My name is Athena Avendano, and I am the Key Spouse Coordinator for the 482d Fighter Wing Air Reserve Base in Homestead, Florida. I have been a part of the military family as a spouse for 10 years now. My husband, Benito Avendano, is a 2nd Lieutenant in the 482d Force Support Squadron at our Fighter Wing, soon to be 1st Lieutenant, later in December.
Being a military spouse, I have experienced the ups and downs that come with this role, but I knew what I signed up for when I married a military member. Deployments are the hardest to handle as a military family, especially when there are children involved. We have two children, 4 1/2 and 3 1/2 and one on the way, due in February. Being strong for your deploying spouse, your children, and the entire family during a deployment can be taxing on a spouse. During deployments, it helps to talk to another military spouse who has gone through what you have. Maybe you need help with your lawn being mowed, the pool being cleaned or anything that normally would be handled by your spouse. It always seems that when our spouse deploys, something major breaks, whether it’s something in the home or even your vehicle. It always happens!
Personally, there was a certain overseas deployment that my husband went through where I felt I had no one there for me, and everything that could go wrong did! I did not know where to go for help, questions, or concerns -- nothing. Of course, I had my family, but when others are not familiar with the military, you feel they may not understand exactly how you feel or what you are going through from pre-deployment to post-deployments and everything in between. After this certain deployment, I kept saying to myself, “I need to do something about this, because I know for sure that I am not the only military spouse feeling this way!” A few months went by and I received a call from one of our squadron majors, mentioning she thought of me, thought that I fit the description for the Key Spouse role perfectly and has recommended me to the Base Commander for the Key Spouse Coordinator position they needed. This was it, exactly what I needed and wanted to do for my military community for so long.
You may be wondering about the what, how, who and why of the Key Spouse program. The Key Spouse program is a commander’s program and he or she establishes and maintains the Key Spouse team within the unit. The team is comprised of the Commander, the Key Spouse Coordinator, the First Sergeant, the Key Spouses (volunteers), and the Airman & Family Readiness Center. As a Key Spouse Coordinator, everything I do is on a volunteer basis. There is specialized training that I completed for this program and I will maintain my training in the months ahead. As a Key Spouse Coordinator, I am the force multiplier when it comes to connecting families to information and services as well as being the essential person to building strong families and maintaining a resilient force!
The Key Spouse Program is important on many different levels as it promotes individual, family, and unit readiness. It establishes continuous contact with spouses/families during deployments and after. It encourages peer-to-peer Wingman support and links to leadership and provides an informal sounding board, strengthens leadership's support team and is vital to building a strong Air Force community.
The best part is the outcome of the Key Spouse Program. With the program, we can increase awareness of installation/community resources, identify/resolve issues at lowest levels, enhance up/down information flow, prepare/support families during separations, increase sense of unit support, enhance family resiliency, improve quality of life among unit families and increase readiness and retention.
If you are looking for the Key Spouse Coordinator at your base, you can contact your base Family Readiness Center to help guide you in the right direction. Maybe you have been where I was and are looking to help your military community? Becoming a Key Spouse for your base and unit could be a rewarding experience. Military life can be hard at times, but when you have support and provide support, you can handle anything you put your mind to. I am honored and absolutely love what I am doing for our military base community!
