AFI Military Spouse of the Year 2024 Stuttgart Base Winner, Kaitlyn Avello (Kaitlyn Avello)
“I really believe in empowering others…. I wanted to figure out, could I take my professional background and do something positive with it?”
— USAG Stuttgart AFI MSOY, Kaitlyn Avello, 2024
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 2024. This year in Germany, four military spouses won at the base level for USAG Rheinland-Pfalz, USAG Stuttgart, USAG Wiesbaden and Ramstein Air Base. I had the pleasure of talking to USAG Stuttgart, Kaitlyn Avello, and she told me a little about herself and her platform.
Kaitlyn has a background in Occupational Therapy and has been a military spouse for four years. She met her wife at Joint Base Lewis-McCord (JBLM) in Washington state and advocates for inclusivity. As a military spouse with no kids, married to another woman, and generally older than many other military spouses, Kaitlyn has experienced feelings of isolation in the military community, especially abroad:
“I moved to Germany, and I did not have a job. So, I jumped right in and started volunteering and that is where I was really introduced to the big Army world. And that is [also] where I started to feel isolated. I was living in a very rural community and didn’t have a car. Operation Ukraine started and my wife was gone all the time, and I didn’t know what to do. So, I jumped into my community, and I realized that it wasn’t always comfortable, but it was up to me to make that change.”
— Kaitlyn Avello, 2024
Before moving to Stuttgart 15 months ago, Kaitlyn started volunteering with the Bavaria Community Spouses’ Club as their thrift shop liaison. Upon moving to Stuttgart, she became the Thrift Store Vice President, and she currently serves as the President of the Stuttgart Community Spouses’ Club. She also volunteers with Americans Working Around the Globe (AWAG)
Before letting her go, I asked Kaitlyn some fun questions about her favorite military base and free military family perks. Her favorite base is JBLM because that is where she met her wife and where she says, “my story started.” When asked about her favorite military-related perk, she loves the MWR Library access and the usage of the Libby app.
You can read Kaitlyn’s full profile on the AFI MSOY website here.
Listen to Kaitlyn talk about her platform, her work with AWAG and her community, and changing the stereotype of what a military spouse looks like here:
To learn more about the Libby app, click here.
To learn more about the MWR Library and their free resources, click here.
