— Barbara L. Sellers, Northwest Guardian
Army spouses offer some skills to help manage the military lifestyle
by Dawn Torres-Gale Contributing Writer Army Newspaper Hawaii Arranging the details of a household move, enrolling children in a new school, interviewing for a new job – these are just a few of the practical responsibilities that spouses of military service members face while their loved ones serve the nation.
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| Military Spouse Facts | |
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Live in all 50 states. In the US there are more than 5,900 military installations of varying sizes |
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Typical military spouse is a female under the age of 35 (80% are under 35) |
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95% of all military spouses are female |
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37% have children – average is two children |
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Military spouses often fill the role of single parent due to deployments |
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54% of active duty spouses are employed |
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63% of active duty enlisted spouses are employed |
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Military spouses are ethnically diverse and hail from around the world |
| Source: 2002 demographic report published by the Military Family Resource Center | |
— Dawn Torres-Gale, Hawaii Army Weekly
by Kathie Hightower & Holly Scherer
As a spouse brand new to military life, you often feel like a “stranger in a strange land.” So many things are foreign. After a few years we see the same things as simply part of our lives and forget that not everyone in America experiences these same things. We’ve asked spouses to share some favorite versions of “You Know You are a Military Spouse When.” Here they are:
• you stand as they play our National Anthem before the start of the movie (and you know you are connected to the military if you are in a theater that plays the National Anthem at the start of a movie!)
• you say 1800 hours instead of 6pm
• you automatically stop your car when you hear the bugle call Retreat, get out and stand straight with your hand over your heart when you hear the National Anthem or To the Colors played as the flag is lowered. (and you know which direction on base/post to face even when you aren’t near the flagpole)
• all your kids, including your two year old stop what they’re doing and put their hands on their hearts whenever they hear the National Anthem.
• you know what someone means when they say “we lived on the economy,” or “we lived in a stairwell.”
• if you ever answer a question with HOOAH!
• you can move your daycare from one state to another and still have the same children enrolled.
• you refer to your bathroom as the latrine.
• you find yourself saying “let’s police up this yard” to your kids.
• you ask someone to hold on a second by saying “stand by”.
• you wake up to the sound of running feet and jody calls outside your window
• you go to sleep with the sound of TAPS playing
• you and your kids have spent at least one Thanksgiving in the Mess Hall (okay, some do call it the Dining Facility but old habits die hard.)
• you don't know your own social security number anymore, but you know your spouses by heart.
• you yell at your kids by saying, “Don’t make me email your father/mother!”And right now, you know you are a military spouse when not a day goes by without you thinking about the war in Iraq, whether or not your own spouse is deployed. Kathie and Holly are coauthors of Help! I'm a Military Spouse -- I Want a Life Too! Information on their book, articles and workshops is at www.militaryspousehelp.com.
©2006 Hightower and SchererYou are welcome to use this article in your publication if you include the byline with our website and send us a copy for our files and celebration.
— Debbie Cafazzo, The Tacoma News Tribune
