About the guests:

Evie King is the 2023 Armed Forces Insurance Military Spouse of the Year who advocates for the well-being and mental health of all military spouses. As President of InDependent, she established professional volunteer opportunities that develop transferable skills. She espouses and reinforces team well-being through healthy digital boundaries and open feedback. Her focus on wellness extends to her involvement in the military community, where she creates dynamic and educational content that empowers military spouses to make healthy decisions for themselves and their families. King, who is also the child of two Army veterans, recognizes the importance of building a resilient military community and eliminating barriers to wellness. Through engagement with military organizations and the media, she has raised awareness about the challenges and diverse needs of military spouses. She seeks to bridge gaps in existing resources and foster more inclusive mental health and holistic wellness programs. King’s leadership and advocacy is focused on ensuring that every military spouse feels supported and valued in pursuit of their well-being.

About the podcast:

The Spouse Angle is a podcast breaking down the news for military spouses and their families. Each episode features subject-matter experts and military guests who dive into current events from a military perspective — everything from new policy changes to research on family lifestyle challenges. The podcast is hosted by Natalie Gross, a freelance journalist and former Military Times reporter who grew up in a military family.

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About the guests:

Linda K. Ambard is a retired community support coordinator. She retired from Kadena Air Force Base, Japan. Ambard started working for the Air Force in 1986 at the Mountain Home Air Force Base swimming pool. She has held a variety of positions to include Child Development Center director, Youth Programs director, Family Child Care coordinator, DoDEA teacher, and community support coordinator. During her community support coordinator tenure, led the youth resiliency effort at AFMC, created a training video still in use for training casualty officers, and was published for her research in positive trauma growth. Furthermore, Ambard was featured in many public forums to include television, radio and newspaper for her efforts in resiliency and military loss awareness. Ambard was the voice on the Gold Star Air Force training video.

Kaanan Fugler is the healthcare navigator in the Supportive Services for Veteran Families Department for Volunteers of America South Central Louisiana. She is the surviving spouse of Staff Sgt. Matthew Mackey, who died 18 days after an active duty accident on July 28, 2010. She is also the mother to five Gold Star children. In 2017, she remarried and became the wife of a disabled veteran, Joshua. She holds a bachelor’s degree in political science from Southern New Hampshire University and a master’s in public administration from Louisiana State University. Before joining the VOA staff, she had spent the last 13 years advocating to protect and improve the rights and earned benefits of surviving families and veterans. She has spent much of her free time making phone calls to legislative representatives advocating for a change of policies that have impacted countless veterans and military surviving families. She continued this advocacy after graduation where she joined others to rally Congress to fix the military widow’s tax. She has written several testimonies about the impacts of current laws on her family that the Transition Assistance Program for Survivors has read and written for testimony before the Veterans Affairs Committee for the U.S. House of Representatives. The most recent was testimony supporting the Love Lives On Act. Through her remarriage, she brought attention to the need for surviving spouses to maintain DoD access to minor children’s records upon remarriage. It was part of the most recent NDAA. She is active in several Gold Star communities and sat on the Gary Sinise Foundation’s Alumni Committee for Snowball Express last year. She has spent time in the past traveling for the Folds of Honor Foundation as an event speaker, helping raise donations that support scholarships for families of the fallen and wounded service members. At VOA, she advocates for and assists homeless and at-risk veterans in obtaining the resources necessary to obtain and maintain permanent housing.

About the podcast:

The Spouse Angle is a podcast breaking down the news for military spouses and their families. Each episode features subject-matter experts and military guests who dive into current events from a military perspective — everything from new policy changes to research on family lifestyle challenges. The podcast is hosted by Natalie Gross, a freelance journalist and former Military Times reporter who grew up in a military family.

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About the guests:

Karen Jowers has covered military families, quality of life and consumer issues for Military Times for more than 30 years, and is co-author of a chapter on media coverage of military families in the book “A Battle Plan for Supporting Military Families.” She previously worked for newspapers in Guam, Norfolk, Jacksonville, Florida, and Athens, Georgia.

About the podcast:

The Spouse Angle is a podcast breaking down the news for military spouses and their families. Each episode features subject-matter experts and military guests who dive into current events from a military perspective — everything from new policy changes to research on family lifestyle challenges. The podcast is hosted by Natalie Gross, a freelance journalist and former Military Times reporter who grew up in a military family.

Follow The Spouse Angle on Instagram, Facebook and Twitter.

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About the guests:

Bruce McClary is the senior vice president of membership and communications for the National Foundation for Credit Counseling. As the lead spokesperson, McClary provides communications support for the nation’s largest and longest-serving network of nonprofit credit counseling organizations. He also manages activities focused on industry collaboration and membership growth. With decades of experience in the financial service sector, McClary often draws upon his direct experience as a debt collector, lender, and NFCC Certified Credit Counselor when speaking to journalists about personal finance matters. During his career, he has provided one-on-one financial counseling to thousands of consumers, trained financial educators, and reached millions more through print and broadcast media.

Shelby Myers is a military spouse and mom of two. Her background is in education, but currently she stays home with her kids and volunteers on base. Myers advocates for programs that support military families, and small businesses of all kinds. She spends her time exploring, blogging and enjoying everything the military throws at her.

About the podcast:

The Spouse Angle is a podcast breaking down the news for military spouses and their families. Each episode features subject-matter experts and military guests who dive into current events from a military perspective — everything from new policy changes to research on family lifestyle challenges. The podcast is hosted by Natalie Gross, a freelance journalist and former Military Times reporter who grew up in a military family.

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About the guests:

U.S. Rep. Don Bacon, R-Nebraska, grew up a farm in Illinois, where he learned first-hand how the value of hard work and commitment contributes to the success of a small business. He attended Northern Illinois University, from which he graduated with a bachelor’s degree in political science in 1984, the same year he married his wife, Angie. One year later, he began his military career by joining the U.S. Air Force and serving nearly 30 years, ultimately retiring as a brigadier general.

Presently, Congressman Bacon serves on two committees within the House of Representatives: the House Armed Services Committee, and the House Agricultural Committee.

During his military career, Bacon specialized in electronic warfare, intelligence and reconnaissance. His career highlights include two tours as a wing commander, at Ramstein Airbase in Germany and Offutt Air Force Base in Bellevue, Nebraska; group command at Davis-Monthan Air Force Base in Arizona; squadron command in Arizona, and expeditionary squadron command in Iraq.

In total, Rep. Bacon served 16 assignments including four deployments in the Middle East to include Iraq in 2007 to 2008 during Operation Iraqi Freedom. He has been awarded the Air Force Distinguished Service Medal, two Bronze Stars, two Legion of Merits, five Meritorious Service Medals, and the Aerial Achievement Medal.

Additionally, he was selected as Europe’s top Air Force Wing Commander for his time at Ramstein Airbase, as well as recognized as a distinguished graduate of the Air Command and Staff College, Navigator-Electronic Warfare School, and Officer Intelligence School. Bacon has earned two master’s degrees – one from the University of Phoenix in Arizona and another from the National War College in Washington, D.C.

About the podcast:

The Spouse Angle is a podcast breaking down the news for military spouses and their families, hosted by former Military Times reporter Natalie Gross. Each episode features subject-matter experts and military guests who dive into current events from a military perspective — everything from new policy changes to research on family lifestyle challenges.

Follow The Spouse Angle on Instagram, Facebook and Twitter.

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About the guests:

Kate Williams is the community initiative program manager at Instant Teams and an Army veteran spouse.

About the podcast:

The Spouse Angle is a podcast breaking down the news for military spouses and their families. Each episode features subject-matter experts and military guests who dive into current events from a military perspective — everything from new policy changes to research on family lifestyle challenges. The podcast is hosted by Natalie Gross, a freelance journalist and former Military Times reporter who grew up in a military family.

Follow The Spouse Angle on Instagram, Facebook and Twitter.

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About the guest:

Destiny Huff is currently the proud wife of an Army armor officer and a former military brat of a retired command sergeant major who served 27 years in the Army. She is a licensed professional counselor, certified trauma-focused cognitive behavior therapist, and certified supervisor who has worked with military service members and their families as a mental health professional. Huff received a bachelor’s degree in psychology from Georgia Southern University, a master’s in clinical-counseling psychology from Valdosta State University and is currently a doctoral candidate in the general psychology program at Walden University with a research focus on the use of bibliotherapy as a clinical strategy to address the unique challenges that military children face. In 2022, Huff received a crash course in special education and individualized education plans (IEPs) when her oldest son was diagnosed with autism. After advocating early on for her youngest son who has a speech delay, she learned the importance of having to advocate in the school setting and became a special education parent advocate and master IEP coach to help other families advocate for their children and prevent them from going through what her family went through.

Tricia Ross is a proud military wife of 21 years and has worked on behalf of military families for over two decades. She is incredibly passionate about connecting families to resources that alleviate hardships commonly associated with frequent moves throughout a military career. Ross brings valuable experience working with national nonprofits in volunteer and program management, as well as marketing and communications. She holds a bachelor’s degree in behavioral science from Wilmington University and a master’s in human services from Capella University. She is the director of communications for The Rosie Network, a nonprofit organization committed to supporting the next generation of military-connected entrepreneurs. She also volunteers as the marketing director for Partners in PROMISE, an organization dedicated to protecting the rights of military children in special education. In addition to actively fighting for military families, Ross also teaches English as a second language business and entrepreneur classes at Coastal Carolina Community College. She lives with her husband and four children in Jacksonville, North Carolina.

About the podcast:

The Spouse Angle is a podcast breaking down the news for military spouses and their families. Each episode features subject-matter experts and military guests who dive into current events from a military perspective — everything from new policy changes to research on family lifestyle

challenges. The podcast is hosted by Natalie Gross, a freelance journalist and former Military Times reporter who grew up in a military family.

Follow The Spouse Angle on Instagram, Facebook and Twitter.

Subscribe on Apple Podcasts.

Subscribe on Spotify.

Subscribe on Stitcher.

Want more perspectives like this sent straight to you? Subscribe to receive our Commentary & Opinion newsletter once a week.

About the guest:

Lindsey Wilson was an Army spouse for 10 years. She and her family were stationed at Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam in December 2020 and lived on Aliamanu Military Reservation (AMR). On Nov. 28, 2021 they found out their water had been contaminated with jet fuel due to a major leak from the Red Hill bulk fuel storage facility. They were without potable water in their home for four months. They left Oahu in July 2022 for Montana after her husband retired from the Army.

About the podcast:

The Spouse Angle is a podcast breaking down the news for military spouses and their families. Each episode features subject-matter experts and military guests who dive into current events from a military perspective — everything from new policy changes to research on family lifestyle challenges. The podcast is hosted by Natalie Gross, a freelance journalist and former Military Times reporter who grew up in a military family.

Follow The Spouse Angle on Instagram, Facebook and Twitter.

Subscribe on Apple Podcasts.

Subscribe on Spotify.

Subscribe on Stitcher.

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About the guests:

Jess Boldt was a stay-at-home mom to her four kids and military spouse for 18 years before she decided to pursue her art career. She graduated from a one-year mastery online art program in 2020. Since then, Boldt has been in exhibitions in the Netherlands, Denmark, Belgium and Luxembourg. She also has painted a few murals on Shape Nato Base in Belgium, an electrical box In Dendermonde Belgium, a mural in a cafe in downtown Mons, Belgium and three walls in an Airbnb in Redding, California. She not only likes to paint on canvas or walls but also painting on clothing, vinyls or large installations. Juxtaposition describes her life and work beautifully. From farm girl to international artist, she merges the two worlds together.

About the podcast:

The Spouse Angle is a podcast breaking down the news for military spouses and their families. Each episode features subject-matter experts and military guests who dive into current events from a military perspective — everything from new policy changes to research on family lifestyle challenges. The podcast is hosted by Natalie Gross, a freelance journalist and former Military Times reporter who grew up in a military family.

Follow The Spouse Angle on Instagram, Facebook and Twitter.

Subscribe on Apple Podcasts.

Subscribe on Spotify.

Subscribe on Stitcher.

Want more perspectives like this sent straight to you? Subscribe to receive our Commentary & Opinion newsletter once a week.