If you have a desire to help fellow military families, own a video camera of decent quality, and want to get in on the ground-floor of a growing organization, please contact us.
I know I'm not Army (Go Air Force!), but I'm always looking around on the web for resources to help military spouses, especially new military spouses.
2013 MOAA Military Spouse Symposium: The Scoop From Macho Spouse was originaly written for MOAA Spouse Blog: Making it in the MilLife.
When I was asked to participate during this year's MOAA Spouse Symposium, I couldn't refuse. Sure I am insanely busy with work and my travel budget didn't include a 2900 mile trip to Tacoma, but these were the popular kids calling.
As a male military spouse, you gotta have a hobby - something you do that you really enjoy.
Here is what I'm trying to find out.
As a male military spouse, what is your hobby? What do you do for fun?
A few weeks ago AT&T contacted me about writing a couple blogs on how best to appreciate a military spouse.
It's a S.A.H.D. Life!
When I chose to be a male military spouse stay at home dad, I was thinking of my family - my wife and daughter. The problem is that I was not as mindful about my health at the time.
Initially, I put more effort into researching what it meant to be a stay-at-home dad, than I did attending to my personal health and wellness.
Carpe Diem is the Latin term for seize the day.
I've seen on social media, and the news, some folks complaining about the “would've/could've” aspect of their life.
Far too often people talk about things they wish they could have or should have done.
Being married to the military, I find myself slipping into that trap more and more often because my wife's Navy career can keep me from pursuing certain passions.
Where has the time gone? It seems like yesterday I became a stay-at-home-dad (SAHD) and was asking for help and opinions on everything.
I have to say “thank you” to everyone who helped me with this big transition. And speaking of transitions, this one is complete...I am now a SAHD and proud of it!
I can now rock a puke-stained jacket, diaper bags, and car seats with pink bows on them with no problem.
My days of being a Marine are in the past, I will always love the Corps, but now I have a greater love...my girls.
The Military Spouse Career Advancement Account (MyCAA) provides military spouses the opportunity and financing to receive the training and education needed for portable careers that will persist during the military lifestyle of multiple relocations.
You know, I started Macho Spouse because I couldn't find a job in my career field during our last PCS. Most of us military spouses have probably gone through similar depressing job-searches. But after two years of unemployment, here I am, back in the job market and gainfully employed. This time, however, I have a whole new appreciation for what it takes to land that next job. The following is a short list of what I learned during my latest employment drought.
Hey guys, have you taken this survey yet? Stuff like this is important because it may help you find work in the future, as well as, future generations of military spouses!
Article by Craig Gilman, Faculty Member at American Military University
Joining the military means a life of training exercises and deployments away from home, not to mention periodic transfers with little choice of duty stations that can be found in countries half a world away. What comes with all that is a career, even if only for a few years, that provides opportunities for personal growth and satisfaction, professional challenge and reward, career development, and leadership opportunities that build a stronger resume.
How my wife and I met. A little about our life and how I started my own business!
My name is Josh Vittetoe. I am 27 years old and have been married to my wonderful wife Jennifer Vittetoe (24) for almost 7 years. We have two boys, Jack (6 months) and Tannar (5 years). We are currently stationed at Nellis AFB in Las Vegas, Nevada.
My wife has been in the Air Force for 3 years and is a Senior Airman. She is deploying in a coulpe weeks for the first time.
At Macho Spouse, we know the challenges civilian male military spouses face when it comes to finding gainful employment and dealing with career loss. We encourage civilian male military spouses to consider entrepreneurship as a possible way of making this lifestyle work.
Thiis article in Stars and Stripes By LISA SMITH MOLINARI points out how military families have been affected by COVID-19 restrictions.
Did you know a total of 66% of Americans over the age of 20 are overweight, with a whopping 34% of those being obese. And did you know that a little over 9 million children in America are overweight or obese? Can you believe that a total of $1.7 trillion dollars goes toward treating overweight Americans annually?
Are you PCS-ing (relocating) any time soon? Need apartment/housing information? Need school information from other military parents? Need to know about the neighboorhood around your new base?
MilitaryTownAdvisor.com is a PCS relocation resource where military families write reviews about neighborhoods, apartment complexes and schools in military towns near U.S bases. Created by a military spouse for military families.
The National Military Spouse Network (NMSN) - the pre-eminent networking, mentoring and professional development organization committed to the education, empowerment and advancement of military spouses.
(St. Paul, MN)—Award-winning independent publisher Elva Resa Publishing is pleased to announce the October 2014 release of Stories Around the Table: Laughter, Wisdom, and Strength in Military Life, a collection of personal stories from more than forty military family writers, including spouses, parents, children, and service members. (make sure you check out the list of authors guys...a few of us are represented in this group!)
As our organization continues to grow and gains more attention from new people, I've learned that there is some confustion about our name.
In fact, I have been asked multiple times if our name, “Macho Spouse,” represented a sexist, homophobic point of view.
My response to those questions is a simple, no.
Communicate like your life together depends on it.
Macho Spouse is an educational video series and online resource for male military spouses. The Macho Spouse mission is to help male military spouses connect with one another and assure that we are not alone in this military family lifestyle.
Bill Keller is an Air Force male military spouse married to Major General Suzanne Vautrinot. Between Bill and his spouse, they have over 50 years of military life experience and have lived all over the world. We broke or cardinal rule of never divulging a spouse's rank because Bill has had unique opportunities to meet and communicate with many different types of military families that many of us may never have.
Guys (and gals), this man has real military marriage experience. Listen to some of his insight and learn what it takes to make a happy, healthy marriage in this crazy lifestyle.
Hey! Does anyone have a marriage map that I can borrow? Better yet, does anyone have a military marriage map that I can borrow? (I could sure use a military marriage compass, too, if you have one. But I don't want to press my luck by asking for too much at once. So, I'll wait on the compass.)
I tried "googling" (yeah, that's a word) "marriage map" but Google kept giving me links to "wedding map" instead. Thanks Google, but I don't want to know how to get to Don and Susan's wedding! I want a map that I can use to help my wife and I get to that Happy Marriage Wonderland place that I have been hearing about since we got married!
Hey guys, here's some solid marital advice for military spouses from male spouse Eric Gardner. This blog post goes well with our Macho Spouse video series on communication. Thank you NextGen MilSpouse for bringing Eric to our attention!
This series will answer a few questions about what your getting into as well as what it may be like to be married to a female active duty service member.
The deployments and frequent moves of the military lifestyle can put pressure on any marriage. When the wife is the military member and the husband is a civilian, the strain may be greater.
If you're a male military spouse, it's important to know how to help keep your marriage strong. You can learn what challenges you're likely to face and prepare yourself for them. You can learn to recognize when you need help and how to use the resources available to you. And you can build a support system of other people you can count on.
Like many military spouses and families, you may want to know how sequestration will impact your military family in detail, but can't seem to get anything more than, "It's a bad idea." You continue to hear about the billions of dollars to be cut from the DoD budget and how that will negatively impact the readiness of our armed forces in general. Yet, what remains unclear to you is the direct impact sequestration will have on your military family.
For example:
Will sequestration impact the CDC and child care? If so, how?
Chris Pape, the man behind Macho Spouse, is featured in an article on AOL's Homepage for Heroes.
It's unclear exactly why, but the divorce rate among female military personnel is more than twice as high as for their male counterparts, and higher than that of female civilians -- even though for men the divorce rate is lower in the military than outside it.
Chris Pape has been with his wife ever since she just graduated her college ROTC program in 2000, and never felt the need to reach out to other military spouses. "I'm such a fiercely independent person. My wife did her thing, I did my thing. I didn't really embrace the military as a lifestyle."