Armed Forces Insurance Military Spouse of the Year logo (Armed Forces Insurance Military Spouse of the Year )
“My platform is advocating for military spouses and their service members in having [a] cohesive family… As a military family, if you’re struggling at home, your service member can’t really focus and be the best that they can be.”
— Julia Priftis
Since 2008, Armed Forces Insurance (AFI) has honored military spouses all over the world and from each military branch with the Military Spouse of the Year (MSOY) award. The award recognizes military spouse contributions that help the military community. Nominees compete at the base and branch levels for the ultimate honor of being named the overall Military Spouse of the Year. The overall winner this year will be selected in May 2025.
This year in Europe, six military spouses won at the base level for USAG Rheinland-Pfalz, USAG Wiesbaden, NSA Naples, USAG Italy, NAVSTA Rota and Ramstein Air Base. I had the pleasure of talking to NSA Naples winner, Julia Priftis, and she told me a little about herself and her platform.
Head shot of Julia Priftis (Julia Priftis)
While her husband is attached to NSA Naples, Priftis’ family lives in North Germany because of a two-year assignment in the area (though he is always going back and forth to Naples for his job). Priftis has a master’s degree in Marriage and Family Therapy and a Ph.D. in Developmental Psychology with a focus on how kids bond with their service member parents. She has used this knowledge to help military spouses and families. Her platform aims at providing voices to military families and helping with the reintegration and assimilation process within the military family, especially after the service member has been deployed or in the field for an extended amount of time.
Priftis wants to use her new network with AFI MSOY, especially if she goes on to win branch or overall winner, to expand help with the reintegration process for the service member. She is inspired by her own experience of having her husband sent on a year-long mission during the coronavirus pandemic when their son was only three months old. Her husband returned home to a toddler that he struggled to connect with. Priftis explains that “Even with my degrees, I couldn’t help him the way he needed or had the resources, you know.... You’ve changed; your kids have changed.”
Before letting her go, I asked Priftis some fun questions about her favorite military base and free military family perks. Free healthcare is her favorite perk while her favorite base has been in Jacksonville, Florida because she made some of her best friends there.
You can read Priftis’ full profile on the AFI MSOY website here.
Watch the accompanying video to learn more about Priftis’ work with the military community.
