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Taking care of yourself in military life can easily become the thing that gets pushed to the bottom of the list.

That’s why we’re excited to welcome Evie King, president of InDependent and the 2023 AFI Military Spouse of the Year, to MilSpouseFest Camp Humphreys.

Through InDependent, Evie helps make health and wellness more accessible to military spouses across every branch and component, including active duty, Guard, Reserve, veteran and retired communities.

Working alongside experts in mental health, nutrition and wellness, InDependent creates programming, resources and practical tools designed to support the whole military spouse.

Evie brings an important perspective to the conversation around what it really looks like to care for ourselves while navigating the demands of military life.
We can’t wait to have her with us at MilSpouseFest Camp Humphreys on October 21. by @milspousefest

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Military life asks a lot of families, and sometimes the hardest parts are the ones that feel the loneliest.

For Michelle Bowler, an Army wife of 14 years and mom of five daughters and a son in heaven, that understanding comes from lived experience.
After nine PCS moves, deployments, reintegration, motherhood and more than a decade of building a life around the military, Michelle created The Waiting Warriors to help military spouses feel less alone in the parts of this life that are hardest to put into words.

Through her community, podcast and storytelling online, Michelle has built a space for honest conversations about military life, while reminding spouses that they do not have to navigate it alone.

We’re so excited to welcome Michelle to MilSpouseFest Camp Humphreys on October 21 and hear more from her about connection, resilience and finding community through every season of military life. by @milspousefest

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What happens when you’ve experienced military life from nearly every side of the story?

For more than 20 years, Kimberly Smith has lived, served and led within military communities as a Veteran, spouse of a retired Soldier and proud mother of a Soldier.

After transitioning from the Army, Kimberly continued serving the military community through employment readiness, entrepreneurship, mentoring and leadership initiatives designed to strengthen military families.

She knows the transitions. The uncertainty. The reinvention. And she understands the quiet strength it takes to carry a family through the demands of military life.

At MilSpouseFest, Kimberly brings a perspective grounded in lived experience and a passion for creating spaces where military spouses and service members feel seen, valued and supported beyond the roles they carry every day.

We are so excited to welcome Kimberly to MilSpouseFest Camp Humphreys on October 21! by @milspousefest

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3 days ago

“Three emergency contacts? But we just got here!”

Your family survived the PCS. The house is mostly unpacked. You’ve figured out which gate to use, located the nearest ice cream shop, and are slowly figuring out the kids’ new school routines.

Then comes school registration:

Name. Address. Phone number. Parent information.

Three emergency contacts.

Dang! Three?

For military families, this seemingly simple question can highlight one of the hardest parts of a PCS: rebuilding your village. Again.

Grandparents may live three states away. Best friends from the last duty station may now live OCONUS. Your child’s favorite babysitter might be hundreds of miles away.

Families don’t just move houses. Entire support systems have to be rebuilt over and over again with each new PCS.

So who do you put on the form?

Maybe it’s a new neighbor you’ve started getting to know. Another military spouse from your spouse’s new unit. Someone from sports, church or your child’s school.

You don’t have to build your entire village overnight, but you do have to start somewhere.

And before adding someone as an emergency contact, make sure they know you’ve listed them, are comfortable serving in that role, know your child and can realistically respond if needed.

The good news? Military families are exceptionally gifted at building something meaningful out of unfamiliar places, people and uncharted territory.

It happens at the playground. Soccer practice. School pickup. Unit cookouts. The library. Church. Sometimes a random conversation becomes a connection, and eventually that connection becomes part of your village.

You may not have all three names today.

Give it time.

We move. We adapt. We connect. And we build community.

#MilitarySpouse #PCS #MilitaryFamily #MilitaryCommunity by @milspousefest

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3 days ago

MilSpouseFest is closing out 2026 with four more opportunities to bring military spouses together for connection, resources and community.

Camp Humphreys, South Korea | October 21
Jacksonville, Florida | November 3
Tampa, Florida | November 5
San Juan, Puerto Rico | December 1

And in San Juan, we’ll celebrate another first with our first bilingual MilSpouseFest event.

Every stop looks a little different because every military community is different. That’s what makes these events special.

We’re not done yet. Come join us for one of our final four stops of 2026.

#MilSpouseFest #MilitarySpouse #MilitaryFamilies by @milspousefest

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4 days ago

Let’s rap about it. Comin to your next MSF!

Tess + Jess by @milspousefest

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5 days ago

Brandi Bridgett came to MIC as a Gold Star spouse and left with a mission.

After learning that Cheltenham Veterans Cemetery receives wreaths for only a small percentage of the veterans laid to rest there, she made a commitment on the spot: help raise enough to change that this holiday season.

This is what happens when connection turns into action.

We’re proud to have Brandi share her story and her heart with the MIC community.

@wreathsacrossamerica @thebrandibridgett @gold_star_spouses

#MIC2026 #GoldStarSpouse #MilitaryCommunity #WreathsAcrossAmerica taken in Tampa Florida by @milspousefest

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5 days ago

Military spouses belong here.

Not because we are someone’s spouse or former spouse, but because of who we are and what we contribute to the military-connected community.

At the Military Influencer Conference, I noticed five areas that directly impact military spouses:

1. Milspouse Recognition and Support

We spend so much of military life adapting, moving, starting over, rebuilding professional networks.

Then, you walk into MIC. Suddenly, the conversation isn’t, “Who is your service member?” It’s, “Tell me your story,” and, “How can we work together?”

2. Milspouse stories are not an afterthought.

MIC shows that a military spouse’s story is an asset, not an explanation.

We tell the stories of our families, our children, our deployments, our adventures. And sometimes, our hardest seasons, experiences, trauma, or heartache.

Your lived experience can become your platform.

3. Connections aren’t transactional.

MIC transforms networking from “What can you do for me?” into “What can we build together?”

These aren’t just survival skills, darling. They’re leadership skills.

4. MIC recognizes spouses for who they are.

There is no such thing as the military spouse. We are executives, educators, creators, students, caregivers, business owners, and so much more.

MIC doesn’t require one definition, it creates space for many.

5. You will find deeper meaning everywhere.

The Military Influencer Conference reminds military spouses that our influence doesn’t have to wait for permission.

For a few days in Tampa, military spouses weren’t standing on the sidelines of the military conversation. We were in it.

We were there as advocates, leaders, and community builders.

If you’ve ever wondered whether your voice matters: it does.

If you’ve ever wondered whether your experience has value: it does.

If you’ve ever wondered whether there is a place for you in the bigger military-connected conversation: there is.

By Sara Jane Ginn

#MilitarySpouse #MilitaryCommunity #MIC2026 by @milspousefest

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6 days ago

In case you didn’t know, the Jess & Tess show was asked to open up MIC last week in Tampa. For those who’ve attended MSF in the last couple years, you know we’re a whole thing. While MSF is absolutely filled with engaging speakers, vital resources and support — we’re also bringing the jokes and the fun. 👏🏼

We brought our A game for our big screen debut and we hope you enjoy our little intro!

Xoxo,
Tessica by @milspousefest

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8 days ago

Millions of people saw Melissa Hammerle’s (@melissainchaos) viral homecoming video.

But for Melissa, that moment was never about the views.

It was about the people who helped get her family to that moment. The ones who fed her kids, showed up when things were hard and helped keep her family afloat while her husband was deployed.

Behind so many military families is a community quietly carrying some of the weight with them.

Melissa shared that story on the Creator Stage, presented by @puretalk at MIC 2026.

#MIC2026 #MilitaryCommunity #PureTalk #milspouse taken in Tampa Florida by @milspousefest

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9 days ago

Nothing brings me to feel-good, ugly tears like a military “welcome home” ceremony. We eat it up. The hugs, the tears and the moment a family finally spots their service member after a long deployment.

But we don’t talk nearly enough about what all that time apart can do to a marriage.

The wedge can begin with another anniversary, birthday or family milestone missed because duty called. Another deployment or TDY where one parent becomes both mother and father overnight. Another PCS that forces a military spouse to leave behind a career, friendships and the community they worked so hard to build.

Military divorce is rarely the result of a single event. It can be the cumulative weight of years spent carrying burdens that few civilian families fully comprehend.

Statistics can’t capture what it feels like to become strangers or live like roommates while sharing the same home. Numbers can’t measure the loneliness of raising children through multiple deployments or the emotional distance that sometimes follows years of combat, operational stress and leadership responsibilities.

But divorce isn’t the whole story.

Thousands of military marriages remain healthy, resilient and deeply fulfilling. Strong military marriages aren’t lucky or happenstance. They are built together by both partners through honest communication, shared effort and a willingness to continue choosing each other through extraordinary circumstances.

If we truly value military readiness, we must also value relationship readiness. Supporting the family supports the force.

Military spouses have long carried an invisible rucksack filled with sacrifice, loneliness, uncertainty, longing and resilience. It’s high time we also acknowledge the weight of protecting our marriages while serving a nation.

Every strong military marriage and family is a story worth telling.

- Sara Jane Ginn

#Divorce #MilitaryLife #MilitaryFamilies #MilitarySpouse by @milspousefest

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by @milspousefest

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