Erin Muhlenbeck

Share your military spouse story:
My story is not unlike many other women I've talked to within the community. I met my husband while finishing my undergraduate degree in special education. Post college, I spent a few years teaching self-contained special education at our first duty station. We PCS'd from Montana to South Carolina when I was seven and a half months pregnant. I struggled to find medical care in a new place before the birth of our son and began to notice how military families, including my own fall through the cracks. There was a lack of affordable childcare options in our community and the ones that were available had waitlists over a year long, so like many military spouses, I gave up my career to raise my son. During our time in South Carolina my husband was deployed to Afghanistan when our son was nine months old. I had no community, no one to fall back on and shouldered the burden of this life alone. Afterwards, It became my mission to make sure no other military spouse walked this path alone.

Describe any leadership positions or provide an overview of your leadership contributions within the military community.
I am currently the Key Support Mentor to four incredible spouses with my husband's squadron while he serves in command. During the fall and spring, I volunteer with our base's youth center coaching recreational soccer. As team, we have put together meal trains for new babies, surgeries, family illnesses-something I never had. We also host frequent socials and meetups for our deployed service members families. We have opened up our home on base during the holidays for anyone who needs/wants a place to be while they are away from their own family. My husband and I also put together new baby baskets on behalf of the the squadron leadership to welcome the newest "little ravens." In 2023 I began an Instagram account to highlight the real, systemic barriers military spouses face. I have organically grown my account to over 16,000 followers and have the opportunity to mentor other spouses 1:1 everyday and connect them with the resources and skills necessary to military life.

What programs or projects are you currently involved in that support the needs of military families?
As stated above, I am currently apart of the KSL program at our duty station as well as a volunteer for our youth center. I have worked with military affiliated non-profit organizations in the past like the VFW and most notably serving as the Director of Marketing and Outreach for the Military Family Foundation which focuses on civics education for the military community.

What moments best reflect your impact on building inclusive community among military spouses?
The best reflection of my impact is through my social media. My audience is a diverse coalition of military spouses, veterans and service members across the globe. I am proud to connect with non-traditional military spouses (male, veteran, child-free, lgbtqt+, foreign born, etc) and build positive relationships with people I may have never gotten the chance to meet in the "real world." While from the outside, I am the quintessential traditional military spouse, we have a responsibility to highlight the people and stories that are not our own. The military is such a diverse and beautiful mix of people and life experiences, we would not be the force and community we strive to be without all of us.

Identify your main advocacy effort and describe your personal connection to the cause.
My main advocacy effort is in humanizing and highlighting the raw truth of military life. Military life has its blessings to be sure. I for one am beyond grateful for Tricare. My emergency c-section for the birth of my son and subsequent four day hospital stay was well over $20,000. Tricare covered it in full. But I wasn't grateful for the military taking my husband TDY three weeks after the birth of our son while I was still bleeding from a major medical surgery, with no family near by. The mission always comes first, but at what cost. This life, for all its good is not a Pinterest board aesthetic. It isn't cute. It's ugly and hard and all consuming. For a long time I thought it was me. I thought I just "wasn't cut out" for military life without realizing it isn't me-it's the system. A system designed to support the needs of a trillion dollar organization where the spouses and families are a footnote. And our families deserve more than that.

Summarize your advocacy outreach strategies, including any events, media involvement, or other communication efforts.
I frequently post Q&A's on my Instagram stories to help connect people with resources and organizations doing the work whether that be mental health, EFMP, emergency childcare, etc. I attended the Military Influencer Conference in 2024 and was able to network with authors, journalists and community change makers. I have personally worked with other advocates and reporters to push military family issues featured on CNN, etc.

What do you hope to accomplish with the AFI Military Spouse of the Year^® title?
I hope to continue to highlight the realities of military families in a system that doesn't always meet expectations, largely at the expense of military spouses.