Heather Campbell

Share your military spouse story:
As a young graduate student, I thought I had the world at my fingertips. I was studying at a leading research university with a full scholarship to complete my Ph.D., but everything changed when I met this guy- as many of our stories do. Within a year of meeting, we were married and I had converted my research to a Master’s degree to leave early- after all, it’s hard to use a Ph.D. in research and academia when you move often. I took the only job in my career field available in our new town, a poorly paid, entry-level position, and I set off to live my fairy tale life with my man in uniform- I had no idea what I was getting into. By our 2nd anniversary, I had two babies and a deployed husband. By our 4th anniversary, we were in remote, frozen Interior Alaska with baby 3 on the way. With 3 babies in only 4 years’ time, we struggled to find (and afford) childcare. Due to our remote location, limited career prospects for me, and the seriously lacking childcare, we reluctantly decided to become a one-income family. Being one income with 3 degrees’ worth of debt between us and living in a location that’s 30% more expensive than the national average was difficult and tested our marriage greatly. In this season, we learned what it meant to sacrifice as a family as we serve alongside our servicemembers. But even more than that, I experienced firsthand the amazing support network within the military community. I met caring, educated, driven men and women who are supporting our communities while following their spouses around the world. I learned how important it is to build a support network around myself for when Murphy’s Law rears its ugly head during the most inconvenient times, and how it feels to be the help when someone needs it most. Most importantly, I learned firsthand the struggle of food insecurity in military families and how to use my expertise as a Registered Dietitian and family feeding expert to start to make a difference in my community.

Share an example of your leadership experience within the military community:
In Fall 2017 at Eielson AFB, Alaska I used my expertise in family nutrition to start a free monthly class for how to eat healthy on a budget through the Airmen & Family Readiness Center (AFRC). In each class, I cooked for the attendees and taught them how to choose affordable ingredients for our remote location. At Squadron Officer School (SOS) on Maxwell AFB, students often bring their families while they attend an in-residence course for about 6 weeks. These young families purchased essentials to live in their hotel rooms, then donated/sold them at the end of the course. (This repeated with every student class since we didn’t have a way to share between classes.) So, I created a lending locker & food pantry for SOS students and their families to gather what they need, and donate at the end of their time at SOS. We first hosted the lending locker out of our home, before moving it to the schoolhouse where we helped dozens of families prior to the pandemic.

Describe your involvement in the military community:
As a new military spouse, I worked closely with military families receiving income-based nutrition support services at the local health department. Since 2016 I’ve served as a Key Spouse, as well as held board positions in both the Mothers of Preschoolers chapel ministry and the Eielson Spouses’ Club from 2015-2018. In 2018, I led the Hurricane Michael relief for our squadron. I also created a lending locker for the visiting students & families of Squadron Officer School. Once the pandemic struck, I helped distribute school lunches to our community. In 2020, I joined the Military Special Operations Family Collaborative to help create a cookbook to help make mealtimes easier for SOF families. I also joined In-Dependent, Inc in 2020 to help make wellness accessible to all military and first responder spouses. In 2021 after co-authoring a paper about the difficulty of feeding families in the pandemic, I became a more public advocate for the 1 in 5 military families facing food insecurity.

Describe how you support your community:
One of the most essential supports to military life has been our fellow military families and faith community. Sometimes, when the support we needed was lacking, we built it around ourselves. In our first tour in Alaska, our base chapel did not have an active women’s ministry. As a new mom, my lifeline during a prior deployment had been gathering together with women who shared my beliefs/ season of life, and I knew I would need it in our new, remote location. I started an in-home group that spent the next two years together, supporting one another, praying together, and intentionally building what became a second family to us. Similarly, once we relocated, our new church did not have a marriage-focused ministry, and we were in a season of needing support. We started a married couples’ group, of mostly military families, to create support for ourselves and our peers who were looking to strengthen their marriages. Military spouses are experts in creating the community we need.

What do you advocate for? Why?
According to the newest data, 1 in 5 military families is struggling with food insecurity, which according to the USDA, is the disruption of food intake or eating patterns because of a lack of money and other resources. There is a food bank on or near every single military installation nationwide- and that should tell us something about the economic status of our most vulnerable military families. One recent survey found that 1 in 3 military teens report food insecurity in their homes. Another study found a strong correlation between food insecurity in the past two years and suicidal ideation. This is a crisis that is not going to be solved with food banks and grocery giveaways alone. We need policy changes within military pay, support services eligibility, and spouse employment; we need educational resources for military families that go beyond personal finance counseling. We need action from our policymakers and leadership to solve the crisis of food insecurity in military families.

How have you spread the message of your platform/advocacy?
In addition to my volunteer work, I have become a passionate speaker, writer, and advocate for military families. As a speaker, I’ve appeared for organizations including AMSE Agency, In-Dependent Summit, and the Women’s Leadership Summit for Junior League of Montgomery. I’ve been featured on podcasts like Run Lift Mom, Hearts and Stripes, and The Mom Shuffle. I’ve written articles for In-dependent, Blue Star Families, Quiet Days magazine, MilHousing Network, and the Mom Shuffle. I co-authored a peer-reviewed article published in PubMed and appeared on my local news in 2021. More recently, I’ve met with military leadership, military service organizations, and my state’s representatives to bring attention to this crisis. Starting in 2022, in partnership with In-Dependent, we have launched a program focused on equipping military families with the resources and education they need to feed themselves well without spending a fortune.

What do you hope to accomplish with the AFI Military Spouse of the Year^® title?
Being nominated as an MSOY candidate is an honor. Over the last few years, I’ve connected with many amazing men and women within the MSOY community and am in awe of the ways they serve in so many different areas of need. As a part of the MSOY family, I can continue to advocate for the needs of nearly 1 in 5 military families facing food insecurity. With my professional expertise in the complexity of this issue, we can advocate for policy changes to help protect our most vulnerable families. We will continue to create free resources to ensure that our service members and their families are not relying on food banks to support our systemic shortcomings. Instead, we will be educating and empowering our military families to have the tools they need to achieve economic stability in their homes. Food insecurity affects our mission readiness, family resiliency, and servicemember retention rates, and the men and women serving our country deserve better.