2021 MF JUNE

by AMERIFORCE MEDIA, LLC

Spouses who make

the world go round

This month we caught up with some major players in the military spouse world. The Armed Forces Insurance Military Spouse of the Year ® program honors the “who’s who” of changemakers.

Now in its 14th year, the AFI MSOY program annually recognizes military spouses for their contributions to military and civilian communities across the globe. These honorees don’t just talk the talk — they walk the walk. They are working with elected officials to pass the legislative acts benefiting military families, advocating for mental health issues, promoting financial literacy, and so much more.

As we can see from checking in with previous award winners, these men and women continue to make waves but have also built a powerful community where they empower each other to keep making an impact in new and different ways. “Once you are in the MSOY community, you are

always in it,” said Stacey Benson, 2015 AFI Coast Guard Spouse of the Year.®

In this issue, you’ll also read our interview with Heath Hardage Lee, the author of “The League of Wives,” who shares the harrowing story of military spouses fighting to bring their POW husbands home during the Vietnam War. The throughline of their work — the legacy of using their voices to demand change — can be seen today in this generation of military spouses.

Our Q&A with photographer Trish Alegre-Smith (see cover photo) brought home the beauty of the military spouse community. She says that she

contributors

Laura Adams Boycourt

Andrea Downing Peck

Kimberly Gladden-Eversley

Rebecca Alwine

Chris Adams

Teal Yost

Tiffany Eve Lawrence

Jennifer Barnhill

@MilitaryFamiliesMagazine

@militaryfamiliesmagazine

@MilFamiliesMag

loves how the community recognizes each other.

“We know what we’ve gone through. We know the struggles that we have. We also know where we can find success, however we define it, whether it’s in our home, in the workplace, or in our creative pursuits,” AlegreSmith said.

“Wherever you land, no matter where you go in the world, you will always find someone who ‘gets it.’”

Enjoy this issue and thank you to all the military spouses out there making our communities better.

Best,

Susan Malandrino

ON THE COVER

Previous Armed Forces Insurance Military Spouse of the Year ® award recipients gather in Washington, D.C.

Photo courtesy of Trish Alegre-Smith.

PHOTO COURTESY OF TRISH ALEGRE-SMITH

Gladden-Eversley

by Jennifer Barnhill

by Rebecca Alwine

Into the eye of the storm with the

BY LAURA ADAMS BOYCOURT

Hurricane season has officially begun, and if 2020 was any indication of what is to come, the members of the Air Force’s 53rd Weather Reconnaissance Squadron — known as the Hurricane Hunters — will be busy. Based at Keesler Air Force Base in Biloxi, Mississippi, the squadron is tasked with collecting data about potentially dangerous weather systems from the Atlantic to the Pacific and the Gulf of Mexico to the Caribbean by flying into the literal eye of the storm.

PHOTOS

LT. COL. MARNEE LOSURDO

Critical mission

“There’s no substitute for going directly into the storm system,” Capt. Ryan Smithies, a pilot with the 53rd, said. When NOAA’s National Hurricane Center in Miami needs more information about a tropical storm or hurricane, it calls the squadron, standing by and ready to take the call.

While the weather industry includes numerous methods of collecting data, Smithies said many critical measurements are only attainable by taking one of the squadron’s WC-130J Super Hercules planes directly into the weather system.

Once the squadron relays the data, NOAA can then issue forecasts and any necessary warnings.

Weather and families

Smithies says there’s an immediacy to the tasks and end result of the Hurricane Hunters’ daily efforts. “When we land, we can see the work that we’ve done being played out in real time” in forecasts and potentially lifesaving decisions, he says.

“Our mission is something that can hit home, so that’s always one of the concerns,” Lt. Col. Mark Withee, a navigator in the 53rd and Chief of Plans for the 403rd Wing, said.

If severe weather is threatening the Biloxi area and aircraft evacuations are necessary — all while the squadron continues to fly into the very weather that looms — Withee said the 53rd does all it can to have one plane ready to fly the crews back to be able to take care of their families.

“No matter where a storm goes, it seems like there’s usually someone that has some family member that is impacted like that. It’s really something where we can see the impact both for the country as a whole but then in many cases, we have specific close family ties.”

Weather trends and the 53rd According to Smithies, 2020 was the third busiest season in terms of flight hours flown on missionrelated flights into tropical systems.

“We evacuated the airplanes four times from Keesler, and I don’t

think anybody’s been able to find a year where we did that or more,” he said.

Dr. David Nolan, chair of the Department of Atmospheric Sciences at the University of Miami, says there has indeed been an uptick in the type of weather events the 53rd encounters, which helps to explain its recent demanding schedule.

“It’s pretty clear that the number of tropical storms and hurricanes in the Atlantic has increased in the last 30 years,” he said, adding the National Hurricane Center just updated the official yearly average (which is tallied every several decades) from 11 to 12.

Although there’s an upward trend, Nolan said the increase likely isn’t related to global warming but instead to other factors in the Atlantic.

“There’s an idea that in the future, there will be more hurricanes because of global warming and that is just not correct,” he explains. “It’s not that simple.”

What is evident, he said, is that

as the planet grows warmer, hurricanes are getting stronger and wetter and have the potential to be more dangerous.

“As for the strength of the hurricanes, it is consistent with the science of global warming and what’s been going on this idea that hurricanes will get stronger,” said Nolan. “When the atmosphere is warmer, it holds more water, so the storm systems carry more water, and they can produce more rain.”

Going forward

So, what does it mean for the Hurricane Hunters if the pace and intensity of storms continue to ramp up?

There’s no doubt that the 53rd can field any challenges that come its way, said Smithies.

“We’re going to fly what we’re tasked to fly with the resources we have available regardless of whether that means a single flight in a slow season or multiple storm systems operating at the same time.”

After all, as the pilot says, “that’s why we’re here.”

Members of the Air Force’s 53rd Weather Reconnaissance Squadron had one of their busiest years on record in 2020.

BY SUSAN MALANDRINO

How does something intrinsically analog, like archived war footage from more than 100 years ago, become viral in the digital age? According to historians at the National World War I Museum and Memorial, it just takes time, creativity, and technology.

When the museum was closed to visitors due to the pandemic, staff digitized their extensive catalog footage and turned those films into short GIFs, to be shared via GIPHY, texting, and social media platforms.

“You can easily see these GIFs as a modern vehicle to show how, in some ways, service 100 years ago, it is still very similar to service today,” said Lora Vogt, curator of education at the museum.

Today, you can text pictures of children saluting, soldiers playing baseball, boxing matches, people laughing, women dancing, and more. According to Vogt, the project made the experiences of the past feel very alive and relevant to the modern era.

“These men and women were living through a catastrophic time. Today, you’ve got another global pandemic and so many challenges that feel weighty. But just like today, there’s still a lightness and a levity and humor,” Vogt said.

Jake Yadrich, who serves as audio/visual supervisor and videographer at the museum, sorted through over 400 films produced by the Army Signal Corps from 1917 through 1918 to create more than 500 GIFs. It took his team more than 350 hours of work over six months.

“A majority of these images show how men and women were often able to smile, laugh, and enjoy life during one of the most horrific periods of human existence,” he said.

Searching through the GIF catalog, soldiers are photobombing one another, playing practical jokes, and hamming it up for the camera.

“I particularly love the GIF of a soldier with an enormous loaf of bread, smiling,” Vogt said.

“Where did he get that loaf and how did they bake it?”

Another favorite GIF is of two little boys, dressed in Army uniforms, performing a play. “This is something that children would perform today,” Vogt said.

According to Vogt, the footage also shows more diversity than is often represented in textbook write-ups of the war. Included in the collection are women, Black service members, and a true diversity of experiences often missing in images of a particular unit or event.

“This is a great tool to learn more about history because you see people interacting, you see now how they’ve moved through life but also people that aren’t static,” she said.

According to Vogt, during the pandemic, the museum saw explosive growth of their content via GIPHY, YouTube, and social media channels.

“Considering our subject matter, I probably shouldn’t say ‘explosive’ but it was,” Vogt joked.

“At the end of the day, we live with these stories. For us, it feels very alive and present in this time frame. Part of our task is to help others engage with this content and this is a great way to do so,” Vogt said.

Yadrich hopes that people will see humanity in these images. “Most people know a handful of facts about the war, have read a few books, or have seen a few pictures, but by creating an archive showcasing personality, we are forming a direct connection with those who served in the war,” he said.

Vogt encourages everyone to text each other with these GIFs. “If you’re going to fall into a social media rabbit hole, might as well make it an educative one. This is the perfect way to elevate your social media experience,” she concluded.

BY ANDREA DOWNING PECK — SPONSORED

If the Armed Forces Insurance Military Spouse of the Year® program had a tagline, it should read: It’s not just an award unless that’s what you want it to be. For most AFI MSOY winners, the title is a golden ticket to opportunity, mentorship, and support in a community of exceptional military spouses.

Now in its 14th year, the AFI MSOY program recognizes military spouses annually for their leadership, personal commitment, and contributions to the military and civilian communities in which they live and work. In 2020, there were 116 base-level winners from military installations in the U.S. and overseas, with 18 finalists vying for Army, Navy, Air Force, Marine Corps, Coast Guard, and National Guard branch-level recognition and selection as AFI MSOY. Each year, there are hundreds of nominations accompanied by thousands of votes.

AFI MSOY winners are a “who’s who” of changemakers. Honorees have used their platforms to usher in reforms to the military’s Exceptional Family Member Program, help pass the Military Spouse Employment Act, advocate for mental health issues, promote financial literacy, launch podcasts, author books, and more.

“It’s not a stretch by any means to say that this program has changed lives,” AFI Vice President and Chief Marketing Officer Lori Simmons said.

AFI assumed ownership of the program in 2018 after spending a decade as title sponsor. Under AFI’s guidance, the program has grown to include the AFI Marily Considine Pursue Scholarship, which provides professional development opportunities to current and past spouse-of-theyear recipients.

Simmons says AFI, a property insurance company that prides itself on personalized customer service, has a long-standing commitment to strengthening military families and honoring military spouses’ sacrifices. She says AFI’s work with the program allows the company to recognize spouses “for their strength, resiliency, and potential.”

“A lot of times spouses don’t necessarily realize their potential. They don’t necessarily start out with a lot of confidence in their ability to make a difference in the community. Once they get the wind under their wings, they soar,” she said. “It’s the most fulfilling thing I’ve been involved in within my life.”

Here’s what AFI MSOY winners are doing now and how winning the title has impacted their advocacy:

BRIAN ALVARADO

Service branch: Navy (retired)

Title: 2018 AFI Navy Spouse of the Year 2016 AFI Naval Base Coronado SOY

When his spouse retired from active duty in 2019, Alvarado was offered a full-time position with Hiring Our Heroes, a Washington, D.C.-based nonprofit, where he serves as director, workforce development.

“Supporting military families and providing the opportunity for economic stability for them is such an incredible way to spend my days,” Alvarado said.

An advocate for military spouse employment, Alvarado urges military spouses to use volunteer work and education as a springboard to a fulfilling career. Too often, he says, spouses fail to recognize the transferrable skills volunteer work creates.

“I beg, beg, beg my fellow military spouses to stop underselling themselves,” he said. “Just because you haven’t been paid to utilize a skill doesn’t mean that you don’t have that skill. What you learned in education, what you have learned in volunteer work creates a skillset that you own and is marketable.”

What value did the AFI MSOY program bring to your life?

“I have walked the halls of Congress. I have been to the White House. I sat down in a one-on-one interview with the Second Lady of the United States,” Alvarado said. “All of these things happened because I opened myself up to this community and I participated and I gave back.”

What is your advice to other spouses?

Alvarado would like to see all AFI MSOYs take advantage of the networking opportunities within the organization.

Alvarado says that as an AFI MSOY, you have to be able to be vulnerable enough to open yourself up and willing to lend a helping hand.

“It’s a two-way street,” he said. “It’s not just an award. You don’t just get a certificate or a medal. You are given a community with this program. How you operate within that community is going to index what you’re going to get out of it.”

PHOTO COURTESY OF TRISH ALEGRE-SMITH

“I’m a military spouse because my husband serves. So, I’ll wear that badge proudly standing alongside him,” Lori Bell, who is an Air Force veteran and spouse, said.

Between 2010 and 2012, Bell received a great deal of notoriety during her national media tour. But what took the cake was being one of the military spouses in 2013 on Oprah Winfrey’s ‘My Favorite Things’ show. During this time, she published a book on personal development and worked as a life coach.

Lately, Bell has shifted her focus to helping couples to strengthen their military marriages and working to help support women and military families.

What value has the AFI MSOY Program brought to your life?

“As my husband took on more leadership positions, more was required of me,” she added. “So, it did usher in a shift in the way that I choose to live my life. [But] I didn’t know I had influence or anything like that until I became an MSOY. That prepared me for being an installation commander’s wife.”

What is your advice to other spouses?

“Spouses become very skilled in a lot of different areas. Use all of that to improve the life of military families and the community at large,” Bell suggests.

A professional photographer for 22 years, in 2019 Stacey Benson launched MILSTOCK, a stock photography website featuring military-inspired images. Recently, she joined PCSGrades as community outreach manager.

“I love my military community. It doesn’t matter which branch of service it is. If somebody needs help, I’m there,” Benson said.

When the federal government shutdown left some Coast Guard families struggling to feed their children in 2019, Benson sprang into action. On the eve of the first missed paycheck for the Coast Guard, she organized Be the Light Food Pantry in Astoria, Oregon, supplying hundreds of military families with donated food, diapers, and other necessities.

“We were able to raise $40,000 in a very short amount of time,” Benson said. “We didn’t have a pantry. We had a grocery store.

We were the light for families in a moment of darkness.”

What value has the AFI MSOY Program brought to your life?

“Once you are in the MSOY community, you are always in it,” Benson said. “It has broadened my network for sure. I’m in a group of movers and shakers. If there is a problem I don’t know how to fix, I go to my group of spouses.”

What is your advice to other spouses?

“Get out into your military spouse community and make friends and network,” Benson said. “Experience all that military life brings your way no matter if it’s the good, the bad, and the ugly. Stay strong. If you ever feel like your drowning in whatever situation you are in, reach out to someone in your community. I guarantee there will be someone with a helping hand to help lift you up.”

STACEY BENSON Service branch: Coast Guard

Title: 2015 AFI Coast Guard Spouse of the Year

LORI BELL Service branch: Air Force

Title: 2010 AFI Military Spouse of the Year®

Today, Angela Caban serves as director of Military Saves, a nonprofit organization dedicated to increasing the financial readiness of service members and their families. Caban says she is passionate about helping military families forge a better financial future because of her own family’s money struggles during her husband’s military career.

“There were a lot of things we didn’t understand as a National Guard family with benefits and personal struggles that we were ashamed to talk about. What I do now is talk openly about it because I know there are families out there going through similar challenges,” she said.

“Now that my husband is out, I want to do what I can to give back to the military community,” Caban said. “For me, the most important thing in my life is to

continue supporting the military community in any way I possibly can.”

What value has the AFI MSOY Program brought to your life?

“Wow. I think the biggest value for me — and it just puts a smile on my face every time I think about it — is I wouldn’t have made the connections, the friends that I’ve made and had this tremendous amount of support without the MSOY program,” Caban said. “It’s just been such a joy because as a National Guard spouse, I felt so isolated.”

What is your advice to other spouses?

“Don’t be afraid to reach out and ask questions,” Caban said. “We’re such a friendly, welcoming community. No matter what it is you might be feeling, there’s someone out there who was in your shoes.”

Service branch: Marine Corps

Title: 2019 & 2020-2021 AFI Camp

Elizabeth Castro says the pandemic has given her a chance to pause, reflect and reassess what is important to her. So, she’s scaling back her volunteer efforts to dedicate time to one or two organizations rather than spreading herself too thin.

“It’s OK if you stop volunteering with certain organizations and shift your focus elsewhere because you’re in a different phase of your life.”

As the parent of a gay son, Castro said PFLAG — an organization for gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender people and their families — will be the focus of her attention going forward. Her goal is to help PFLAG become an important resource for the military and LatinX communities.

“Both the military community and my cultural background are very important to me,” Castro said. “This would be a great way to give back and a great way to bridge those communities together and help at the same time.”

What value has the AFI MSOY program brought to your life? Castro’s first reaction upon learning she was nominated for Camp Courtney SOY was to doubt she was worthy of the honor. Her “imposter syndrome” ended when the spouses who nominated her explained the impact she had made on their lives, particularly spouses stationed in Okinawa, where Castro was a founding team member of Spouse Guide 2 Okinawa.

As an AFI SOY, Castro says she now has a network of spouses she can turn to when helping fellow spouses.

“If I have a spouse that comes to me and says I need help with

this or I need information about entrepreneurship or how to start a nonprofit, I have a way to help . . . I can make those connections for them,” she said. “I can help them with their passion, with their ‘Why?’”

What is your advice to other spouses?

“If you’re nominated for this award, accept it because the nomination is a ‘win,’” Castro said. “If you win your base, you then become part of this amazing and phenomenal support group and network of military spouses that will always be there for you.”

PHOTO COURTESY OF TRISH ALEGRE-SMITH

ANGELA CABAN

Service branch: Army National Guard (veteran)

Title: 2013 AFI New Jersey National Guard SOY

ELIZABETH CASTRO

Courtney SOY

Cecilia Dyer advocates for military families to be eligible for chronic pain management treatment.

“My reason for doing this is to help people deal with their pain every day and to understand it better,” she said.

As a chronic pain sufferer diagnosed with tension myoneural syndrome, Dyer is an advocate for drug-free, non-invasive pain therapies such as massage, chiropractic care, and acupuncture. Though these treatments are available at designated military hospitals to active-duty service members (including activated National Guard and Reserve members), military families cannot currently receive these treatments through TRICARE.

Over the past year, Dyer has been directly engaging with policymakers, military base leadership, and TRICARE to lobby for pain management

treatment and services for military families.

What value has the AFI MSOY program brought to your life? Dyer says that while her opportunities for networking and public speaking have been limited during the pandemic year, she was able to brief students at the Sergeant Major Academy, NCO Leadership Center of Excellence at Fort Bliss about the program.

“I told the students when you become a sergeant major and go to your next post, look out for the spouses that are doing great things in their community,” Dyer said.

What is your advice to other spouses?

“There are so many resources to help manage anything one needs and things to do like volunteer,” Dyer said. “Life as a military spouse has its challenges, but always remember to be humble, positive, and kind.”

Rebecca Hyde is the co-founder and president of Media Beach, an independent contractor with Vet Jobs. She’s rebranded her nonprofit Dependastrong into the military support group Milspouseology and is also a contributor to the Milspouse Conversations podcast

After a diagnosis of bipolar disorder near the end of her husband’s 22-year Navy career, Hyde found a passion for bringing awareness to mental health struggles many military families face.

Though she had long battled depression and anxiety, she hid the extent of her illness from both her husband and his military commands for most of his career, believing that as a military spouse it was best “to keep your troubles to yourself.” After seeking out and receiving the support she needed, Hyde wants to help others by sharing her mental health journey.

“Mental health, especially in the military community, is directly

related to the amount and type of support you have,” Hyde said.

“If you feel like you don’t have support and you’re just kind of out there flipping and flopping around on your own, it can be very suffocating. You almost feel like you’re drowning because in the military community there are so many unknowns and uncertainties.”

What value has the AFI MSOY program brought to your life?

“It’s an alumni of people that once you’re connected, you’re connected,” Hyde said.

“Everybody has everybody’s back and everybody is there with nothing but love and support…It feels good to have that, especially after retirement, because I was worried I would lose that sense of community, that connection with the military and with military families.”

What is your advice to other spouses?

“Check on your kids because the suicide rate in military kids is astronomical,” she said.

REBECCA HYDE Service branch: Navy (retired)

Title: 2020-2021 AFI Naval Station Rota SOY

CECILIA DYER Service branch: Army

Title: 2020-2021 AFI Joint Base Myer-Henderson Hall SOY

Service branch: Marine Corps

Title: 2019 AFI Naval Postgraduate School Monterey SOY

Kaprece James is the founder and CEO of Stella’s Girls, a nonprofit dedicated to empowering women and young girls around the globe.

“Since this honor, Stella’s Girls has expanded to serving women and girls in seven countries across three continents,” James said. “We are currently working with PsychArmor to create suicide prevention and domestic violence resources and training for Ugandan and Liberian Army military spouses due to the lack of military spouse support in their countries.”

What value has the AFI MSOY program brought to your life?

“AFI MSOY has allowed me to connect with more amazing spouses outside of the Marine Corps that I may not have had the opportunity to meet besides when I was stationed in Okinawa and interacting with all branches,” James said.

“Thanks to this award, it allowed me to start a second nonprofit, Military Hearts Matter, with the 2019 AFI Military Spouse of the Year® Holly C. Vega, with a focus on heart disease in our military community,” she added.

What is your advice to other spouses?

As the nation and military confront issues with racism, James believes military spouses can be a force for change.

“With such a collective group of military spouses that we have, it’s taking the opportunity to get to know one another and create change in our local communities. … As active-duty military spouses, we have more freedom than our service members to be able to advocate,” James said.

Service branch: Space Force, formerly Air Force

Title: 2020-2021 Marine Corps Base Quantico SOY

What are you passionate about?

Sarah Streyder is committed to helping military spouses and family members raise their voices on foreign policy issues that affect their lives. She believes that uncomplicating the voting process for military families is the first step in that process. Her nonprofit, Secure Families Initiative, has become a recognized brand for nonpartisan resources related to voting and advocacy.

“Voting is key to a lot of change in our country and at all levels, local, state, and federal,” Streyder said. “It’s this civic duty that lots of us are naturally inclined to do, but when you’re a military family it can be extra tricky…I realized we could really use some education on how to navigate the process and some policy advocacy about how to make the process easier to navigate.”

What value has the AFI MSOY program brought to your life?

“I am so grateful for the network of kick-ass military spouses that I’ve been privileged to meet through the AFI MSOY program,” Streyder said.

What is your advice to other spouses?

“It’s easy to doubt yourself and opt yourself out of processes,” Streyder said. “You miss 100% of the shots you don’t take. I guarantee every single spouse that I know has in one way or another contributed positively to our community of military spouses. You shouldn’t think there is only one positive contribution that counts.”

Sarah Streyder is the director of the Secure Families Initiative.

For more updates on award winners, visit our website.

SARAH STREYDER

PHOTO COURTESY OF TRISH ALEGRE-SMITH

Due to the pandemic, 2020-2021 AFI Military Spouse of the Year® award recipients will be celebrated on September 7 at a Town Hall event. Visit https://msoy.afi.org for updates on the upcoming nomination period.

KAPRECE JAMES

A mere 25 miles outside Naval Station Rota, Cádiz, the oldest city in Spain, is a traveler’s delight. Situated on a narrow slice of land surrounded by the sea with a population of 116,000, the town boasts a rich history, iconic views, and culinary adventure.

HISTORY

Today, the city is the principal homeport of the Spanish navy but the region’s history dates back 3,000 years when it was founded by the Phoenicians. Since that time, Roman, Muslim, and Catholic influences have left distinct impressions upon the architecture, people, and culture.

The Roman Theatre of Cádiz, which was likely built during the 1st century, is one of the largest theaters built in the Roman empire. The structure was abandoned in the 4th

BY KIMBERLY GLADDEN-EVERSLEY

century and a fortress was built on its ruins in the 13th century. Today, visitors can tour the theater at no charge.

Cádiz thrived during the 15th and 16th centuries when Spain was one of the most powerful nations in Europe and the area was a base for exploration and trade. More than 100 watchtowers from this period remain, including the iconic Torre Tavira, which was traditionally used for spotting ships.

On the waterfront is the domed, 18th-century Cádiz Cathedral known in Spanish as Catedral Nueva — the city’s most iconic building. The building, which features baroque and neoclassical elements, took five architects 116 years to complete.

RECREATION

With an average of 300 days of sunshine per year, the region is referred to as Costa de Luz — The Coast of Light. Visitors and locals enjoy the beach, easily accessible from town. You can also visit the region’s many secluded beach destinations such as Playa de Castillejos or Playa de Cortinas.

Anderson recommends adding horseback riding on the beach to your bucket list or taking the time to sit and watch the sunset and listen to the splashing waves.

CULTURE

Musical singing and dancing mixed with tap, the exquisite sounds of the guitar, tambourines, and bells give Cádiz a gypsy vibe. Be sure to find a local Flamenco dance performance to fully experience southern Spain’s culture.

FOOD AND DRINK

Tapas anyone? Make sure you try paella, tortilla de Camarones, and of course, olives. To all the cheese lovers, don’t miss olive oil cheese and international awardwinning rosemary cheese. From bar hopping to wine tasting, take a sip of Cruzcampo, sweet sherry, chocolate-infused shots, and spiced rums.

Take a trip to the local fish market and see where the locals and

nearby restaurants shop. “One of the most popular things to do is buy a bottle of sherry wine; fry some fresh fish; and go to the beach to eat, drink, and enjoy with friends,” Anderson said.

“I like to try different things, like going to different tapas bars, museums, and admiring beautiful monuments,” Anderson added, and she recommends you do too.

“I have to say, my favorite thing about Cádiz is feeling like I’m walking through history,” said Adriane Anderson, a tour guide based in southern Spain. “The winding roads take you back in time. The gastronomy and eating is another favorite.”

RACING TEAM BUILDS CAMARADERIE AFTER SERVICE

BY REBECCA ALWINE

Some people consider drag racing a dangerous sport, but Marine Corps Capt. Brian Czech believes it saves lives.

Czech and Brian Fennell, a fellow Marine Corps veteran, are the co-founders of the nonprofit Battle-Scarred Sports, based in Slidell, Louisiana. The organization uses racing as a tool to combat many of the problems today’s veterans face, including depression, homelessness, and suicide.

“The service we provide is a reset button for some, and for others, it can be a lifeline,” Fennell said.

“We are helping with the loneliness one can feel in a world that doesn’t understand us, bringing light to someone’s dark world, giving an adrenaline experience with a good memory to replace an adrenaline experience with a bad memory.”

Battle-Scarred Sports has two chapters and runs four cars on a variety of tracks in Texas, Louisiana, Georgia, South Carolina, Alabama, Oklahoma, and Colorado. A typical weekend

with the group allows participants to connect with those who have shared experiences in terms of service.

“It’s our collective life experiences that enable a bond to form almost instantaneously that sets us apart,” Czech said.

When Czech, Fennell, and their friends first raced, they didn’t envision something larger. Starting at the Carolina Motorsports Park under the name of “Uncle Sam’s Misguided Children Racing,” their first foray into racing was more an experiment to see if this is where they wanted to spend their time.

“When they showed up Thursday, they were quiet, reserved, and kept to themselves. But by Sunday, you couldn’t get them to shut up. They had completely changed,” Czech said.

Almost four years later, the program has grown and serves more than 340 veterans and first responders each year. By providing everything participants need to race — food for the weekend a place to stay at the track — the only thing left to do is show up and be ready to work.

Having the program open to first responders was important to Czech, who grew up with family members who served in a variety of public service roles. He says the common thread between the military and first responders is the selfless sacrifice they give to their communities.

DEGREE MADE FOR

LIFESTYLE

Army veteran Layne Patterson found BattleScarred through a shared passion for racing. “I reached out to them in 2019, loaded up to go racing, and have never looked back,” he said.

“It’s been so much fun racing with these guys and actually making a direct positive impact on other veterans’ lives and my life personally. I get everything I could possibly need and so much more from these guys,” Patterson said.

After being laid off from his job, Patterson has moved from racing to working with Fennell in his repair shop. Patterson now attends aviation school and is still able to stay connected by working on projects with the team as time allows.

Fennell said that working with veterans over the years has created deep bonds among the participants of the program — so much so

that the crew views each other as family.

“It was the family I knew would understand me as they have walked in my shoes as I’ve walked in theirs. This was the beginning of BattleScarred Motorsports,” Fennell said.

With a team of veterans focused on serving other veterans, there’s a lot of motivation to make sure the job is done well.

And it’s worked. Fennell shared that through their efforts, at least three lives have been

saved, and countless others have found joy. That’s as good as it gets, he says.

If you, a veteran, or first responder you know are interested in racing, general car maintenance, or working as part of the pit crew, there is room for you on this team.

To learn more about the lives changed by Battle-Scarred Motorsports, or to get involved, visit their website

“The service we provide is a reset button for some, and for others, it can be a lifeline. We are helping with the loneliness one can feel in a world that doesn’t understand us, bringing light to someone’s dark world.”

SKEET SHOOTER SETS SIGHTS ON TOKYO

BY CHRIS ADAMS

Like many Olympic hopefuls, Army Reserve 1st Lt. Amber English, a skeet shooter, has dealt with a variety of interruptions and delays due to the pandemic. And like many soldiers, she has a resilient nature and ability to adapt and overcome.

English, a Team USA member, has been preparing for years for the challenges of Tokyo 2021.

“It’s been a long time coming. They say, generally, to build an Olympic athlete from start to finish is around 10 years,” English said.

She is in her second go-around on an Olympic team. The first time wasn’t ideal.

“I was geared up to make the ’16 team and then had some hurdles to get through,” she said.

English unexpectedly lost her father, Mike, during the 2016 Olympic trials. She ended up as an alternate and took some time off.

English grew up in Colorado Springs, Colorado. Her father trained as a member of the U.S. Running Target National Team at the United States Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs.

Her athletic career began with gymnastics, but by the end of high school the sport had taken a toll on her, and the Olympian gravitated toward shooting. The timing was perfect. USA Shooting needed more women and junior girls for the shotgun event, English said. She had tried rifle and pistol but wasn’t feeling it.

“And so I went out to the shotgun range there right at Fort Carson — the Olympic Training Center range — and after that day, like, I was hooked,” she said.

After joining the military in 2017 as a logistics officer, English became a part of the Army Marksmanship Unit at Fort Benning, Georgia, which has been crucial to her quest for Tokyo gold — the goal for 2021.

“I know I’m capable of it,” she said. “And I’m surrounded by enough people to have that support to go get it done. They’ve pushed me daily to be in that environment.”

English practices five to seven days per week from dawn to 4:30 p.m. under all conditions (except lightning). There are two styles of skeet shooting, she said, International and American. She shoots International. The International style moves faster, and competitors use 12-gauge

over and under shotguns. English’s gun is a custom-fit Italian-made Perazzi.

International competitions comprise shooting 125 targets in a course of fire during two days, as opposed to the American style, which consists of 500 targets and the use of different shotgun gauges, she said.

According to the NRA, the International style is much more demanding than American. International targets move quicker and farther, and the gunstock’s position is below the waist.

Part of English’s training strategy is to create discomfort at home while training “so that when you go overseas, and you go to these big matches, and you’re uncomfortable, you’re like, ‘Oh, well, I’ve already been here a hundred times so, here we are, we’re gonna do it.’”

It can be difficult to simulate stressful, high-pressure situations in a non-competitive environment, she said, but the group of skeet shooters she trains with challenges one another to meet designated practice goals. English also dispenses selfimposed sanctions if immediate training outcomes aren’t successful.

“I know I’ve struggled with certain parts of the match, and I said, if I don’t shoot a certain score, my punishment is I have to put my gun away for the rest of the day, and I can sit at home and have to think about how to work through this problem without training,” she said.

The Army has taught English how to perform under pressure. Shooting necessitates a calm demeanor and firm control over fine motor skills while competing. Then couple those factors with the pressure, and the margin of error increases.

“One of the things I’ve learned since joining the military is that these people that I’m surrounded by, whether they’re shooting or whether deployed, whatever their job is in the military, they still have to figure out how to get the job done,” she said.

“You just have to let yourself do the right thing at the right time. You have the tools. Just knowing that you’ve prepared for it and done so much.”

Follow www.instagram.com/amberenglish to

PHOTO BY MICHELLE LUNATO

One of the things I’ve learned since joining the military is that these people that I’m surrounded by, whether they’re shooting or whether deployed, whatever their job is in the military, they still have to figure out how to get the job done.”

JOURNALIST BUILDS PLATFORM

COMMITTED TO UNBIASED NEWS

BY TEAL YOST

You may recognize Jenna Lee. After all, she spent seven years as a national news anchor at Fox News Channel. But after marrying a Navy SEAL and starting a family, Lee walked away from the lucrative and highprofile job in New York City to follow her passion and create something she felt was missing — smart, non-partisan news.

Lee, a San Francisco native and graduate of Columbia University’s Graduate School of Journalism, began her career with Fox just as it launched Fox Business Network. After three years covering financial and consumer news, she made the jump to Fox News Channel, anchoring the news program “Happening Now.”

“There was a feeling that there were certain parts of the day that the network committed to straight news, shows that were commentary free. I felt like that’s what we were doing at ‘Happening Now,’” she said.

However, that feeling began to change for Lee during her time at Fox.

“I sensed that the island I was on for straight, non-partisan news was shrinking.”

During this time as a network anchor in New York, she met and began dating her now-husband, Lt. Cmdr. Leif Babin, a former Navy SEAL who continues to serve in the Navy Reserve. The two met at a star-studded benefit for the Navy SEAL Warrior Fund held at the Waldorf Astoria.

“I walked into the hotel, and everyone was in their service dress uniforms. I’d never been to an event like it before, and I remember it feeling intimidating,” Lee said.

She and Babin got to talking and decided to stay in touch, even though she was in New York and he was stationed in San Diego, California. Eventually, “staying in touch” led to a long-distance relationship, which turned into a significantly longer distance relationship when Babin deployed to Iraq for seven months.

“I hadn’t grown up around anyone who was active-duty military, so it was a brand-new world for me — from learning the acronyms to figuring out how to get on base, I realized how much I didn’t understand about military life.”

Lee said she and other journalists interviewed military figures and covered military-related stories regularly. However, to see military life up close was different.

“It gave me more of an understanding of just how strong military families have to be …

It’s not just the deployments. It’s about the months leading up to those deployments, the months afterward, the stress of the whatifs — it was eye-opening.”

Lee and Babin married in 2011 and lived in New York City while adding three children to their family. As Lee’s contract was up for renewal, she faced a difficult choice.

“I loved my job, and I had worked really hard to get to a position that allowed me to broadcast before an international audience, but deep down, I knew I was at a critical crossroads,” Lee said.

She felt the network was moving further and further away from straight journalism and in the direction of more partisan commentary.

“I got into the journalism business to inform, not to provide commentary. I couldn’t fake that. It’s not who I am.”

After a decade working from Fox’s studios, Lee walked away.

“It was a scary decision. I made

a choice not to re-sign my contract.”

As she thought about her next steps, Lee knew she still believed in journalism and its power to inform.

“Big things are happening, and information makes us feel smarter and more in control. The public needs to have places where they can go to get the facts, the basics about what is going on in the world.”

She started thinking about what people really need from the news.

“I knew that in order for news to be consumed in a more healthy way, the way we deliver it had to change. The amount of multi-tasking you have to do as an American woman today is incredible.”

Lee says she had to figure out how to meet today’s audience where they are in their lives. “We’re so busy that finding time to read the newspaper every morning or watch the evening news every night is a serious challenge.”

Lee launched www. SmartHerNews.com in 2018. Between the website and Instagram, she’s developed a digital platform providing factbased, non-partisan information about what’s happening in the world, quickly and concisely.

“You can get a smart snapshot of the day’s news while you’re waiting in line at the grocery store, or while you’re waiting for your next meeting to begin,” Lee said.

Facts fuel SmartHer News and Lee prides herself on the platform’s commitment to unbiased news. And while walking away from a TV news giant was challenging, creating something new and different is what she was meant to do.

“We’re three years in, and our audience is growing, we’re launching a new website, it’s an exciting time for SmartHer News.”

In early March, Air Force spouse Jennifer Brantley was sitting at her desk when her superintendent came by and hustled her over to the public affairs office to take a photo. A few hours later, he returned.

employee, doesn’t shy away from speaking out against social injustice and racism. Her courage, passion, and actions fall right in line with Roy Wilkins’ work and what he was determined to see come

was a civil rights activist who played an essential role in the movement between

was the assistant NAACP secretary and later replaced W.E.B. Du Bois as editor of their magazine, The Crisis. Wilkins used his position to fight for legislative reform and, during his time, worked with five different presidents. was created in his honor in 1980 to “recognize of members of the support civil rights in the armed services

Specifically, it recognizes a nominee who displays exceptional character and serves as an outstanding leader, role model, or mentor by promoting the development or advancement

Brantley has done just that in her support of civil rights. after the murder of , there’s been a shift in her work environment.

“During a sanctioned Operation Grit discussion on race and discrimination, my determination not to shy away from the subject turned a conversation that was mostly silence into an actual discussion of the issues and what it’s like, as a minority, to have to report to work following a collective trauma and watch everyone skirt around events as though nothing happened,” she said.

Brantley joins a long line of award recipients who have decided to use their voice and space of influence in the military to combat systemic racism. She says she’s been able to have an open dialogue with her non-minority colleagues about how to broach sensitive topics with people of color in an appropriate manner and made

it easier for other minorities to speak up.

Since the 2020 summer of protesting and worldwide outcries for justice, the DOD Board of Diversity and Inclusion has taken steps to implement changes to the military system. These changes will allow for more diversity, inclusion, equality, and accountability.

Brantley says that healing and reconciliation are necessary across the country.

“It cannot come if we continue to be silent and/or expect other people to mute their truth. So I speak. I speak on social media, I speak in person, and I speak on the DiscardIt podcast. I host events, and I create things like the FindMe Mobile app to

help bridge the gap caused by systemic racism and encourage and bring together others in the broader community.”

And she is not alone. Brantley commends others who use their platforms to call out injustice. She says that bridging the divide in our country should start with keeping our communities, leaders, and government focused on the changes that still need to happen.

“If something is important to you, speak on it,” Brantley said.

“If speaking isn’t your thing, there are so many other ways you can contribute to your cause. And by sharing your experience/passion, you may just give someone else the courage to do the same thing.”

“Congratulations!”

“For what, sir?”

“You won the NAACP Roy Wilkins Renown Service Award for the 48th Fighter Wing.”

PHOTO COURTESY OF LIBRARY OF CONGRESS

Roy Wilkins in 1963

What’s your best

BARGAIN?

BY ANDREA DOWNING PECK

What’s the best deal of your life? As a newly-minted Navy lieutenant with five-figure dental school loans, a four-digit savings account, and a not-yet-employed spouse, my husband plucked a mint condition set of dress blues from the Great Lakes Naval Training Command Thrift Shop. For the next three years, his $30 uniform netted him accolades for his “squared away” appearance at command-wide uniform inspections.

Our bargain pales in comparison to buying an original copy of the Declaration of Independence for $2.48 — that happened at a Tennessee thrift store in 2007 — but it was a major “find” for a cash-strapped military family. No matter whether you are hardwired to pick up pennies or prefer a quick purchase over bargain hunting, most everyone has their own “best deal” story seared into their memory.

Marine Corps spouse Amber Sanders has a penchant for finding bargains tossed to the curb in military housing communities. Using curbside freebies, Sanders furnished her guest bedroom — complete with bed and new mattress, dressers, and nightstands. But she’s also salvaged tool boxes, chainsaws, cleaning supplies, children’s clothing, and more.

“When people PCS, they tend to put anything on the curb they can’t take with them. You literally can find anything on the curb,” Sanders, whose best finds came aboard Camp LeJeune, said. “Living next to a military base, you find a ton of more free stuff than you do not living next to one.”

Navy spouse Emily Walters loves a second-hand bargain. Her best find was an 1851 prayer book purchased for $1 at a Saratoga, New York, yard sale. This book and a 1738 first edition of “Cruden’s Concordance of the Holy Scriptures,” which Walters found for $60 at Half Price Books online, were gifts for her mother, who collects old texts. The nearly 300-year-old religious text is valued at an estimated $1,000.

A luxury hotel for as little as $54 a night in the heart of Tokyo, one of the world’s most expensive cities, is retired Army spouse Stephanie Montague’s favorite travel bargain. Complete with an indoor pool and saunas, plus seven restaurants and bars, the New Sanno “would cost a small fortune to stay there if it were a civilian hotel,” Montague said.

Montague, an expat living in Rota, Spain, with her Army retiree husband Michiyo, runs the travel website Poppin Smoke. She says the best travel deals come from using military benefits — Space-A flying, Space-A lodging on military bases, and military recreational facilities.

You may think “money doesn’t grow on trees,” but Air Force spouse Andi Wrenn begs to differ. When Wrenn and her late-husband Chris purchased 138 acres of North Carolina forestry land in 2013, they knew they scored a bargain.

Their per-acre price cost about 40% less than nearby land. Their bargain has become more valuable with time. When a cell tower is built on the property this summer, the telephone company’s monthly lease payments ultimately may total more than the acreage’s original price tag. Additionally, the first tree thinning could net Wrenn more than $40,000. “My grandpa, who went through the Great Depression, taught me to be thrifty,” Wrenn explained.

Air Force veteran Katelyn Tinsley, founder of Homefront Room Revival, built a nonprofit based on recycling trash into treasure for airmen and military families in need. When she pulled an 19th-century English vanity from the curb at Seymour Johnson Air Force Base in North Carolina, the antique became the centerpiece of an auction to raise funds for the nonprofit.

Tinsley’s favorite upcycling story features an antique 7-foot knight statute that was transformed into the “Grinch” as part a holiday project. “When we went to add tinsel inside his helmet to jazz him up with holiday spirit, a bird flew out of a nest in the helmet, half attacking us and nearly giving us a heart attack!”

A “born saver,” family financial expert Ellie Kay creates her own bargains online. Kay’s go-to money-saving move is to abandon an item in a retailer’s “shopping cart,” generating an email offering her a better deal — typically a 15% off coupon.

Kay’s biggest money-saving deal was generated through her passion for couponing. Decades ago, Kay created her own version of cash-back couponing apps Ibotta and Fetch. Every time she shopped with coupons, Kay would deposit into her savings account an amount equal to what she saved. Over the course of her husband’s 20-year Air Force career, her coupon-savings account grew to an eyepopping $160,000. “Through my couponing, we paid for all five of the Kay kids’ weddings,” she said.

NAMED ARMY’S Vietnamese refugee Engineer of the Year

BY BIANCA STRZALKOWSKI

A former refugee who enlisted in the Army as a way to give back was recently lauded for her proficiency in engineering.

Born in South Vietnam, Col. Danielle Ngo’s family came to the U.S. in 1975 after being evacuated from Saigon at the end of the Vietnam War. They settled in Massachusetts, then later became naturalized citizens. She said she doesn’t remember much from that time in her life

because she was 3 years old, but she does have a vivid memory of her grandfather folding a U.S. dollar bill and putting it in her pocket.

Ngo says she always knew she would join the Army because her mother taught her that it was “the service that saved us.”

“She [her mother] didn’t talk very much about our life in Vietnam, even when I was growing up — she didn’t like to discuss much

Ngo shares a laugh with soldiers during training at Marine Corps Base Hawaii in 2018. Ngo is now the executive officer to the Army’s inspector general in Washington, D.C.

Then-Pvt. Danielle Ngo after graduating from basic combat training in 1990.

COURTESY PHOTO

PHOTO BY SGT. 1ST CLASS MICHAEL BEHLIN

about it, but I did know about the Army and that the Army pulled us from the war. So, in my mind, it was giving back to the service that saved us. The military saved me and my family, how can I give back?” she said.

In 1989, Ngo enlisted and then joined ROTC at Boston University. By 1994 she was commissioned as a second lieutenant in the field of engineering and later graduated from the University of Massachusetts with a Bachelor of Science in Finance.

She says she listed engineering as one of her top three job choices because she “thought it was the toughest branch in the Army that a female can be in.” It was rare at that time to find female minorities in that field, a fact that led to her often being the first or only — as was the case in her combat airborne unit.

There were external barriers to adapting, she says, like the physical demands of the job. But it was the self-imposed challenges that she had to work hard to overcome.

“My internal challenges were just my insecurity that people would think that I couldn’t keep up or that I wasn’t good enough. I wanted to set a great example for other females and I didn’t want to fail at anything, and so I put a lot of internal pressure on myself to be the best I could be and keep up with everybody in the unit,” Ngo said.

She added that her set of experiences also taught her that “you can succeed in the

Corps of Engineers without being a degreed engineer.”

“It set the stage for the rest of my experiences in the military and probably is one of the reasons I’ve stayed in so long,” she said.

“I’ve enjoyed the camaraderie, the sense of purpose that engineers have. As an engineer, you can do so many different skillsets as an officer because you have to know a little bit about everything.”

The mother of three children currently works as the executive officer for the U.S. Army Inspector General at the Pentagon. She was recently named the 2020-2021 Asian American Engineer of the Year, an award she described as being “really honored” to receive, especially so late in her career.

She credits her mother and her culture for placing such a high priority on education early in her life and the Army for affording her the opportunity to attain three master’s degrees.

Ngo also mentors young Asian Americans through outreach and STEM programs. She is adamant about exposing others to the possibilities that can exist in their life.

“Look at me, you can do the same things that I’ve done. You can achieve the same things that I’ve achieved. I’m not any more special than you are, and so, if you look to me and see that I can do these things, you can do these things too.”

The family of Army Col. Danielle Ngo poses for a photo in the early 1970s, during the Vietnam War. Pictured are, from left; Ngo’s uncle, Son, her grandmother, Ho Ngoc Vien, aunt Thai Anh, her mom Thai An, aunt Nhu-Y, and her grandfather, Ngo Ngoc Tung. Danielle Ngo is being held by her aunt, Tuong Van, on the far right.

‘THE LEAGUE OF WIVES’

CAPTURES UNTOLD STORY OF SPOUSES’ FIGHT TO BRING POWS HOME

BY JENNIFER BARNHILL

In her book, “The League of Wives,” historian Heath Hardage Lee captures the fighting spirit of military spouses who took on the U.S. government to bring their POW-MIA husbands home.

Lee, a civilian historian and museum curator, was shown a diary of a family friend, Navy POW wife Phyllis Galanti. Through her papers, Lee unearthed a network of women who formed the National League of Families of American Prisoners and Missing in Southeast Asia in the 1960s. These women, led by Sybil Stockdale, put pressure on the U.S. government to get their husbands home from Vietnam.

“They have to fight not only the North Vietnamese Communists who are torturing their husbands but their own government, their own military institutions to get justice,” Lee said.

Many Americans are familiar with the harrowing tales of torture faced by military POWs like Adm. James Stockdale and former presidential candidate John McCain, at the hands of the Northern Vietnamese during their stay in the Hanoi Hilton. What is less known is the revolution that was taking place on the home front.

“The League of Wives” is told from the point of view of these

women, from tearful goodbyes to learning their husbands had been shot down. At first, the women responded as expected, relying upon the advice from Department of Defense leaders, while leaning on each other for support. As the story progresses, these accidental feminists find their voices and no longer remain quiet.

According to Lee, what pushed these wives over the edge was the Johnson administration’s refusal to acknowledge that their husbands were being tortured by the Northern Vietnamese.

“By 1966 they [government] fully knew what was happening,” said Lee. “And by 1967 Sybil [Stockdale] was sending coded letters to her husband, working with the Navy, and discovered they were all being tortured.”

According to Lee, instead of getting these men out of harm’s way, politicians focused on optics-first policies, not peoplefirst. The spouses featured in the book knew their husbands were being tortured. The government’s policy of silence felt like abandonment.

Ultimately, they reached out to the media, which was the only advocacy avenue left to them. By sharing their stories with the world, they found a way to leverage

public outrage, helping to bring an end to the unpopular war.

“When history is happening to you, you really don’t know it,” Lee said when asked if the League knew the long-lasting impact of their advocacy.

“Particularly when you are a woman in the ‘60s, when you’re taught you’re invisible. So, none of these ladies really thought at the time they were doing

anything but absolutely what they should be doing to get their husbands out.”

Louise Mulligan, a POW wife featured in the book shared that, “When you are fighting for something that is so precious, you’re willing to do almost anything.”

“The League of Wives” can be purchased at major retail outlets.

HIDDEN FIGURES NO LONGER

Before “The League of Wives” book was published it found its way into the hands of actress and producer Reese Witherspoon. Her production company Hello Sunshine intends to make the book into a film, commemorating the lives of Sybil Stockdale and her fellow POW-MIA wives.

“From the minute I heard about this inspiring true story, I knew it was a perfect fit for us. I’m excited to … be giving audiences a glimpse at this meaningful moment in American history,” Witherspoon said in a statement.

PRESERVING THEIR LEGACY

The book opens in the picturesque southern California town of Coronado. Known as the birthplace of naval aviation, the town was home to Sybil Stockdale and other members of their group. The League of Wives Memorial Project hopes to erect a statue commemorating these women and their role in bringing their spouses home.

“The League’s efforts ultimately helped facilitate the release of 591 prisoners of war,” said retired war correspondent Brad Willis, creator of the project. “We feel that honoring these courageous and committed women who changed the course of history will serve as an important historical memorial for the Coronado community and its future generations as well.”

More information about the memorial can be found here: https://www.ipetitions.com/ petition/leagueofwives.

COURTESY OF THE STOCKDALE FAMILY COLLECTION

James Stockdale, a Medal of Honor recipient, greets his family upon return as a POW in Vietnam.

RAPID

FIRE

Q&A WITH AIR FORCE VETERAN TURNED PHOTOGRAPHER

BY SUSAN MALANDRINO

As an Air Force veteran and military spouse of 19 years, Washington, D.C.based photographer Trish Alegre-Smith knows the ins and outs of military life and how to best capture it. So much so that this issue is Alegre-Smith’s 10th cover for AmeriForce Media, publisher of Military Families Magazine.

Tell us about some of your most challenging jobs. Whenever I have to put group shoots together, those are the most challenging. It’s the reunion and the photoshoot at the same time. Those can be the hardest to do because everyone is just so excited to see each other. You get genuine reactions but it is hard to get everyone’s attention and to get everyone organized for that perfect picture.

What does it feel like when you see your work in print?

There’s such amazing pride. Not only is my work good enough but someone appreciates the work. It makes you feel really good.

What tips and tricks do you use to photograph big groups?

The first thing is planning the shoot ahead of time. For this issue’s cover shoot, I had a rough drawing sketched out of how the setup was going to look. Being a mom and a volunteer who works with children, you get good at “Simon Says.” As a photographer, you do that too. You model the behavior you want the other person to do.

What is your greatest joy as a photographer?

You don’t realize how insecure people can be about their selfimage. To the outside observer, they can look gorgeous or handsome but they may not think of themselves that way. So when I nail it — that perfect picture, and I know it when I see it — and I show it to them on the preview screen of my camera, you see the excitement … You can see them going from slightly insecure to utterly confident. That is the feeling that I want everyone to walk away with.

What makes the military spouse community unique?

We recognize each other. We know what we’ve gone through. We know the struggles that we have. We also know where we can find success, however we define it, whether it’s in our home, in the workplace, or in our creative pursuits. Wherever you land, no matter where you go in the world, you will always find someone who “gets it.”