the counties, state and federal level governments together with our military installation leaders to address the needs for our service members and their families. A win for our area is the addition of a renovation of over 1,100 homes on the installation.

Those serving our country should be able to find safe and affordable housing so they can meet the call to service. This includes the desire to live close enough to Base to respond to any orders. This improvement will be incredibly helpful as more options open up.

The other huge concern that we continue to hear about when talking to JBLM leadership, and this shouldn’t be a surprise to anyone reading this, is that young children need access to childcare.

Access to childcare both on and off the Base can be a significant barrier to young families, especially when households transition from 2-parent to single parent households intermittently. I spoke with one service member who had their wife, and two young children leave the state to go back home so that she could continue to work, and his parents could help support their family with care for their young children.

While the government will help support active-duty service members with childcare and housing, in our region the scarcity of both have escalated costs. Leadership on Base have stated that they actually have the facilities but cannot find people to do the work. This is a narrative I hear everywhere, not just in the military, and it will be one of my focuses as we develop on 2026-2027 budget.

Something that resonated across these four youth was a desire for more peer groups. The experiences of these young people included moving 10 times during their entire school career, attending schools in other countries, handling the parents being home and then gone for months at a time, the anxiety of the un-known of where their parents were, some credits earned not being counted through the continuity of their education.

All of these issues are created by the adults in their lives, and they were asking for the adults to try and think about HOW we could support them. We can make their lives a little easier, knowing that their military-connected parent had very little say in their deployment and how long they were gone. But the other adults could do better around supporting them.

Several of the school districts have programs in their buildings to help young military connected youth find supports. They have specialized counselors on-site to support these young people, and they have some programs to help them socialize and work with peers, but it is not consistent. To make matters worse, many of these programs are funded through dollars that are at risk right now.

They spoke of always being the “new kid” and how they felt welcome when schools went out of their way to make sure they had a peer ready to greet them, make sure they had someone to sit with at lunch and find their classes. They spoke to the additional stress on the family that often cause rifts between parents and young people, and that the need for support systems was huge. Through our school districts, libraries, and community partners, some of these students found the needed resources. Others struggled.

I walked away with a renewed belief that while young people are resilient, the adults in their lives should be working hard to reduce the need to lean on that resilience. We should be finding ways to make the burden of being a “military kid” easier, and I’m happy to know that many schools in our county are doing just that.

Benefits of Our Base

Along with bringing thousands of new individuals and families to Pierce County every year, some of those families chose to stay long-term. The number of service members who work so hard within the Army and Airforce to get assigned to JBLM is high, in part, because of the opportunities here and just how beautiful it is to live in the Pacific Northwest.

We see these men and women out and about in uniform. The planes and helicopters fly overhead. We notice the convoys of trucks and heavy vehicles on our roads. What we don’t see is the sheer number of county residents who work on the installation holding civilian jobs or working for companies surrounding the installation and support the work it empowers.

Approximately 15% of Pierce County residents have some military affiliation. We have done studies on this before. For example, in 2023 the SSMCP did a deep dive into these impacts. Between our large Veterans community and those that are, or were, families of activity duty services members, over 110,000 residents are connected in this way. When you combine the residents of Pierce and Thurston Counties, the total direct impact adds up to over $8,000,000,000

We also find that Veterans who separate from service while here, often put down roots and bring their varied skill sets, sometimes with decades of technical training, to our local workforce. It isn’t perfect, and is something we continue to work on, but the partnership with JBLM continues to be an ongoing source of a skilled workforce both from the family members who move here, and the Veterans that stay here.

In Pierce County, we work incredibly hard with many partners to support those who join the ranks of our Veterans. We continue to support individuals seeking additional resources through the County’s Veterans Services Officers (CVSOs), and the many community partners. However, not everyone leaves the military service. Some make the ultimate sacrifice.

Honoring the Lost

Earlier this week, we proclaimed that May 26, 2025, is a day to “Honor Our Heroes: Pierce County Remembers”. Memorial Day finds its’ roots in President Dwight D. Eisenhower’s 1955 proclamation that “Memorial Day each year serves as a solemn reminder of the scourge of war and its bitter aftermath of sorrow. This day has traditionally been devoted to paying homage to loved ones who lie in hallowed graves throughout the land, having sacrificed their lives that war might end.”

We had Gold Star family members in attendance once again, and it is always powerful and moving to hear the stories of their family member who did not come home. Every year in Lakewood, the Mountain View Funeral Home joins in partnership with the Pierce County Veterans Advisory Committee to put on a moving and powerful Memorial Day service to honor the fallen. This is held at 4100 Steilacoom Blvd. SW Lakewood, WA 98499. It will begin at 2:00 p.m. and community members of all ages are welcome to join us.

They honor each branch of service and utilize the young members of our local high school’s junior military programs to lay the wreaths and raise the flags to half-staff. When an individual answers the call and makes the decision to join the military there is always that chance. The chance that they won’t make it back home, wherever that might be.

As we pause to remember, I encourage all to think about the collective impacts of living in Pierce County and the partnership we have every day with Joint Base Lewis McChord. The men and women serving here, the veterans living here, the children of those connected to service who are attending schools, and the memorials for the fallen across the county; we are all connected.

Right now, many of us are feeling divided and uncertain. As we approach 250 years as a nation, it’s important to remember the foundational values that unite us: the belief that everyone is created equal, and that each of us deserves the opportunity to pursue life, liberty, and happiness. Let’s draw strength from these shared ideals as we move forward together.

We are stronger together.