Brandy Turnbull

Share your military spouse story:
I met my amazing husband and best friend James in early 2015 when I PCS'd from NAS JAX to NAS Whidbey Island. I had no idea that he was Military when we met. He was tall, kind and everything I had never known to even exist in the world. After a few weeks of casual conversations getting to know each other, we figured out not only were we both in the military, but we had also gone to the same college just one year apart! As small as the navy is, it turned out we had been at the same duty station just much different jobs for most of our careers and had no idea the other existed. Our friendship turned into a lasting commitment to each other in the summer of 2016 when he proposed to me during my first trip to Alaska! He knows I HATE PLANES, yet he decided to hire someone to take us to the top of Denali where I said YES to forever and endless adventures with him. Our joy was short-lived after my first failed knee surgery in 2016. After serving in the US Navy honorably for more than 10 years and a second knee surgery to fix the first, I saw everything I had ever known coming to a close. Two boots on ground deployments to the Middle East and multiple duty station changes ended in the blink of an eye when I was medically separated in early 2019. I was no longer a service member; I was officially a dependent. I spent most of the first six to nine months wondering what to do with myself now that everything was different. I loved being married to an active duty sailor and a mother to a little boy but I had lost my identity. I tried everything from teaching a crochet class for kids at the base library once a week to taking my service dog to hospice homes and schools as a joy ambassador team with the Hawaiian Humane Society. Nothing filled the void left by my unfinished goal to serve my country for the 20 years I had promised myself and depression set in. No more than a week after I had given up, the answer I was looking for found me. MCBH Rides was the answer.

Share an example of your leadership experience within the military community:
To successfully operate the ride-share service, it has taken countless hours of paper work and coordination between myself and our volunteers we have working for us. Many times we have had requests from commands as well as individuals to move 20 or more people. Our greatest success is working together. Our ride-share operation would have failed had it not been for the support and trust given to me freely by not only my husband but also our volunteers. They all trust in my ability to manage, coordinate and execute plans to keep everything on schedule and ensure appointments are not missed or forgotten. I have never asked anything of any of my volunteers that I have not already done myself or would hesitate to do again. We have been operating since the beginning of September 2019. We currently have 4-6 volunteers who are ready and willing at the drop of a hat to help us when we become overwhelmed with requests and a community 950+ strong that supports and believes in us as well.

Describe your involvement in the military community:
As of now, I am head operator of MCBH Rides and am supported by my husband and volunteers we have working for us. MCBH Rides is a free ride share open to all active duty E-1 to O-5 and their spouses. The only income we see is in the form of tips and all tips above operating costs get donated back into the military community. We have donated to six different organizations including the NMCRS, Fly Away with Me and Toys for Tots that supports the military community totally in over $4000 dollars since September 1st, 2019. We handle everything from single sailors and marines needing a safe ride home to spouses who don't drive needing a ride to Tripler for specialty care not offered here on base. Our biggest involvement comes in the form of helping families who are PCS'ing on and off the island. Many families coming to the island know no-one and do not pack light. We have two large vehicles in our personal fleet that can accommodate families as large as 9 strong as well as their bags.

Describe how you support your community:
My community project started out as a pet project to renew my sense of purpose and give military families a rewarding option to not drink and drive or ride with someone who had been drinking going into the holiday season. Over the last few months, it has blossomed into so much more than I could have ever dreamed. It is no longer only myself driving and picking up sailors and marines who wanted to be safe during their night out. Its military families asking for help during their PCS on and off the island. It is spouses trusting us to get them to specialty care medical appointments at Tripler. It is active duty members relying on us to help them get their pets to the cargo terminals on time. Everyone who has heard of us knows we would rather get a call at 3am asking for a ride home than hear about an accident that could have been prevented. Those who tip us know their money goes to cover families going home on emergency leave and back into programs that support their military community.

What do you advocate for? Why?
I believe that a great many changes need to be made on this base, the biggest being accessibility. Between the lack of transportation to and from the nearest full-service treatment facility and the overpriced taxis, UBER's and Lyfts, it is difficult, and in some cases, impossible to keep appointments. These are special needs families with spouses who medically cannot drive to moms with young kids whose only option is Tripler for medical care. As a seasoned spouse and disabled veteran, I see the struggles on both sides of the fence. For a young spouse who doesn't yet drive or a young family sharing one car, it is difficult if not impossible to keep scheduled appointments. You can almost count on the fact there will not be an UBER or Lyft nearby when you need it most and worst of all, if you have young children, you're left with walking to the base gate dragging a car seat as your only hope to get there. I would go on about families PCS'ing at 3 and 4 am but I’m out of space

How have you spread the message of your platform/advocacy?
My entire operation started from a casual "hey if you need a ride, give me a call" on the local community page. It started as one ride a day and no volunteers, to many volunteers and dozens of scheduled rides each week. I have been doing my best to support the community and provide rides to those who need it most. We have grown into a Facebook community of nearly 1000 people and are known base wide over the 3 short months we have been up and running. We have our cards at all the gas stations on base, flyers up in the barracks duty offices and common areas. Over 90% of our footwork and traction came from word of mouth and the trustworthy reputation I created during the first few weeks. It was made possible all because I was given a chance to prove to complete strangers that I could be trusted. Due to my early success, MCBH Rides became known within the senior officer community and our number is given with regularity at command safety stand downs and liberty calls.

What do you hope to accomplish with the AFI Military Spouse of the Year^® title?
For every ride we give, we are not able to help 3-5 others. We prioritize appointments and airport runs above all else and fill in around those. Unfortunately, it leaves many others counting on us to get them home safe, waiting for rides. It is my hope and dream to create a view into the needs of spouses and service members and bring light to the fact that we need shuttles to and from Tripler and Honolulu more readily available. Service members are left in a position to support their spouse, requiring them to take time off work or leave their spouse to fend for themselves. This leaves many families and service members in bad positions. Most families only have one car since the military only pays to transfer one vehicle. If the military were to allow families to transfer up to two vehicles or provide shuttle services to families living OCONUS. Many issues that OCONUS military families face would be solved. Lack of reasonable transportation is holding families and service members back.