As part of Jill Biden's visit to Fort Drum on Monday, the first lady met with several people who help not only soldiers transition out of the Army and connect with jobs, but also the spouses of soldiers who are often on the move, taking their families with them.

“I hope you know that it is one of those issues that I really do understand as a working spouse,” Biden said.

Fort Drum Transition Assistance Program Transition Services Specialist Leticia Zielinski said many military spouses, especially newer ones, are not aware of free services that exist. She was one of the five specialists asked to advise the first lady of the needs of military spouses as they look to secure more employment opportunities, especially near Fort Drum and across New York state.

“It was exciting, other than nerve-wracking too," Zielinski said. "You know, we have visitors. We have the president, the vice president is there, but I was never in the room to say and to speak about a program that we are doing."

“I’ve been here since 2007. We got out here, never left," Zielinski said. "But to be able to see the folks that are wanting to stay here and lower that unemployment rate (22%), knowing that you have quality people that want to stay up in the North Country, the lower the better."

As a transition service specialist on Fort Drum, she sees it every day — businesses not wanting to commit to someone who may not be there long-term; a non-transferable license or certification to take from state to state; and a relatively new issue: the lack of child care, meaning remote jobs are needed as well.

“They know that health care or maybe even child care is scarce, or hard to come by. So more remote jobs would be great too,” she added.

Unfortunately, it still a struggle sometimes, and Zielinski knows it firsthand having served herself in a military uniform.

While she was deployed, her husband began looking for his next career, only to find himself struggling with resume-building and locating open jobs. In the end, he basically had to take a job that wasn't what he did best.

“It is very frustrating, as you figure this is should be enough. This is what I was doing for a while. This is what I've been trained on, or even if you have degrees on it,” she said of her experiences and a lot more like her.

So to have the opportunity to share everything with someone in such a position — while nerve-wracking, yes, it was, indeed, a once-in-a-lifetime chance. Her thoughts and ideas are now headed to Washington.

"And, you know, you can make sure that tonight when I go home, I'm going to say, ‘Joe, this makes no sense. Look at these spouses,’” Biden said at the roundtable.

As part of the Joining Forces’ initiative, which was formed in 2011 by former first lady Michelle Obama and then-second lady Jill Biden, there is a new PILOT program in place which can offer businesses the ability to pay a military spouse for a 12-week fellowship to either better learn required job skills or gain some new ones as they search for a full-time career.