Courtesy Photo | Mary Spitler was named Vicenza Military Community Civilian Spouse Volunteer of the...... read more read more
VICENZA, Italy – Mary Spitler met her husband in college at Western Carolina University. About a year after they were married, her husband started serving with the Department of Defense as a DoD civilian employee. Together – and for the last 15 years – they’ve been serving, supporting and volunteering in military communities across the U.S. and now with the Army overseas in Italy.
For her volunteer work with the Parent Teacher Student Association in Vicenza, the 405th Army Field Support Brigade spouse was recently recognized and named Vicenza Military Community Civilian Spouse Volunteer of the Year at a ceremony on Caserma Ederle. Spitler also supports the U.S. Army Garrison Italy community in Vicenza as a volunteer member of the School Advisory Committee, and she volunteers with the Red Cross and USO, as well.
Somehow, in addition to all this volunteer work, Spitler is a supporting spouse to her Army civilian husband, Jacob Spitler, who deploys to the continent of Africa frequently for exercises and other missions, and she’s “an outstanding and loving mother to our three beautiful elementary school age children,” said Jacob, the senior planner for the 405th AFSB’s Logistics Civil Augmentation Program for Africa.
If that wasn’t enough, when Spitler isn’t fully engaged as a mom, wife and Vicenza community volunteer, she’s the program and test center coordinator for the University of Maryland Global Campus at the education center on Ederle. After being presented with the volunteer of the year award April 30, the 37-year-old mother, wife, test coordinator, and community volunteer said she was completely overwhelmed and humbled.
“I've always been a hard worker with everything I involve myself in. Anywhere that we've been stationed, I always try to be involved with the community and help because I do believe that we are what we make of it,” said Spitler, who has been stationed in North Carolina, Georgia, Michigan and Virginia with her husband, plus Italy where they’ve been for over two years.
“The support here is amazing. The community itself is great,” Spitler said. “We are all here to support each other in these tough times, being away from our families and friends back home, stateside. It's really a community effort, so I was very honored they would even think of me and the work I’ve done. To be nominated by the PTSA was huge, but then to receive the award was an unbelievable feeling.”
Spitler, who is originally from Michigan, said receiving the award while overseas in a military community on such a special year for the Army is also an unbelievable feeling. Even though the award period qualifying her for volunteer of the year was 2024, she didn’t officially receive the recognition until April of 2025 on the year the Army celebrates its 250th birthday.
“It's a really cool. It’s an unbelievable feeling to be acknowledged for my work during this special time frame. There’s a lot going on, and the excitement is in the air. Happy 250th birthday, U.S. Army!” she said.
The 405th AFSB is assigned to U.S. Army Sustainment Command and headquartered in Kaiserslautern, Germany. The brigade provides materiel enterprise support to U.S. forces throughout Europe and Africa – providing theater sustainment logistics; synchronizing acquisition, logistics and technology; and leveraging U.S. Army Materiel Command’s materiel enterprise to support joint forces. For more information on the 405th AFSB, visit the official website at www.afsbeurope.army.mil and the official Facebook site at www.facebook.com/405thAFSB.
The Army will celebrate its 250th birthday on June 14. For 250 years, the Army has offered endless possibilities and opportunities for service to our nation with over 200 career choices for Soldiers and more than 500 career paths for civilians. To learn more about the Army’s 250th birthday, visit www.army.mil/1775 and check out the DVIDS’s special Army birthday feature portal at www.dvidshub.net/feature/ARMY250.
| Date Taken: | 05.05.2025 |
| Date Posted: | 05.05.2025 04:33 |
| Story ID: | 496976 |
| Location: | VICENZA, IT |
| Web Views: | 16 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
This work, 405th AFSB spouse, Vicenza volunteer of the year: ‘excitement in the air, happy 250th, Army!’, by Cameron Porter, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
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