There are hundreds of awards presented in the military. If you’re a military spouse, chances are your spouse’s dress uniform is covered in them. But there’s a reason the spouse community is otherwise known as “the silent ranks”. There are no award ceremonies in their honor or delicately placed rows of ribbons for each of their milestones in this crazy life. More often than not, their sacrifices and hours of hard work day-in and day-out seem to go completely unnoticed.
But what you might now know is that there IS a way to recognize the commitment and dedication military spouses exude each day. By taking five minutes of your time to nominate someone for the Armed Forces Insurance Military Spouse of the Year award, you can not only change a military spouse’s life, but essentially the lives of families military-wide.
In case that paragraph wasn’t inspiring enough, I’ve listed the top 5 reasons you need to do this and to help get your nomination juices flowing:
1- Their cup runneth over
The best candidates for this award are those who have more passion than they know what to do with. You know who I’m talking about…the spouse who hasn’t stopped hash tagging #keepyourpromise since it started. The spouse who stockpiles non-perishable food items from every corner of post for the upcoming food drive. The spouse who spends every waking minute researching how upcoming healthcare changes will affect their children. Yep – that passionate person you’re thinking about right now…nominate them.
2- The big fish has outgrown its little pond
Do you know of a spouse who has done amazing things for your base? Someone who has made changes to your on-post childcare system or has started a fitness campaign that you don’t know how your installation could survive without? Help them scale those accomplishments to a much bigger audience! By nominating them you can be the first step in spreading their hard work to the entire Armed Forces.
3- It takes one to know one
Who knows better than anyone what the military community needs? I’ll give you a big hint: It’s not congress. It’s the people who walk the walk, talk the talk, and live their lives in the proverbial trenches of military life. Help elect people who won’t turn their backs on promises that have been made. If you’ve never seen how far a military spouse will go to protect what’s theirs….nominate, vote, and then sit back and watch.
4- Sometimes singing from the rooftop just isn’t enough
We all know it’s the squeaky wheel that gets the oil. But what happens when the wheel can’t squeak loud enough? The Military Spouse of the Year program is the megaphone for the military community. It’s the platform these spouses need to make their advocacy nationally known. From Fox & Friends, to the Today Show, to Oprah, our winners are getting the chance, year after year to speak out on a huge scale. The more support you give, the higher that platform becomes.
5- Because they deserve it!
Whether you’re a member of the military community in some way or you’re a patriotic American, you know to some capacity, of the hardships and adversity millions of military families face each day. But our servicemen and women still raise their right hands and their spouses vow to stand beside them. If nothing else, I say it would be our honor to acknowledge these men and women for this renowned award.
Alright…that’s enough. I could go on for days about the impeccable people who we now call MSOY Alumni. But we don’t have that kind of time…there is only ONE WEEK left until nominations close for this year. After reading this, I hope I’ve encouraged you in some way to head over and submit your nomination for at least one military spouse that you know. It will only take 5 minutes of your time and could truly change military lives for years to come!