Military Monday: 15 Things I Learned in my First Year as an Army Wife

Today in celebration of our first year of marriage I decided to post up the 15 things that I learned in my first year of marriage for our Military Monday post. So here it is! 

I have been married to my best friend Brian for exactly one year. Prior that I knew very little about military life! To prepare for joining the Army family I read every book, magazine, and article I could. They were helpful in many ways but there was a lot that those resources didn’t cover.

Camo will take over your house.

Do your laundry carefully, make a separate load for his camo.  Don’t wash it with your pretty little camis or lacy…anything. The general rule that I now follow is that camo always wins.

You will need at least one closet dedicated to all things Army. Carefully labeling the contents of the closet will make it much easier when you husband comes home late and says he needs to “gather some stuff” for early the next morning.

Food is a really big deal.

MREs don’t fit with people trying to eat a paleo or truly healthy diet. They are fuel, not nutrition.

Most units will find any excuse for a potluck. Have a signature dish and get good at making it.

The unit is always thankful for homemade anything.

Community is important

They  can and will call your husband at any time, day or night.

Get to know the people in your husband’s unit. They can be a great resource.

PWOC (Protestant Women of the Chapel) or CWOC (Catholic Women of the Chapel) are one of the greatest things that you can get involved with on post.

The patches on his uniform are important. Make sure you know where they go, or let him do it. You don’t want to be the one that put the wrong patch in the wrong place!

Being fit is a big part of the job.

Your guy has a ruck march coming up and he needs to practice, what do you do? Join him! Slap on a backpack and fill it with books. Even if you can only do half of the course that he does, you can be a major encouragement to him.

Good running shoes can make a huge difference for your guy when he is having difficulty with foot, leg, or back pain. Do research and encourage him to get the things he needs to make him successful.

Does he want to improve his push-up score or his PT test? You can encourage him each night to practice, and to try to do one more each night than he did the night before.

Be prepared

Memorize his social security number. They ALWAYS ask you for it. They almost never ask for yours. 

Have all important documents (birth certificates, passports, marriage license) in a place where you can readily get to them. The more organized you are the better.

Always bring a book. The Army is a huge machine, and it takes time to get all the parts moving in the right direction at the right time. Be patient and understanding. Have a book in your purse that you pull out just for such occasions as being stuck at the on post pharmacy for over an hour.