Nominee Eligibility

A nominee must be the spouse of a current member of the U.S. Armed Forces (U.S. Air Force, U.S. Army, U.S. Coast Guard, U.S. Marine Corps, U.S. Navy, or National Guard).

Reserve military spouses are eligible if their servicemember has been activated for more than 180 days. 

Nominations

Military Spouse magazine encourages both the military community as well as all Americans to consider nominating their friends, relatives, neighbors or colleagues for this prestigious honor. Military spouses can also self-nominate.

Nominations are collected and then organized at an installation level (district for the Coast Guard and state for the National Guard). Three rounds of voting occur: an installation vote, a branch vote, and a national vote. Installation winners advance to the branch round. The branch level voting leads to the selection of six Spouses of the Year (SOYs): Air Force, Army, Coast Guard, Marines, Navy, and National Guard. The national winner is selected based on the highest combined score derived from both the popular vote and judges' panel.

Voting

There will be three separate votes that occur. Each vote will occur over a one day period. As with nominations, all Americans are invited to submit a single vote during a 24 hour period. Please consult the timeline to see voting days.

Round 1: Installation Voting

Nominations are collected and organized at the base level (district for Coast Guard and state for National Guard). The nominee with the highest popular vote at each base, district, or state will be the respective winner and advance to the branch voting round. To accommodate spouses who are not currently attached to a base (e.g. assigned to an embassy overseas), there will be a separate unaffiliated category. The nominee with the highest number of votes for his/her respective branch within this category will be eligible for the branch round. In the event an installation does not receive any votes for its candidates, that installation will not have a candidate for the branch round.

Round 2: Branch Voting

Nominees who have won their respective base, district, or state will be candidates for the branch round of voting. National candidates will be selected based on the highest combined score derived from both the popular vote and judges' panel. Please reference the table below for specific breakdown.

Round 3: National Voting

National candidates will advance to the third and final round of voting. The Branch Spouse of the Year (Air Force, Army, Coast Guard, Marine Corps, Navy, and National Guard) and Military Spouse of the Year® will be selected based on the highest combined score derived from both the national vote and judges' panel.  The overall Military Spouse of the Year® will not be announced until Thursday, May 9th at the program's awards luncheon.  Please reference the table below for specific breakdown.

Military Spouse carefully reviews the votes and their respective sources.  In the event that there are signals of anomalous activity or fraudulent voting, Military Spouse  reserves the right to revoke a candidate's victory.

Selection Process

The judges' panel includes individuals from the following organizations:

• Military Spouse magazine

• Armed Forces Insurance

• Joint Chiefs of Staff spouses

• Military Spouse of the Year® predecessors

The judges' panel uses a scorecard that consists of criteria used for selecting the recipient to include: impact on community change, volunteer efforts, personal sacrifice, professional pursuits, goals, and specific efforts to support the military community.

Branch Vote Weighting

At the branch level, the popular vote is adjusted by base population (branch round) to ensure that a candidate from a larger installation does not have an unfair advantage.

National Vote Weighting

Victory Media, Inc. and Military Spouse magazine reserve the right to make changes to these policies at any time or to remove a candidate who violates any terms without notice. Any deliberate misrepresentations by either the nominee or the person nominating will result in immediate disqualification for two entire award cycles for both or either parties.  

For participant guidelines and rules, please click here.