In lieu of submitting essays for my project, I am “interviewing friends”, and friends of friends. The interviews are then transcribed and either used as full essays, or broken into smaller contributions to be used in appropriate sections of the project.
My list of interview questions here is my STARTING POINT when I’m talking with other people. These questions help me to better understand the person I’m interviewing, their experiences and what they have learned as military spouses. I may start asking someone basic questions, learn something FASCINATING about them, and then branch off into a different line of questions.
Example (if someone were to interview me):
Sally Interviewer: “Chaotic Mom, how did you meet your husband?”
Chaotic Mom: “I met him after I dropped out of college. I left Michigan and was visiting a friend in Georgia. Spouse-to-be was on a Ranger School break. When my friend’s husband knew someone from college who was going through Ranger School, we helped them and their buddies during their break between phases.”
SI: “Wow, I don’t hear that often, the old ‘Met Him While He Was in Ranger School’ story. Did you two write to each other? Did you see him after Ranger School?”
CM: “No, we didn’t write to each other. He was engaged to someone else at that time.”
SI: “Tell me more…”
CM: Then I give the quick version of how they didn’t work out, we caught back up with each other, I was going to visit him again. The Army had other plans, though, and he ended up in Saudia Arabia before I could visit him. Our courtship and engagement was a long distance affair.
SI (back to list of questions): “Okay, you are married to your Soldier now. What expectations did you have as a new Army spouse?” and “What did you find exciting/scary?”
I sure have some fun stories to tell! What I find interesting, though, is that most people I know also have very fascinating stories to share. By asking these basic questions, then digging deeper at certain points, I am working to draw out these stories. My goal in this project is to share these stories and “lessons learned” with other spouses who may someday follow in our footsteps.
Reading through these essay questions may help you with ideas for your own essay. Remember that these are basic questions, helping you to think about your story, and topics you may like to address in your essay(s). I can’t wait to read what you have to share!
Questions:
How did you meet your Army spouse?
- Were you in the military?
- Did your family have any military background?
What were your expectations of Army life when you were first married?
- Were you excited? Did you have any fears or apprehension?
- Did you buy any books re: military life?
- What advice did you receive from others?
- Did you ever feel alone? Did you reach out to others, and did others reach out to you? How?
- Did you move far from home? How did you prepare for this move? How did you feel and cope?
- What does your family think about the military and your life as a military spouse?
What was your first military FUNction?
- What were your first impressions of military social functions?
- In what other functions have you participated since then?
- What have you learned? Who have you met? Have you made friends at these activities?
- What advice would you give to a new Army spouse re: military FUNctions?
How do you prepare for readiness as a military family?
- Do you volunteer in your unit Family Readiness Group? If so--how? If not--why not?
- Does your family face special challenges as a military family? How do you prepare for these challenges?
- Do you have children? How do you prepare them for moves? For deployment?
- How do you stay connected to your spouse while he/she is training/deployed?
- What have you learned as a military spouse—what keeps you strong?
- What traditions do you keep up as a military family, through all of the changes and moves?
- What would you do differently, now that you’ve lived a few years as a military spouse?
Have you participated in unit Family Readiness Groups? Coffee groups? Hail and Farewells? Spouse clubs?
- What roles have you played within these groups?
- What have you learned through participation in these groups/activities?
- Have you formed bonds w/others through these activities?
Tell me a little about your military moves.
- How many have you had, in how many years?
- Which was your favorite/worst move?
- Have you lived in military housing? If not, why? If so, what did you like/dislike?
What are some of your fondest memories as a military spouse?
What are some of the mistakes you have made? What you would do differently in the future? Keep positive. You can mention the tough times, but don’t be negative regarding other specific people. The focus is on what you’ve learned and would like to share w/others who may be in the same position someday.
If your son/daughter/best friend was going to marry an Army soldier, what advice would you give them?
