Kristina Claus

Share your military spouse story:
In 2010 I married my best friend and the love of my life. I had grown up in a small Texas town and never even thought of living anywhere but the Lone Star state. Jordan’s dream had always been to serve his country in the military and I knew it was what he was meant to do. A few months later we were off on our adventure. In our first year of marriage we called five different places, in four different states, home. It was our first time being more than a few hours’ drive from home and it was a huge adjustment. Even though we were only at our training base for a couple of months we made connections with friends that are still there today. Over the years, we’ve had the pleasure of meeting so many amazing people that make up our military family. This life is crazy beautiful; it’s not always easy but when you make those connections you don’t have to go through it alone. We get to walk through the tough times with people who know what we are going through and celebrate the blessings together too! I became a key spouse during our first assignment in Colorado and, in the process, found my place. Today we are back in Colorado and currently going through our first deployment. Helping other spouses and loving on our community is something I love and I’m so happy to be a small piece of the puzzle.

Share an example of your leadership experience within the military community:
I’ve had the honor of being a key spouse or a key spouse mentor at almost every base that we’ve called home. While stationed at Patrick/Cape Canaveral I was also part of the booster club, helping to raise funds and plan events for our unit. I was on the board with the Peterson-Schriever-Chyenne Mountain Spouse's Club while living in Colorado Springs and was a part of the transition from separate officer/enlisted organizations to a blended spouses club. I'm currently on the board with PWOC, a military woman’s Bible study at the Peterson Chapel, and I'm a member of the worship team.

Describe your involvement in the military community:
As a military spouse, I’ve helped out at cookie drives at multiple bases and volunteered for the adopt an airman/guardian program during the holidays. As a booster club member, I helped organize bake sales and breakfast taco sales. I’ve also participated in airman days to build bridges between the key spouses and active duty military members. In an effort to support our military children, I organized graduation parades with squadron members and delivered personalized baskets to our High School graduates when graduations were cancelled due to COVID. Additionally, I organized skype sessions with all of our unit spouses to keep those connections alive, even when we had to physically distance and couldn’t meet in person.

Describe how you support your community:
As a key spouse, I’ve planned events like family dinners where we would all go out to dinner and make those connections that help to create a family environment. Also, I’ve served at deployed family dinners and scheduled up girls’ night outings for our deployed spouses. I met with our families one-on-one to welcome them when they arrive to base or celebrate with them when they’ve welcomed a new addition to the family.

What do you advocate for? Why?
The military has some amazing resources available to families, but often the biggest impact on how we adjust is being able to connect. Creating an atmosphere where we can find our home away from home and make those connections that help us take on the unique challenges that military families face is something I believe is crucial.

How have you spread the message of your platform/advocacy?
As a key spouse/mentor I’ve spoken at commander’s calls and events for our spouses. I also gave briefs at base events and had one on one interactions with military members and their families as the publicity chair for the spouses club. Currently I run our Facebook page for PWOC.

What do you hope to accomplish with the AFI Military Spouse of the Year^® title?
I hope to raise awareness and help families find their place and get connected in our community so they don’t feel like they have to walk this road alone.