Isabel Garcia Schmitt

Share your military spouse story:
I joined the Army in 2002, a brand new 2LT, assigned to an aviation unit with the First Infantry Division in Germany. In between beer fests and traveling, we all found ourselves deployed to Iraq. There, I first became aware of "Lieutenant Schmitt," only the hottest guy on Camp Speicher. Despite my best efforts to set him up with another LT, he fancied me. I was out of the Army in August 2006 and by October 2006, Peter and I were married. It seemed like overnight, I became a Family Readiness Group (FRG) leader instead of an operations officer. I was immediately, a more slightly more seasoned spouse, since Peter was a captain at the time and I had "been in." To be honest, being IN the military was way easier. My new life as a military spouse came with unwritten rules. There were expectations, assumptions and a whole lot of confusion. Then, came an Aide job for Peter that meant so much protocol! There is a handbook for that, one that I didn't become aware of for another decade. Peter deployed to Afghanistan in 2010, we had two babies and I was an FRG leader again. I tried my best to "hold down the fort," while entertaining the spouses back home. We held coffees, ice-cream play dates, and FRG meetings. We failed miserably at a Cookie Subscription, and laughed our way through it all. No one told us how hard it would be to raise babies on our own, with grandparents far, far away. Despite it all, it was magic. Milspouse life taught me the beauty of community. There is no other world quite like ours. We show up. More PCS moves to TX, Korea, Germany and another Aide job, CA and back to Korea, 13 total, brings us to the Pentagon- the brain farm. It's been wonderful despite the chaos of constant moving. Peter commanded in Korea and loved that time with soldiers and I built a business that supports military quality of life efforts. We love service and everything it does to amplify our talents. We also love this community because there is nothing like soldiering.

Share an example of your leadership experience within the military community:
While a military spouse I have served in myriad roles. I have served as a Family Readiness Group leader three times, I have been on Spouse Club boards in Huntsville, Al and Humphreys, South Korea. Most recently I was the South Korean Status of Forces Agreement addendum advocate for Hiring Our Heroes, responsible for opening up the gates for military spouse remote employment in South Korea. I have coached soccer, basketball and running club for Child and Youth Services, I have all the CYS coach swag. I have been involved in scouting on military installations and took our South Korean, Humphreys Boy Scout troop 88 to Mt. Hallasan twice as their High Adventure Chair! I teach free yoga classes on installations and to military units. My favorite was a 300+ person class for the B.O.S.S. program. I am one of the 12M+ Super 10, spouses who hire other spouses. I have used my leadership training to build a business that is committed to spouse employment while providing top notch moving service.

Describe your involvement in the military community:
I am the new director of the Victory Initiative for Warrior Transition Outdoors. In this role, I am committed to spreading the positive narratives that surround Armed Forces life in an effort to reverse the broken veteran stereotype and attract talent to the Armed Forces. I also work with military spouses on their path to entrepreneurship and support military spouse employment initiatives. I support Hiring our Heroes and 12M+ in their efforts to maximize spouse employment opportunities for military spouses. I have served as an FRG leader 3 times (Company, Company and Battalion level), on a Hiring our Heroes board in South Korea, spouse club board member twice (Korea and Huntsville, AL), military base scout troop leader 3 times (Germany, California, Korea), as a community wellness advocate, CYS coach 6 seasons of different sports, and as a unit volunteer at every operations unit we have ever served in.

Describe how you support your community:
I support my community by leading by example. I started a business that helps other spouses on their path to entrepreneurship. I help coach our milspouse community to success by ensuring that the narrative of their lives is objective and wholistic. Milspouse life is busy, chaotic and crazy sometimes but the adventures that we are on help us grow in tremendous way. I help others utilize the strengths derived from service or service support to improve lives and strengthen communities.

What do you advocate for? Why?
I started my life in the military community as an officer. Now, I serve as a layman recruiter in the military. I loved my time in the Armed Forces and I am dedicated to recruiting young people into service. In 2023, I joined Warrior Transition Outdoors as the Victory Initiative Director. WTO takes a holistic approach to help Veterans and their families, including Gold Star families, transition to civilian life through lifelong family advocacy, holistic health intervention, and outdoor adventures. As the Director of the Victory Initiative, I develop key strategies that change the narratives and environment, allowing Veterans, spouses, and others in the military community to thrive. I am passionate about sharing Armed Forces Community stories that are positive. I know that military life prepared me for everything I am doing now. I know I am successful because of my military background. I want others to see what it means to be victorious through service.

How have you spread the message of your platform/advocacy?
The Victory Initiative launched in 2023. We have not had much time to spread the message. We are working through the messaging to ensure we push the narrative in a way that is palatable to all veterans and milspouses. We want to change the broken vet narrative to allow the greater community to see the strengths gleaned through service and service support (service support.) I personally want to work hard to spread the message in socio-economically disadvantaged communities. I know that I am where I am because I served. I know that I am stronger because I am a milspouse. I want other young people to see service as a way to amplify their lives and polish their raw talents. So far, we have a podcast for WTO that is slowing introducing the ideas surrounding the Victory Initiative and it's goals and we have the website.

What do you hope to accomplish with the AFI Military Spouse of the Year^® title?
With this title, I hope to advocate for Success through Service initiatives. I want to see the successful launch of the Victory Initiative and an improvement in our recruitment numbers. I want to see veterans and military spouses sharing stories of success and strength in order to draw talent to the Armed Forces. There are so many benefits to service and I want to highlight that in my life as an MSOY. The adversity that tests us, fortifies us. We are so talented and stress-tested that we are absolute assets wherever we go. Together, with other milspouses advocating for employment initiatives, quality of life programs and healthy living... the Victory Initiative has a real opportunity to help the Armed Forces meet recruiting and retention goals. The broken vet narrative has hit amplitude and we need to flip the narrative to attract the kinds of service members that make our community strong. The MSOY platform would allow the Victory Initiative to launch in a big way and help the DOD.