There may be no better time for empowerment than when faced with a looming deployment or when you are in the thick of one.
Join our Mission: Milspouse team as we share all our tips, lessons learned, best practices for coping, and our hearts in solidarity with you in all things deployment. Whether you are preparing for your first one or you navigating your 7th, we have the resources you need to thrive in one of the most challenging aspects of milspouse life.
Our resources span the gamut: From that first moment when your service member says “I’ve got news,” to establishing a battle rhythm in those first few weeks, to parenting solo, and to reintegrating after that homecoming kiss… We have resources to guide you every step of the way. We are raw, vulnerable, experienced, and ready to support you through this season!
There’s a little known team called the Care Team that few are familiar with. Why is this group so unknown? One big reason may be because of the purpose of their job. They provide care to a family after a casualty has occurred. Casualties, notifications, and other key words tend to make most people uncomfortable.
“Mommy, who is he warring against?” Cue one of many questions I wasn’t prepared to answer.
We are broaching new and uncharted territory in our house. The last two deployments, my kids were little. First one as a married couple (his second) was over before the oldest was 8 months old. The second one was when the kids were 5 months old (until 12 months) and 2.5 until 3 years old.
We are military families. Deployments are what we do, especially for the last 15 years, and we know it. We also do TDYs, schools, trainings, and unaccompanied assignments. Plenty of separation.
Some of us do them with grace and class, like my friend who hosted an event for the company she works for with 25 parents and many small children, in her house, which looked spotless. Catered food, a mother’s helper, her hair was perfect, and we had all sorts of fun. All while on the tail-end of her spouse’s deployment, no less. She killed it like the rockstar she is, and everyone had a wonderful time.
I bet I know your reaction to my use of “best deployment.” I bet you scoffed or guffawed, saying, there is no such thing.
It’s like saying, “most enjoyable root canal ever” or “greatest day spent at the DMV ever.”
Because let’s be honest, the real “best deployment ever” is probably no deployment at all.
But when you’re married to a service member, we take what we can get. How about we compromise and say that this post is about the second best deployment ever, yes?
Deployments are funny things.
They are (of course) very much a challenging part of this military spouse life, and they’re always full of surprises. As I type this, sitting in the Fort Lewis Starbucks, we’re in the homestretch of our latest deployment. (Yes. We see the humorous signs that homecoming is coming!)
When it comes time for deployment, our service members receive a mile-long list of boxes they have to check. During that time, it’s easy to forget to check the boxes on the other deployment list—our deployment list.
Mission: Milspouse is a
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