Top Story>>May is Military Spouse Appreciation Month

By Ashley Mangin
Volunteer Contributor to the Combat Airlifter

Most people know the bravery it takes for military members to serve their country, but few realize the amazing courage military spouses display every day.

Spouses are a very diverse group of people from all across the country as well as the world. Some are prior military, some work outside the home, some work at home and others work to keep up the home. Some are men, others women and some have children, but the one thing they all have in common is adjusting to the military lifestyle. They quickly learn the meaning of “hurry up and wait” while waiting for orders, amendments, housing and movers. They adapt to living without their servicemember during deployments, temporary duty assignments and long work days. They are faced with unique challenges that they meet head on.

May is Military Spouse Appreciation Month, but Little Rock Air Force Base has been showing it’s gratitude to these brave women and men who stand behind the brave men and women of the United States Military for years.

The Airman and Family Readiness Center frequently holds classes and events geared toward spouses such as Bundles for Babies, resume writing classes and many programs for spouses of deployed service members.

“Almost everything we have is open to spouses. Any of our quality of life programs,” said Ms. Pat Pope, community readiness consultant. “We just had our Military Spouse Day Friday and that was a big success. We had over 50 people [that we treated to] a day of pampering.”

Family Advocacy is another organization designed to help spouses and families with more serious issues. They sponsor the New Parent Support Program that offers activities for mothers and children as well as help for some of the issues new mothers face. There are also scholarships, job search help and volunteer opportunities available to spouses through various base organizations, although it has not always been this way.

Mrs. Jean Strole remembers, “They didn’t have anything like that for wives, not back in 1954. We didn’t really have a lot of connection with the other wives. It was kind of lonely.”

Things have certainly changed over the years. The Air Force has seen to its need to accommodate this vital part of the Air Force mission. Spouses are truly the backbone of the Armed Forces.