GTC.

The data exists. The families exist.
Nobody’s putting them in the same room.

We track what’s promised, what’s funded, and what families actually experience — because right now, those are three different stories. Research and context for leaders who want the full picture.

Founded by Corie Weathers, LPC — Author of Military Culture Shift (Elva Resa, 2025)
What We Do
The full picture, not just the numbers.
Military family quality of life is discussed in budget lines and retention statistics. But the story underneath — what families are actually living — doesn’t make it into the hearing room. That’s what we do.
01

Research & Data

We follow the money, the mandates, and the metrics. Defense budgets, NDAA provisions, survey data, and demographic trends — synthesized so leaders don’t have to piece it together themselves.

02

Ground-Level Context

Data tells you what happened. Context tells you what it means. Through training, consulting, and direct engagement with military communities, we add the lived experience that statistics alone can’t capture.

03

Connecting the Dots

The information exists — scattered across surveys, hearings, reports, and conversations. We pull it into one place and make it make sense — so you can actually do something with it.

GTC research informs the training and consulting work of Corie Weathers, LPC — helping leaders translate data into action at their level.

The QoL Brief
What We’re Finding
Each brief follows one thread — connecting policy, data, and what families are experiencing on the ground. Published quarterly.
Q12026

The Readiness Gap

The inter-war period was supposed to rebuild family readiness infrastructure. It didn’t.

Now OPTEMPO is rising, a supplemental budget is on the table, and the support systems families depend on have quietly degraded. This brief follows the money, the policy, and the lived experience — and asks what happens when the bill comes due.

Defense BudgetFamily ReadinessOPTEMPOInter-War Period
Coming Soon
Q2 2026Next brief in development. Follow what we’re watching.
What We’re Hearing
308 active-duty families. One word.

In January 2026, we asked active-duty service members and military families to describe force morale in a single word. No prompting, no framing — just an open question. Here’s what they said.

Word cloud showing military family morale responses, January 2026. Dominant words: low, exhausted, tired, anxious, scared, stressed, uncertain, overwhelmed.
Low
#1 response (27)
Exhausted
#2 response (27)
Tired
#3 response (26)
Anxious
#4 response (21)

Of 308 responses, fewer than 30 used a positive word. The top 10 responses — low, exhausted, tired, anxious, scared, stressed, worried, uncertain, overwhelmed, disappointed — were submitted by 172 people. More than half.

Data collected January 2026 via anonymous poll. Active-duty service members and military families only. A new pulse is coming — results will be published here.

Resources
Training Materials & Reference
Handouts, visuals, and analysis from Corie Weathers’ military culture training. Free to use. Built for leaders.
Training Handout

Follow the Money

How defense budget growth outpaced investment in military families. Tracks RDT&E vs. family program spending from FY2004–FY2026 — and the moment during sequestration when family programs fell behind and never caught back up.

Download PDF
Book

Military Culture Shift

The story behind the data. How military family life got here — and what leaders need to understand to lead through what’s next.

Learn More
Where We Look

Every QoL Brief is built on publicly available data, policy documents, and ground-level observation. Here’s where the research comes from.

Government & Policy
Congressional Research Service, GAO audits, DoD budget documents, SASC & HASC hearing transcripts, Inspector General reports
Research & Surveys
Blue Star Families, Military Family Advisory Network, RAND Corporation, Penn State Clearinghouse, Hiring Our Heroes, CSIS
Advocacy & Oversight
MOAA, National Military Family Association, Association of Defense Communities
Journalism & Reporting
Federal News Network, Military Times, Stars and Stripes, The War Horse, Task and Purpose

Plus ground-level context from training, consulting, and direct engagement with military communities.

Stay Connected

A new QoL Brief is published each quarter. To be notified when the next one drops, or to share what you’re seeing in your community, reach out directly.

corie@corieweathers.com

Follow GTC’s work through the quarterly briefs — or bring the research into your organization through training.