Air Force Community, Air Force Spouse and Family Resources - Air Force Times

Use conferences to build networks

What do "Dealing with Difficult Quarters" and "Dealing with Difficult People," "Home-buying Strategies for Military" and "Space-A-Travel," all have in common?

They are all workshops presented at various military spouse conferences around the world. These conferences give us important information about military life from the experts -- other military spouses. And theyprovide opportunities to network with our peers, learn about local community resources and develop relationships.

We don't know if Army wives Judi Bramlett and Sharon Gilliam are the "mothers" of military spouse conferences in the U.S.," but they've certainly played a huge role since 1988, when they started a two-day conference called "Army Wife: A Woman for All Seasons" at Schofield Barracks, Hawaii. More than 300 wives attended.

As Bramlett says, "In those days, the Army didn't have any classes for spouses whose husbands were not in leadership positions, so this conference was the beginning of training for spouses."

The services all have "Military 101" type programs now for spouses. There are military spouse conferences at Fort Benning, Ga., Fort Leavenworth, Kan., and the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, N.Y., that are patterned after these.

Other spouses have taken the same kind of initiative. Navy spouse Lorna Papke-Dupuoy coordinated with The Bon Marche (now Bon Macy's) in Washington state in 2002 to put on a two-day event of learning and fun for Navy spouses from the Puget Sound region. The event included classes on fashion and table settings.

Marine spouses started a conference years ago in El Toro, Calif. When Air Station El Toro closed, spouses brought the program with them to Camp Pendleton. Itcontinues today as the Leadership Education Seminar.

CinCHouse.com is hosting the first annual CinCHouse Convention for military spouses Jan. 10-12 in San Diego. The focus for this conference is less on training for military spouses and more on introducing Pentagon decision-makers to military spouses affected by policies so they share ideas directly.

Conferences are held overseas, too. American Women's Activities, Germany, might be the oldest overall as it celebrates its 50th anniversary in May. AWAG focuses on leadership training for community organizations for military spouse groups all over Germany, England, Italy, Belgium and the Netherlands. It holds one-day regional conferences in seven regions and one annual four-day conference each May in Germany.

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Kathie Hightower and Holly Scherer are military spouses who have written articles and presented workshops based on their research and experience for more than 10 years. Send your questions and suggestions to marriedtomilitary@atpco.com.