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“My passion as a military spouse is building strong communities.””
— Candice Carter
Since 2008, Armed Forces Insurance (AFI) has honored military spouses from each military branch all over the world 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 Military Spouse of the Year. The overall winner this year will be selected in May 2025.
In 2025, six military spouses in Europe 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 USAG Wiesbaden winner Candice Carter, and she told me a little about herself and her platform.
Carter volunteers as the Wiesbaden Area Representative for Americans Working Around the Globe (AWAG). Her family has lived in Wiesbaden for almost three years. As a military spouse who moves quite often, she found her passion in helping to develop communities and strong networks wherever her family may be stationed. She was inspired by her own experience as a young military spouse who had no real idea of what it meant to join the military community. She recalled asking her husband when they first met if he knew her uncle because they were both in the military.
“My first few years as a military spouse were just deployment after deployment….”
— Candice Carter
The constant deployment struggles early in her marriage left her feeling discouraged until her community started reaching out. It began with neighbors seeing if she needed something from the grocery store or offering to watch her kids to give her a break. It was those small acts of kindness that inspired her to help others.
Before letting her go, I asked Carter some fun questions about her favorite military base and military family perks. She has “a special place in her heart for Germany” as this is the second time that her family has been stationed here. Carter also said that the greatest benefit was “really the people you get to meet along the way.”
Read Carter’s full profile on the AFI MSOY website.
