Deanne Grant

Share your military spouse story:
I met my husband while I was an active duty Marine at MCAS Miramar and he was a Corpsman at Naval Hospital Balboa. We met through a mutual friend in 2011 and were married in 2014. We have 5 beautiful children, have endured 4 deployments and 4 PCS's. During the first 8 years of my military spouse life, I did not volunteer with organizations or know where to reach out. As a prior service Marine, I thought I knew most everything there was to know. How wrong I was. When we completed our latest move to MCMWTC Bridgeport, I discovered a wonderful world of support I had not seen before. Though we have always loved to entertain, we never hosted more than a backyard BBQ. Now we are involved with the Family Readiness team and work to ensure the Naval Clinic, the tenant command we are assigned to, is also included and taken care of. Working with the Family Readiness Advisor has encouraged me to find more ways to care for the Dewert Clinic sailors and their families. I am connected with the Naval Hospital Twentynine Palms ombudsman and working to become an ombudsman to better support Navy families at Bridgeport.

Share an example of your leadership experience within the military community:
Through my experience as a leader in the Marine Corps I have been able to transfer that knowledge of programs to better support my fellow spouses. Bringing NMCRS services to the Marines and sailors of MCMWTC Bridgeport is one small step forward to providing financial literacy to the area. My work with bringing the ombudsman program to the Clinic sailors and their families is a way to ensure the knowledge of a remote area and the resources available are maintained and passed my fellow spouses.

Describe your involvement in the military community:
I am a Family Readiness volunteer and act as liaison for the Naval Clinic for participation in all aspects of the events held. Delivery of birthday treats to all Marines, Sailors and civilians each month. I provide help to military families when I know there is a need when I can and help to direct them to resources.

Describe how you support your community:
I am collaborating to bring NMCRS services to MWTC and have hosted Dave Ramsey Financial Peace classes to provide financial knowledge. At this very remote location financial knowledge is significant for the Marines and Sailors to understand how to manage their limited resources. I also work with a fellow spouse to bake and deliver birthday treats to the Marines, Sailors and civilians each month. Ensuring the service members are able to enjoy a small home baked treat.

What do you advocate for? Why?
I advocate for financial literacy for service members and their families. When families understand their money habits it becomes one less point of contention when separations are inevitable. Being free of financial stress enables service members to better focus on their mission. Especially in a remote location, knowing how to handle finances enables service members to prepare for extra costs associated with needing to travel further for basics and entertainment.

How have you spread the message of your platform/advocacy?
I have hosted two Dave Ramsey financial classes in the housing area and at the barracks, reaching both married and single service members. I will be assisting with the NMCRS office to provide individual budget counseling and will provide group classes for financial basics. I will also host NMCRS Budget for Baby classes to bring awareness for couples as they prepare for their growing families.

What do you hope to accomplish with the AFI Military Spouse of the Year^® title?
With the MSOY title I hope to not only expand on supporting my military community by providing more financial support but also hope to help those at other remote locations to know that being isolated doesn't mean that you are without. I want to promote that remote locations are able to be built on even if it takes some time and that spouses can absolutely make change if they believe in it.