Workshop Empowers 97 AMW Spouses with Their Purpose

  • Published
  • By Airman 1st Class Breanna Klemm
  • 97 AMW Public Affairs
ALTUS AIR FORCE BASE, Okla --  Brittany Boccher, the 2017 Armed Forces Insurance Military Spouse of the Year, has lived a busy life and somehow makes it look easy. Boccher is an entrepreneur, U.S. Air Force spouse, Wounded Warrior Caregiver, military family advocate and mother of two, all while authoring a workbook and lesson to advocate towards spouses around the country. On August 27, 2019 while touring bases, Boccher made a special visit to the Mighty 97th by hosting an interactive workshop which helps spouses in need find a sense of purpose.

Boccher’s story began when her youngest child was born with Down syndrome. This prompted her to become an advocate for military families who have children with special needs, eventually leading her to begin the Down Syndrome Advancement Coalition Program and become the parent liaison for the Air Force Exceptional Family Member Program.

After becoming the Military Spouse of the Year in 2017, Boccher realized many spouses were struggling with their identity and were in need of support and encouragement. Wanting to do something about this problem, in April 2018, Boccher wrote an interactive workbook, “Discovering Your Spark: Finding Your Color in a Camouflage World,” which allowed her to openly communicate with spouses. Corresponding with her workbook, Boccher conducts tours and now advocates for military families with a purpose of empowering, encouraging and inspiring spouses to find their identities towards living a life with purpose.

“The problem was that military spouses were not living for themselves anymore,” said Boccher. “They were living for their job, their spouse’s job and the military lifestyle rather than focusing on themselves, and that was a problem I wanted to help fix.”

Boccher’s workbook corresponds with the tour she provides to military spouses around the country. The key points of the workbook include discovering oneself, going back to the basics, finding a purpose and a reflection section where spouses are given an opportunity to see what they can change to better themselves. The focus of the workbook is to help military spouses truly find their sense of purpose and identity.

“You need to focus on yourself before you can focus on others, and that is the same for the Air Force mission,” said Boccher. “You need to have the family and home life right before you can have the mission. It all starts at home with the family, and it’s important that military spouses are equipped with the resources they need so they can accomplish the mission, and be just as prepared as their spouse.”

Being a military spouse can be a difficult job full of stressful days and late nights. Workshops like these are beneficial to spouses in many ways, including allowing spouses to communicate, relate and realize they are not alone through this tough journey. This helps build stronger relationships not only between spouses, but between Warrior Airmen and their families.

“This workbook is dedicated to every military spouse, past, present and future,” said Boccher. “I want to thank every spouse for your continued dedication, selfless sacrifice and unending commitment to keeping our country safe. You are the often overlooked backbone of our military families.”