Casie Rendon

Share your military spouse story:
When we were 16 years old, my husband (Moises) and I met at our local church youth group. We had a lot in common - both athletes with a competitive spirit and goals we were pursuing with focus and determination. Over the next several years, we supported each other as friends as we turned our dreams into reality. Moises enlisted in the Air Force right out of high school, and shortly after applied and was accepted to the Air Force Academy. I left for college in the Midwest and began traveling the world through volunteer and study abroad opportunities. After graduation, I joined Teach For America and moved to New Orleans to begin my career in education. Two years later, Moises received an assignment in Pensacola, Florida - a quick three hour drive away from New Orleans. Shortly after he arrived, I visited him in Pensacola and after nine years of friendship, we began dating - long distance, of course, in true military fashion. We got married a few years later and began our life together with orders to Colorado, then a few months later we had our first six month stint apart while Moises completed training in California. That first season of military life was challenging for me as I learned to navigate military life. There were traditions, customs, lots of acronyms, and so many things I didn’t yet understand. In time though, and with the support of our incredible military spouse community, I would come to feel confident in learning how to navigate military life, finding both my identity as a military spouse and my role within our community. After 15 years in the Air Force, Moises was commissioned into the Space Force and we began our life as a Space Force family! It has been an exciting new chapter of our family’s military life, and one we are excited to carry forward in the years to come.

Share an example of your leadership experience within the military community:
To me, leadership begins with a personal commitment to serve others. To lead by example, to be willing to be part of the solution when you realize there is a need to be met. I aspire to do this in many ways within my local community and broader, virtual military community. I am honored to serve as the Space Force Lead Contributor for Wives of the Armed Forces, where I support, connect, and encourage military significant others across all service branches. Through writing blog posts, sharing on podcasts, engaging in our virtual Facebook communities, and connecting directly with other spouses, I am able to share resources and build a stronger community for our military spouses. At our current duty station, I lead Financial Peace University for military families, helping to build financial wellness and equip families with the tools they need to budget, pay off debt, and save for the future.

Describe your involvement in the military community:
An adage I embrace is, “bloom where you are planted.” As one of a handful of active-duty Space Force families at Ft. Leavenworth, I am an active member of our community, volunteering at our local school and with the Religious Services Organization, and participating in events held on post, such as Run For the Fallen, Oktoberfest, 9-11 Memorial Walk, and more. The beauty of living in such a digitally connected community is that we can be involved and supportive to military spouses beyond our own duty stations. I actively share resources, local tips, and encouragement in local Air Force and Space Force Facebook groups. I have also hosted free, virtual wellness weeks to support military spouses in developing or strengthening healthy habits. At Teach For America, I supported the organization’s Military Initiative by helping to develop a military spouse and veteran community, working to support each other and finding ways to hire more veterans into the field of education.

Describe how you support your community:
I believe one of the best ways to support your community is to show up as the kind of friend you can depend on through the ups and downs of military life. I am fortunate to have made some truly amazing military spouse friends throughout our years in service who have shown me how powerful it can be to offer kindness, generosity, care, support and encouragement to fellow military spouses. I have to shout out our Army community here, because as a Space Force family living on an Army installation, we have never felt more connected within a community than we have at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas. The strength of this community is something I work to actively contribute to both locally and beyond, through supporting local small businesses run by military spouses, contributing content to Wives of the Armed Forces, being active within our Space Force and Air Force virtual communities, and offering connections, support, resources, and insights to fellow significant others across service branches.

What do you advocate for? Why?
Health and wellness are foundational aspects to our ability to thrive, whether as a military spouse or not. I believe there are multiple pillars that contribute to our overall well-being: mental, physical, social/relational, and financial. I advocate for cultivating balance between these pillars so we can thrive in this military life. This is personal to me: there have been seasons of my life where I’ve put all of my needs - physical, emotional, social - on the back burner, and I’ve completely burnt out. I never want that to happen again, to me or to anyone within our military community. Cultivating balance is a constant journey, and I want other military spouses to have the knowledge, skills, tools, resources, and community support to equip them to thrive in wellness and be resilient to the stressors of military life.

How have you spread the message of your platform/advocacy?
Through Wives of the Armed Forces, I share blog posts and podcasts relating to health and wellness within the military spouse community. I continue these efforts through leveraging social media to connect and engage with spouses across the world. I aim to share my own experiences and story with vulnerability and humility, which I believe foster greater trust and connection within a community. I recently co-authored a book, “Discovering Something Greater” to help people find joy, purpose, and fulfillment on their own terms. Within the chapters I authored, I share reflections and strategies on the topics of balance and resilience, both of which are integral to our wellbeing as military spouses. My hope is that through my writing, people will be inspired to bring their dreams to life in close alignment with their vision and values, while cultivating balance, resilience, and wellbeing that allow them to thrive along the way.

What do you hope to accomplish with the AFI Military Spouse of the Year^® title?
I am a teacher at heart with a passion for health, so I hope to continue offering my time, talents, and experience to our military spouse community in ways that help teach, equip, and encourage military spouses to cultivate wellness and balance in their lives. With the support of the AFI Military Spouse of the Year® platform, I would love to find ways to increase wellness education and resources for military spouses, making them more visible and accessible for our community to leverage.