As a military spouse, it can be easy to feel the label the military gives you – dependent. Military spouses are used to putting their own aspirations on the back burner. But Karri L. Moser believes that as spouses, you should be writing your own milspouse story.

You have to work to cultivate your own place in this military life. Share your dreams with your spouse, kids, and friends. This lifestyle doesn’t last forever and you owe it to yourself to pursue what you want. Never forget that your dreams matter. So figure out what you want out of life and start by doing what you can to make that happen.

Karri’s adventures as a military spouse play a heavy role in her newest book The Road to Abilene. While living the military spouse life had its challenges, Karri feels this lifestyle gave her the motivation, perseverance, and determination to follow her own dreams while supporting her husband’s career as a soldier and raising her two kids. She’s here today to tell us her story and inspire other spouses to pursue their passions.

Karri has been a radio news reporter, a newspaper reporter, and a freelance writer for marketing firms, magazines, and the U.S. Army Medical Recruiting Brigade. She started to focus on her fiction career after finishing her first book while stationed at Fort Knox, KY. She currently has 4 books published and a 5th due to be released by the end of the year. When Karri isn’t writing or studying, she loves to explore the beaches of Maine in the summer, snowshoe in her woods in winter, garden, paint, and bum around the coastal tourist traps that inspire her all while sipping on a hot hazelnut coffee. 

Listeners, if you would like to learn more about the Karri L. Moser, check out her website here or connect with her on social media via Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram.

Empowerment Patrol Report with Amanda B.

Today we are showcasing one of our volunteers who is an MRE winner, which by the way, that stands for Motivated and Ready to Empower. A huge congratulations to Army Wife Network Command Team Member, our Podcast Production Assistant, Annie Pearce.

Annie was born and raised outside of Pittsburgh, PA (Go Steelers & Penguins!). Over ten years ago, Annie met her husband Chris in Alexandria, VA, while he was assigned to The Old Guard, before being sent to Fort Bragg, NC. In March 2020, Annie and Chris moved with their 4-month-old son from Hohenfels, Germany, to Fort Drum, NY. They literally flew the day before the travel ban went into effect and got a house during the global pandemic – while NY realtors weren’t allowed to show houses. Then two months later, Chris deployed. With lots of calls to her mom, family, and friends – Annie and Owen survived Chris being deployed. They are now happily all together and exploring the upstate NY area.

Before moving to Germany, Annie owned her own event planning business – Attended. Her passion for events has led her to volunteer for non-profit organizations, including the AMA Triangle and Innovate Raleigh. Annie has served in multiple roles for large events including Event Director for Fail Fest Raleigh, Trade Show Manager for High Five Conference, and has managed multiple events for an economic development organization. Annie holds a Master of Science in Integrated Marketing Communication from Northwestern University and a Bachelor of Science in Integrated Marketing Communication from Ithaca College.

So much thanks goes out to Annie for doing your part to empower military families all across the globe.

Encouragement Minute with Juanda

Self care is an essential part of living. How can we assist others, if we do not take care of ourselves first.

We all know that mental health is super important… But sometimes it is hard to make it a top priority. Join Sharita for this week’s Milspouse Empowerment Moment as she shares about her own journey and some tips for how to be your own best advocate for all things military spouse mental health. Sharita explains why you need to be advocating for your milspouse mental health.

For tips from Sharita on how to be your own advocate, watch the Facebook video click here – or listen below.

With each move, comes the important, repetitive, and annoying search for new local resources. New doctors, new dentists, new mechanics, etc. And if you’re pregnant, this search for local resources only becomes more stressful. That’s where Military Birth Resource Network comes in.

Military Birth Resource Network (MBRN) is a platform where families can come to get local information, be able to network with each other, and learn about others’ experiences. MBRN is a membership based non-profit for birth professionals from any background to have a listing on their website. And the great part is that it is free for the community to use to find the available resources.

Tricare recently approved doulas to be covered as a benefit for military families. However, there are some caveats. How can we educate the military community about the value of doula support and look into ways to make doula support more accessible to military families.

Below are links for more information about the recent changes to Tricare:

* Childbirth and Breastfeeding Support

* Tricare West Information

* Childbirth and Breastfeeding Support FAQ

* Childbirth and Breastfeeding Support Information

Amanda Dodson, is a certified doula CD (DONA) and HypnoBirthing Educator HBCE. Her passion to help service members and their families during pregnancy and beyond inspired her to found the Japan Birth Resource Network in 2013 and Co-found the Military Birth Resource Network in 2016. Amanda is also a veteran and military spouse of 23 years and in 2016 was voted AFI Spouse of the Year for Marine Corps Base SD Butler, Okinawa, Japan for her important contributions and unwavering commitment to the military community and our country.

Listeners, if you would like to check out more about Military Birth Resource Network, check out their website here, or connect with them on social media via Facebook, Instagram, or Twitter. If you would like to learn more about Amanda, check out her website here, or connect with her on social media via Facebook or Instagram.

News 6 with Jolene

Here is this week’s News 6 mashup of stories for the week of Mar. 14, 2022, straight from AWN News 6 Correspondent, Jolene McNutt:

DoD to Close Fuel Facility in Hawaii

The Department of Defense will permanently shut down the Navy’s Red Hill Bulk Fuel Storage Facility in Hawaii, which contaminated Pearl Harbor’s tap water, said AP News. Reports of skin rashes and illnesses began surfacing in November 2021, and residents are still unable to drink the water or use it for bathing. “The Pentagon said it will move to a more dispersed fueling system for military ships and aircraft in the Indo-Pacific.”

VA Announces Proposed Changes to Disability Ratings

The Department of Veterans Affairs announced on that it “is proposing cha...

Is renovating a home right for you? In this week’s Milspouse Empowerment Moment, Jolene talks about renovating her third property with her husband. She gives her best tips, tricks and advice from house hunting to determining if a project should be DIY or call a pro! Join Jolene for Operation: Renovation.

For tips from Jolene on renovating properties successfully watch the Facebook video click here – or listen below.

Imagine your soldier is gone more often than they are around. Imagine you don’t live close to base or know your soldier’s unit. Imagine not having down time and having the mission always come first. The Special Operations community have different needs – needs that haven’t really been researched yet. That’s where the Military Special Operations Family Collaborative comes in.

In a world filled with uncertainty, the MSOF strives to bring certainty to special operations families. They help families to recognize unhealthy habits they have created and to understand that they don’t have to stop thriving. The MSOF believes that families need to prioritize the habits that safeguard the family unit. A lot of these challenges are similar to seasoned families – but remember to invest in yourself, be aware when you’re stressed out, and always work on your communication skills.

Special operations is a unique military community that rapidly experiences repeated deployments and family separation to countries around the world. While these military families don’t move as often, they don’t get a break from deployments for a majority of their career – many families have experienced 10-20 deployments. Because of this, special operators often have different – but not special – health needs; but above all, their families face some practical health challenges confronting all too common community pitfalls.

KaLea Lehman has a broad range of experience working in healthcare policy, advocacy, communications, and education. She completed her undergraduate education at The George Washington University in 2007 and earned her Master of Education in 2018 from Vanderbilt University’s Peabody College. KaLea and her husband have been part of the special operations community for over 15 years and have five children. In their free time, they enjoy running adventures and traveling to new places with their pack.

Listeners, if you would like to learn more about the Military Special Operations Family Collaborative, check out their website here or connect with them on social media via Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, or LinkedIn.

Resource Recon with Brooklyn and Annie

This week’s Resource Recon, brought to you from our ever-empowering, Band of Bloggers is showcasing today’s show’s host, Brooklyn Morgan, with the piece entitled “An Open Letter to the National Guard Spouse.” She writes:

Dearest National Guard spouse, I see you.

Your partner is gone and you may have wonderful friends, but none understand what you’re going through. Your kids have a slew of friends and they don’t have to PCS, but they also don’t have friends that understand why their parent is gone. Your family loves you, but they too do not comprehend the feeling of a spouse being away.

Don’t worry, I see you.

Maybe you have connections that live in different states, but it’s so hard to reach out to those people on lonely nights and to ask just to talk. Maybe all you have is a friendly social media group but you don’t want to sound as if you’re weak, so you don’t say anything. Through all of that, I see you.

I see you as you support your spouse’s civilian job and service within the Guard. The stress of a normal job is magnified by the unknown of the military world.

I see your spouse as so much more than a “weekend warrior.” I see the bags ready during for activations during bad weather. I see the months gone for training and schools, the same ones done by active duty.

Join Sarah for this week’s Milspouse Empowerment Moment about PCS planning in prep. Getting orders to PCS can feel like a relief, you can answer some of those questions. However, you also think – we’re PCSing, now what? Sarah shares her PCS starter kit that is a 5 item list that can get you started for your next PCS.

Links shared in the MEM are below:

* Step by step PCS Guide

* Moving and Housing Support

* BAH Calculator

* Post with the Most

* Moving House for the Military Spouse

* Great Schools

* Changing address with USPS

For tips from Sarah on PCSing successfully watch the Facebook video click here – or listen below.

The Army Chaplain life can often be imperfect, messy, and mainly spent outside your office. But there is no set method or place for healing. Owen Chandler wanted people to understand more about military life besides what gets shown on TV, so he wrote A Bridge in Babylon: Stories of a Military Chaplain in Iraq.

Owen shares the struggle to hold onto faith and hope in the midst of battlefields, opening readers’ hearts to the challenges of military chaplaincy and the plight of veterans shattered by their experiences. A Bridge to Babylon inspires readers and provide tools to create bridges to our veterans, especially Reserve soldiers with shockingly high rates of suicide and substance abuse.

As an Arizona Army Reservist, Chandler was deployed to Iraq as chaplain of the 336th Combat Sustainment Support Battalion, leaving behind his wife, three young children, and a congregation for more than a year. In this painful but eloquent memoir, Chandler shares his story of serving as an “embedded presence of hope” in Iraq through personal letters, journal entries, scriptures and photos exchanged with family back home. Expanding far beyond the military chaplain caricature of M*A*S*H’s Father Francis Mulcahy, Chandler reflects on the brutal realities of war, his fellow soldiers, and the families waiting for them all to come home.

Listeners, if you would like to learn more about Owen, check out his website here or connect with him on social media via Facebook. You can order Owen’s book A Bridge in Babylon: Stories of a Military Chaplain in Iraq here.

Empowerment Patrol Report with Amanda B.

Today we are showcasing one of our volunteers who is an MRE winner, which by the way, that stands for Motivated and Ready to Empower. A huge congratulations to Army Wife Network Command Team Member, our Content Curator, Chrissy Gibbs!

Chrissy married her husband in 2010 and jumped right into her milspouse role. She knew that life would be more adventurous and sometimes more difficult, but it would always be worth it. She had previously received her teaching degrees from Niagara University in Special Education and spent a few years teaching, but once she began having children, she chose to put those talents to work in her own home. Chrissy is a mother to four energetic boys and one husky pup (also a male), so you could say she’s the queen of the castle! Chrissy and her family are currently living in Fort Leavenworth but will have another PCS on the horizon.

In her free time, you can find her working out, at a playdate with close friends, on the hunt for the next geocache, or hiding away binge-watching her favorite guilty pleasure TV shows. She is super excited to be a part of the AWN team and can’t wait to connect with new friends.

So much thanks goes out to Chrissy Gibbs for doing your part to empower military families all across the globe.

News 6 with Jolene

Here is this week’s News 6 mashup of stories for the week of Feb. 28, 2022, straight from AWN News 6 Correspondent, Jolene McNutt:

Water Woes Continue near Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam

Military members and their families stationed in Hawaii are still working through months of contaminated drinking water. According to NPR, in January, the U.S. Navy agreed “to remove fuel from a massive underground storage tank facility near Pearl Harbor” that is believed to be the source of contamination. Visit the IDWST website for up to date information.

This week’s Milspouse Empowerment Moment is hosted by Brooklyn. She shares tips on how to handle special occasions when your service member is away. We have all been there… or we will all be there at some point. Brooklyn reminds us that communication is vital when you know that your service member will miss a special occasion.

For tips from Brooklyn on enjoying special occasions without your service member watch the Facebook video click here – or listen below.

It’s okay to not be okay. Sometimes one good smile or one ear to listen can make all the difference. The founders of Ohana Homefront Foundation (OHF) wanted to make sure that families were taken care of so that the service members could focus on their job and vice versa.

Do you have a friend or family member that you’re worried about, but aren’t sure how to start the conversation? Start by letting them know that you’re there for them. Be sure to put the focus on them. And when in doubt ask, below are some sample questions to get things going:

* How can I best support you?

* What are you in the mood for right now?

* Do you want to talk about it?

* How are you feeling?

* Do you want to be alone or do you want company?

* Don’t say “I understand.” Let them talk, they will tell you what they want you to know.

* There’s no shame in a genuine “I’m so sorry”.

Suicide in our Military Community is an issue, especially for the families, yet it is not spoken about at the same level as Active Duty and Veterans. The OHF’s mission is to support the ENTIRE Military Community when it comes to suicide awareness by bringing the talk of suicide to the front for the Military Community as a whole and to offer support to all that hold down the Homefront.

Sarah Otto founded OHF in 2021 with fellow MilSpouse, Natalie Ealy. Sarah is the 2017 and 2018 NSF Dahlgren Armed Forces Insurance Military Spouse of the Year and has spent over 2 decades advocating for our Military & their Families. Her husband, Jay, is a US Navy Veteran who retired in 2018 after over 21 years Active Duty.  They have 3 (adult) children, a granddaughter on the way, 2 furbabies, and 2 goats.

Listeners, if you would like to learn more about Ohana Homefront Foundation, check out their website here or connect with them on social media via Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, or YouTube.

News 6 with Jolene

Here is this week’s News 6 mashup of stories for the week of Feb. 14, 2022, straight from AWN News 6 Correspondent, Jolene McNutt:

U.S. Troops Rapidly Deployed to Europe

Two thousand U.S. troops have been deployed to Europe, with another 1,700 scheduled to arrive early this week, reported NPR. The troop buildup is in response to Russia building their own armed forces in western Russia and the Crimean Peninsula. “Another 1,000 soldiers stationed in Germany will be repositioned eastward to Romania, which also shares a border with western Ukraine,” said NPR.

Military Health System Continuing Health Record Rollout

The Military Health System is continuing its rollout on the MHS GENESIS health care system. According to Health.mil, “MHS GENESIS, the new electronic health record for the Military Health System (MHS), provides enhanced, secure technology to manage your health information . . . When fully deployed, MHS GENESIS will provide a single health record for service members, veterans, and their families.”

File Taxes to Receive Full Child Tax Credit

File your taxes. A new effort from the Biden administration is encouraging everyone to file their taxes, including those who don’t traditionally file taxes because their income is very low. “President Joe Biden increased the child tax credits to $3,600 annually for each child under the age of 5, and $3,000 for those who are ages 6 to 17,

This week Amber hosts our Milspouse Empowerment Moment. She gives us advice on what to do when the going gets tough. Amber helps you to create a plan to get into a battle rhythm. Don’t forget to lean on your support systems.

For more tips from Amber on what to do when the going gets tough watch the Facebook video click here – or listen below.