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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 NAVSTA Rota winner, Caroline Torres, and she told me a little about herself and her platform.

Torres Marin has been a military spouse for eight years but has been with her spouse for what feels like the entirety of his 15-year-long service. She is a foreign-born spouse, originally from Costa Rica, and has been living at NAVSTA Rota in Spain for just over two years.

Torres Marin decided to leave her teaching career when she moved from Costa Rica to the United States. However, she found that job opportunities for military spouses, especially once they move overseas, can be minimal. This led her to volunteer with the Military Spouse Advocacy Network (MSAN) as a New Spouse Mentor.

She discovered that being a mentor to new military spouses was very similar to teaching and she loved connecting spouses to resources and information to make their lives as military family members easier. Helping these spouses became a passion for her and led to her promotion to Navy Branch Mentor. Now she not only helps new spouses but also mentors the other New Spouse Mentors. Torres Marin wants to use her new network with AFI MSOY to help spread the word about MSAN and all the great programs, resources and information MSAN provides for the military spouse community.

Before letting her go, I asked Torres Marin some fun questions about her favorite military base and free military family perks. Her favorite duty station has been Naval Hospital Bremerton in Washington. She described the entire state of Washington as a “treasure of outdoor places to visit.” As far as military perks, she loves that the MWR office on Rota “plans so many wonderful day trips for families that are affordable.” She also loves the on-base movie theater where she claims “that no matter where you sit, you have a good view of the screen.”

You can read Torres Marin’s full profile on the AFI MSOY website here.

Watch the accompanying video to learn more about Torres Marin’s work with the military community.