Jen and Kirst, co-founders of the Wives of the Armed Forces blog, discuss their passion for creating resources and community for military spouses from all branches of the armed forces.
Jen Ferrell
Co-Founder, Wives of the Armed Forces
Kirstin Navaroli
Co-Founder, Wives of the Armed Forces
As a co-founder of Wives of the Armed Forces, you’ve created a supportive community for military spouses across all branches. What inspired you to start this platform, and how has it evolved since its inception?
Almost immediately after meeting our husbands, we realized there was a large need for community as a military significant other (MilSo), but there was also a very unfortunate and unspoken line in the sand when it came to accessibility to that support until you were married. That, coupled with an overwhelming amount of negativity about the lifestyle on the internet at the time, left us both overwhelmed by what exactly we were getting ourselves into. We realized quickly that our experience was not only shared with each other, but among other spouses who struggled to access support, resources, and empowering community within the military network when they needed it most. So, we set out to make sure that the MilSos walking this road behind us would never feel defeated, isolated, or unseen. Wives of the Armed Forces (WAF) is a community that amplifies those voices, brings MilSos together, shares resources available to this demographic, and changes the tone of the rhetoric amongst the MilSo community. This mission started in 2018 as “Wives of the Air Force” and in 2023 officially expanded to “Wives of the Armed Forces” after years of encouragement from MilSos of other branches sharing the impact the WAF community had on them. Since that expansion, we have continued to build out content and support for the remaining military branches, and we’ve witnessed tremendous growth and camaraderie between the branches in every corner of the community.
Wives of the Armed Forces provides resources and support for military significant others navigating the complexities of military life. Can you share some of the most common challenges you’ve observed among military spouses and how your platform addresses these challenges?
The military is known to be slow to change with the times. Since beginning to serve this community, unemployment, accessible childcare, and affordable or adequate housing are among the top pain points we’ve observed. We combat these pain points for military families by seeking out and sharing vetted resources, offering a safe space for MilSos to connect with each other for support or advice and mindset encouragement. We’ve learned that what makes the WAF space different is that MilSos feel seen by the shared stories of struggle and are empowered by others who have persevered despite them. Emotional and relational education are a large part of the content that we put online. We didn’t want just to be known as “influencers” but rather to have anyone who finds our corner of the internet leave feeling like they have the tools they need within themselves to find joy and satisfaction in their life.
Building a sense of community is crucial for military spouses who may be far from their support networks. How do you foster connections and camaraderie among members of Wives of the Armed Forces, and why is this sense of belonging important?
The biggest change we sought when starting the WAF community was to create a space that empowered versus victimized. We believe deeply that you can either choose to let this lifestyle happen to you or you can dive into it headfirst and swim in a pool of opportunity you otherwise might have never been given — whether that’s moving to a city, state, or even country you never would’ve chosen yourself; working a job or trying a career you stumbled into by necessity and realized was a deeply rooted passion of yours; or landing yourself in a fierce friendship with a person you never would’ve met if you hadn’t said yes to that spouse social at the new assignment you didn’t really want to be at.
What you will find in this community is a group of doers — people who embrace the lifestyle. They don’t look at service and sacrifice as a burden, but rather an honor.
We also recognize that not everyone connects in the same way, so we have spread our community far and wide online. We have our community on Instagram who are along for the ride as we share our specific journeys as military spouses and moms who are married to pilots in the Air Force. For crowd-sourced information from like-minded MilSos, we have a private Facebook group for each branch of the military where WAFs can ask questions from others who have been in their shoes and connect with each other. On our website, we share the voices of many, with our most noteworthy posts being our “A Day in the Life” series and our Base Guides which are written by MilSos, for MilSos. Our latest endeavor, Patreon, shares deeper conversations amongst WAFs through interviews to continue empowering MilSos.
Meeting MilSos where they are, making sure they know they’re seen, and connecting them to others who are empowered by the lifestyle builds confidence that while yes, hard and awful things might happen, they are capable of handling it and will never have to do it alone. The WAF resources and community will always be alongside them to carry them through the tough moments.
Supporting a partner in the military often involves frequent relocations and transitions. How do you help military spouses navigate the challenges of relocation, settling into new communities, and building support networks in unfamiliar environments?
It is out of this very real struggle that our Base Guides came to be. There are so many questions about a permanent change of station (PCS), from knowing what to expect about the area to finding a hairdresser who isn’t going to wreck your hair at your first appointment. We wanted to provide an up-to-date, encouraging resource to MilSos so that they can settle into their new environment a little more easily and possibly have a few friendly faces to look for from the writers of the guides. Beyond that, we have seen some truly heartfelt stories coming out of MilSos connecting via our Facebook groups. The military is a small world, and it is so rewarding for us to see WAFs connect over advice given through a simple comment on a question, to then finding themselves stationed together a few years later by chance.
Looking ahead, what are your goals and aspirations for Wives of the Armed Forces, and how do you envision continuing to support and empower military spouses in the future?
Not only do we champion MilSos making the most out of their circumstances, but we are honored to have met MilSos along our journey who are doing important work to better the lives of those who come behind them. As we continue to grow our brand, we hope to spread more awareness of the issues military families face and champion the work being done to make a lasting difference. Instead of MilSos prepping to send their service member to basic training, or witnessing them commission, finding the negativity online, and feeling fearful and stressed about the life ahead, our dream is for Wives of the Armed Forces to be the place that even the newest MilSos can find easily and utilize as a reliable, uplifting resource, setting them up for success!
