Morgan Farr

Share your military spouse story:
I didn’t realize being compared to a Malinois—a driven, high-energy working dog—was a compliment until I married an Army Veterinarian. In San Diego, cooking dinner for six NSW dog trainers while wearing my newborn and entertaining my two and three-year-old the lead NSW Dog Trainer said, “Brian, you married a Malinois!” The comparison stuck, and I’ve embraced it ever since. But let me back up and tell the full story. I joined the military spouse community when I married my Texas Aggie sweetheart in 2013. Days later, we opened our Fort Hood garage gym to military families for free fitness training. At Bragg, my husband went Civil Affairs, and I ran our East Coast gym for over 400 military families. It became a place where babies were rocked between sets, and friendships formed through shared challenges. Then came our time in San Diego. Next came Philadelphia during COVID-19, where I sought community and found ways to serve. I fostered a working dog for the Penn Vet Working Dog Center and volunteered there with my four kids. We launched a business supporting working dogs, and I joined Planting Roots to live out my faith by supporting military women and wives worldwide. After PCSing to San Antonio, I became integral to FOUR organizations in the military community. I am the Deputy Director of Mission Milspouse, the Operations Manager at Planting Roots, and the Graphic Designer for the Army MWD Program. I’ve dedicated nearly 1,000 hours annually to JBSA Lackland PWOC, where I serve as President. Since we homeschool, my kids have joined me every step of the way. My military journey has shown me the importance of using my God-given skills of perseverance, organization, and creative problem-solving to build community. In every role, I aim to lighten the load for those behind the scenes of military life. I envision a connected community, sharing knowledge and resources across branches to create a stronger, brighter future for military families.

Share an example of your leadership experience within the military community:
Currently, I serve in three leadership positions. In each one, I focus on enhancing existing efforts and cultivating a sense of belonging. Since arriving at JBSA Lackland PWOC in 2022, I’ve worked to combat the isolation left behind after COVID-19. In addition to leading Bible studies, I started: Park & Library Days, Chapel Clean-Up Days to connect through service, mentorship opportunities, and Field Trip Fridays to explore JBSA. The goal is to build a community that continues after I PCS. At Mission: Milspouse, I work to increase professionalism through human resources, staff handbooks, and better volunteer tracking. As Operations Manager for Planting Roots, I streamline the onboarding process, ensuring volunteers receive all necessary information and an introduction to our culture. I thrive when I connect my people to resources. I lead by helping leadership and streamlining efforts to get resources into the hands of the military spouses who need them most.

Describe your involvement in the military community:
I am involved with the military community at every echelon. That has looked like creating a disciplined and structured home life for my family, no matter how many TDYs the military throws at us. I help my spouse by editing his scientific journal articles, building successful study plans for his board exams, and helping him create multiple courses. This, in turn, helps MWDs. My husband and I created K9 Farr Fitness to help working dogs worldwide. As Lackland PWOC President, I lead Bible studies, Field trip Fridays, Chapel Clean-ups, Park Days, and Library Days. I ran the JBSA Lackland Chapel's social media in 2024. I also participated in the Five and Thrive Event Team welcoming new spouses to JBSA. Through Mission: Milspouse and Planting Roots I build community. With the Army MWD Program, I help share valuable working dog information with a large audience. Each one of the places I have worked with has been to share resources or skills with military spouses, families, or working dogs.

Describe how you support your community:
I’ve noted that I find or create resources (like Field Trip Fridays) to connect the military spouse community in my spheres of influence. As Graphic Designer for Mission: Milspouse, I help with our mission to build community for military spouses worldwide. In 2023, I joined during the transition from Army Wife Network to Mission: Milspouse, supporting all spouses from all branches. I create inclusive social media graphics that reflect the diversity of the military community. Ruth Bader Ginsburg said, “We will all profit from a more diverse, inclusive society, understanding, accommodating, even celebrating our differences, while pulling together for the common good.” The initiatives I organize—and my home—are open to people of all creeds, faiths, orientations, ethnicities, socio-economic statuses, and political beliefs. I believe the best way to strengthen our military community is by embracing the differences and giving everyone a seat at the table.

What do you advocate for? Why?
I advocate for connecting military spouses to the resources available to them. Some are tangible, like when I sat beside a young mom in the Wilford Hall ER. She leaned over and said, “Can I ask you a question? How high should the fever be to wait at the ER?” At that moment, I realized that not all spouses know about the Tricare Nurse Advice Line. Many military spouses miss out on scholarships, grants, free programs, discounts, and events simply because they don’t know they exist. That is a travesty. Intangible resources, like meaningful community, support in grieving, spiritual development, and creative outlets, I found by pouring into non-profits around me. There is wisdom in our military spouse community. We are not in this alone. We are not the first ones to walk this path. We can do better. I aim to ensure every military spouse learns about the resources available and how to access them.

How have you spread the message of your platform/advocacy?
While I have never worked with a media outlet, learning new things is one of my greatest strengths! I thrive when gathering, organizing, and streamlining data and/or information that allows the mission to run effectively. I use the resources each of my organization creates, like blog posts from Mission: Milpouse about spouse employment or a podcast from Planting Roots about finding purpose in military life. I then share that across my social media and text it directly to spouses who need it. I help grow grassroots efforts and strengthen local and global military spouse communities. I will admit communication can be daunting, especially for an autistic woman. Part of the reason I love virtual volunteer work is because it is great for introverts. Volunteering for Mission: Mispouse, Planting Roots, the Army MWD Program, and even the PWOC and Chapel social media teams has all been done behind a screen, for the most part, while allowing me to reach people worldwide.

What do you hope to accomplish with the AFI Military Spouse of the Year^® title?
I used to believe I hadn't contributed to the military community because I hadn’t started a non-profit or spearheaded a big initiative. But the reality is I am not looking to start another nonprofit or to create another initiative. While that may sound vague, I learned during the MSAN Leadership Development Program to think outside the box, so instead of new, I want to highlight what we already have. Strengthening our community shouldn't be just building new things. It should also be using what you have wisely. With the current economic climate, highlighting what is available would do more for military spouses than starting five new programs that no one hears about. I will use the AFI Military Spouse of the Year platform to highlight the many programs and services available to military spouses. If even one military family found a resource because they saw it through our efforts, stepping out from behind the scenes would have been worth it.