Julie Fulton faced a career crossroads 16 years ago when she was finishing up her master’s degree in school administration.  

She had done an internship with a Department of Defense Education Activity (DoDEA) school with the goal of becoming a principal. But when the opportunity to become the first school liaison officer at Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune came along, Fulton was intrigued and took a leap of faith.  

The former teacher has never regretted her decision to take a job that allows her to serve military parents and their children every day. “Those first few years were a steep learning curve,” Fulton said. “I am now bilingual and can speak both education and miltaryese.”  

When Fulton started at Camp Lejeune, guidelines for the position had not been fully developed, but she leveraged her experience raising two children with a Marine spouse.  

She recalled navigating difficult decisions without the benefit of a school liaison officer. “We could have used some advocacy at various points in their education,” she said.  

School liaison officers also play an important role in mission readiness.  

Fulton remembers an instance when she was a teacher at a DoDEA school where a service member deployed to a war zone requested a teleconference to discuss his son’s grades. “We could hear artillery fire,” she said. “The last thing we wanted on that father’s mind was school. We wanted him to focus on his mission and come home.” 

With the School Liaison Program, they provide information on online tutoring services for students of all ages, Fulton said. The tutors also can give parents strategies on how to help younger children learn to read or tackle math homework.  

Permanent change of station season is another busy time for school liaison officers. 

“So many times we get phone calls from parents who are at their wit’s end,” Fulton said. Parents are juggling late delivery of household goods, housing issues, and problems with school registration. “So many times, by the end of the conversation, they are relieved. That’s where you get the job satisfaction and feeling like you made a difference.”  

Fulton recommends that parents contact the school liaison at their next installation as soon as they know the family will be moving there. They can learn about the local school landscape, scholarship opportunities, and the students’ rights under the Military Interstate Children’s Compact.  

Families don’t always realize that school liaison officers do not just provide services for students enrolled in DoDEA schools.  

“We want our families to know that we support the education of military children regardless of where they are going to school to include private school or homeschool,” Fulton said. 

When they are not working directly with parents and students, school liaison officers also review policies from the Department of Defense, the Marine Corps, and the state where they live. They meet with state and local officials to advocate for military children.  

But for Fulton, helping families in crisis is the most rewarding part of her job.  

Marines sometimes find themselves unexpectedly taking custody of younger siblings, or a spouse needs to move to take care of a sick relative. Service members can find it difficult to navigate the red tape, but school liaisons are experts. 

“We can see and hear the relief of the service member who has been struggling with the system when they have someone who can give them a numbered list of steps and phone numbers and resources,” Fulton said. “There are often tears on calls, frustration at the beginning, and relief at the end.” 

“Those are the days when I would work for free, but don’t tell my boss,” she joked.