Introduction to Holly Dailey, Military Spouse & Family Advisor

As a military spouse or family member, can you remember when you were first exposed to the military culture? What was the first acronym you heard? How did your first PCS move go? Did you experience going through a deployment? Maybe you are new to the military family and will be just starting your new journey, or maybe you have transitioned out of the military and on your next chapter of life.

Most recently, I joined Veterans United Home Loans as their Military Spouse and Family Advisor. I’m hopeful that, with this platform, I can continue to be your advocate and respectfully share the knowledge and experiences I have gathered through the years and that you will find support from all of us and then pass it on.

A Bit About Myself

Please allow me to humbly share my story….

In 1993, I was blessed to marry my Soldier, Dan. Over the last 26 years as an Army spouse I fell in love with my Army Family. It was my honor to be the best advocate I could be, having served in various levels of leadership for many military volunteer organizations at Forts Riley, Stewart, Carson, Bliss, Eustis, and Myer. You may be familiar with some of the following:

• Care Team leader and advisor
• Family Readiness Group leader and advisor
• First Sergeant and Company Commander Spouse Program advisor
• Civilian and Volunteer Awards Program advisor
• Volunteer Advisory Council advisor
• School District Community Liaison
• Army Family Action Plan Steering Committee member
• Army Survivor Advisory Working Group member
• Army Emergency Relief Board of Managers member
• Pre-Command Spouse Course advisor
• Spouse Leadership Development Course advisor
• Nominative Spouse Seminar advisor and facilitator
• Defense Senior Enlisted Leader’s Council Spouse Program representative
• Department of Defense Spouse Ambassador Network representative
• Department of Labor Military Spouse Employment Workgroup representative

For my volunteer work and community contributions, I was honorably awarded many volunteer service honors including the President’s Call to Service Award, the Secretary of the Army’s Public Service Award, and the Department of the Army Distinguished Public Service Medal.

My education and work experience include a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration and I have worked mainly in the financial and business management fields, with a few years of teaching in several school districts. For seven years, I was a Federal Service Employee and was honored to receive the Outstanding Civilian Service Medal and the Commander’s Award for Civilian Service for my exemplary Federal Service.

For me personally, the highest award I could ever receive is the opportunity to continue being the “eyes and ears” for our military families and to be your advocate through my involvement with various organizations, boards, and programs.

Upcoming Endeavours

I’ll be sharing what I’ve learned as an Army spouse on the Veterans United Network in an upcoming blog series called the “Military Spouse Guide - Blog Series”.

It is my hope that I can humbly and honorably continue to serve you by sharing my “Lessons Learned” and “Best Practices” that I have discovered on my own Army journey through this series.

The purpose of this series is to help guide military spouses and their families through all the transitions that come with military life, and to offer military spouses a place to receive helpful educational tips and meaningful Q&As every month. I’ll be covering a wide range of topics once a month that will hopefully hopefully provide some insight to any questions that you might have along your journey.

I’m your conduit to ensure your feedback, concerns, and questions are being addressed. Please know that we are here to walk your journey with you. You are not alone. This series is for you!

I’m also hosting a new Facebook group called Military Moves that is designed to guide military service members and families through all the transitions that come with military life. My family faced a huge transition recently, with my husband retiring as the 15th Sergeant Major of the Army.

Be sure to join our Military Moves Facebook group!

Have ideas for potential topics that you’d like for me to cover? Let me know in the comments section below!