Photo By Jason Bortz | Jennifer Kinsella, wife of Commanding Officer Naval Air Station Pensacola Capt....... read more read more
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PENSACOLA, Fla. -- The Pensacola Navy League hosted an annual Military Spouse Appreciation Luncheon May 22 in Pensacola, Florida, to honor 23 spouses from the local commands.
“The Navy League exists to support and advocate for the sea services,” said Dan McCort, president of the Pensacola Navy League, “and the sea services cannot do their job without the support of military spouses.”
Breanna Wesley was nominated by her husband Aviation Boatswain's Mate 2nd Class Timothy Wesley, Honor Guard, Naval Air Station (NAS) Pensacola.
“I really appreciated the opportunity to nominate my wife,” said Wesley, who is from Midland City, Alabama. “She deserved being nominated. She always supported me while I was on deployments.”
Breanna and Timothy met while playing basketball in college at Bishop State Community College in Mobile, Alabama. They have only been married five years, but have already experienced life as a military couple – two deployments and months of separation.
“It was rough when he was gone,” said Breanna, who is originally from Gautier, Mississippi, “but I had a lot of support from my family and other spouses.”
The guest speaker for the luncheon was Jennifer Kinsella, wife of Commanding Officer NAS Pensacola Capt. Timothy Kinsella. A military spouse of 12 years, she echoed the importance of support, but also stressed being active as a military spouse.
“It’s important to jump in and be part of the military spouse community as well as the local community,” said Kinsella. “There is a lot of support available for spouses through the services provided on base as well as in the community.”
One of the resources Kinsella specifically mentioned was the Fleet and Family Support Center (FFSC) onboard NASP. The FFSC has programs to support spouses such as New Parent Support, Exceptional Family Member, Family Advocacy, Personal Financial Management, Life Skills Education, Clinical Counseling, Transition Assistance, Relocation Assistance, Family Employment Readiness, Disaster Preparedness and Sexual Assault Prevention and Response.
Another valuable resource for military spouses moving to Pensacola is www.statepolicy.militaryonesource.mil. The site contains information about transferring occupational licenses such nursing from another state to Florida, removing certification requirements for teachers and maintaining in-state tuition.
According to Eric Sherman, southeast regional liaison with the Defense – State Liaison Office, Florida is one of the easiest states in the country for military spouses to transfer licenses and certifications related to their careers.
Even with the numerous resources available to military spouses, being a military spouse is never easy. Coping with long periods of separation, moving every couple of years and being concerned for the safety of their deployed loved ones are all part of being a military spouse. The role of the military spouse is often overlooked, but is a vital necessity of maintaining the readiness of our military. One thing that will never change is the ability of military spouses to adapt and overcome the challenges they may encounter.
“Spouses adjust their sails in all kinds of weather,” said Kinsella to those in attendance. “We are adaptable, but our safe harbor is our community. The community where we live and our military spouses’ community.
For more than a century, NAS Pensacola, referred to as the "Cradle of Naval Aviation," has supported operational and training missions of tenant commands, currently including Naval Air Technical Training Center (NATTC), Naval Aviation Schools Command (NASC), the Center for Naval Aviation Technical Training (CNATT), Marine Aviation Training Support Groups (MATSG) 21 and 23 and is the headquarters for Naval Education and Training Command (NETC).
| Date Taken: | 05.23.2019 |
| Date Posted: | 05.23.2019 15:58 |
| Story ID: | 323788 |
| Location: | US |
| Web Views: | 102 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
This work, Pensacola Spouses Honored, by Jason Bortz, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
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