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One of the things that I enjoy most as an Army Wife Network team member is helping spouses with their questions. Answering what our team calls “field problems” is something Tara and I started doing from the get-go, before Army Wife Network was even conceived. It remains one of my primary tasks today. If you submit your question, you can expect it to be answered by myself, Tara, and now Janet who has been helping in that lane for probably more than a year. In writing FieldProblems™ we advance AWN’s mission: to empower those who follow.
The “mother site,” as in “the mother ship” ArmyWifeNetwork.com, and this blog is empowering too. So many have shared their lessons learned and their stories to answer questions you didn’t know you had or haven’t had the reason to ask yet. Through these AWN tools, you can fully experience the circle of life. The circle of military life that is!
We start by Loving A Soldier, which is often the easy part: all uniform and dedication, honor, and discipline. We love our men and women in uniform. But sooner or later, we wonder what we got ourselves into. “Is he or she married to me or the military?” is a question eventually asked. From one of our ‘lessons learned’ top posts Tara gives some excellent advice on the topic.
“From my point of view, you can spend time upset and fight the uphill battle that you’re never going to win or you can accept, mold, and adjust. To help you preserve your sanity, find your place on this journey.”
I think that’s another way of saying, be a part of the solution not the problem. I happen to also think that is what exactly AWN fans are. We’re here to empower; you’re here to get empowered. Asking questions is one way to do that. I told one of my mentees once to ask the same question three times, to three different people. You get three different answers I assure you, but somewhere in that mix is the “right answer” usually. What if you don’t have three different battle buddies, well that’s sort of why I am writing this post.
Let me introduce you to battle buddies “one,” “two,” and “three.” Many of you are familiar with facebook where our team hangs out during the week to keep you informed, uplifted, and connecting. But that’s just a bonus battle buddy where you can find others like you.
Battle buddy “one” is our Army Wife Talk Radio podcast where we meet weekly 8pm Eastern on-air and in the chatroom at BlogTalkRadio.com/awtr. If you didn’t already know, we have 350+ archives. This is a very useful option, because like facebook it is mobile. You can put it on your ipod or phone. It is searchable by whatever question you have about deployment, relationships, money and more. AWTR was my first battle buddy and where I quickly dove in at 2AM. (But you’ve probably never been up that late; right?)
Maybe battle buddy “two’ is something for you. Our blog is searchable as well, and you can sign up for the rss feed to your email. So when you get up at 5 AM or 9 AM it’s right in your email inbox. When I came onboard, I needed an RSS lesson, but if it’s “old hat” to you, then I hope I helped you make a new friend. Loving A Soldier has been around chronicling our joys and triumphs and lessons learned since March 2005. If you don’t know where to start, check the sidebar for Top Posts similar to these below:
- Loving A Soldier. Living the Life.
- I’ve Never Lived on Post
- Tara’s Cycle of Deployment
- Military Friends are our Chosen Families
- Overwhelmedness
- Male Military Spouses Often Overlooked
- What Comes First? Army or Family?
Some of the questions or topics look like they might prove helpful? Dive in!
Lastly, I invite you go get to know battle buddy “three,” Army Wife Network proper or our dotcom.
It is also searchable and is actually home to links to the podcasts and blog. There is a vast amount of information there. There is even advice from each of our team members. I laugh: Tara’s first words are ‘find a battle buddy!” We are here to fill that gap if finding a battle buddy is hard, or if you have battle buddies who are in a different part of this circle of life. Army Wife Network is here for you to answer your questions, but also to help others answer theirs, just like I love to do.
You may ask, “why the primer on AWN?” Well, a lot of people are overwhelmed by all the information at the various sites. So, the main thing i want you to walk away with is that there is a search bar on each site: the podcast, the blog, and the dotcom. There is also a team to back up our promise to empower you. If you ever have a question we are there. But also, I watch the AWN facebook page grow by leaps and bounds week after week, and I can’t help but wonder if they know they’ve not only got 40,000 + newfacebook friends but also three trusty battle buddies who have been around for years and hold answers to a lot of their questions. The info and camaraderie is here for the taking.
You can help us improve by spreading the word and/or sharing in the comments what you love about any part of AWN, what you can never seem to find, or leave a shout out to someone new you invited to share in the wealth.
Welcome, new and old aka seasoned!