Brian, left, and Matthew Alvarado
Brian Alvarado, husband of U.S. Navy servicemember Matthew Alvarado, has been named Armed Forces Insurance’s “Navy Spouse of the Year,” the first same-sex spouse named as a branch winner in the program’s 11-year history.
The Alvarados are stationed at Naval Base Point Loma in San Diego.
Armed Forces Insurance’s “Spouse of the Year” program is intended to honor “the dedication and sacrifices of our nation’s more than 1.1 million military spouses.” Military Spouse magazine partners with Armed Forces Insurance to recognize military spouses from all six branches of the Armed Forces who are “making a difference in their communities.”
According to a press releases from Armed Forces Insurance and Military Spouse magazine, “As a male military spouse in a same-sex, interracial marriage, Alvarado’s recognition illustrates to the world that our military community is a strong, supportive, diverse and resilient community. Like other branch winners, he was nominated for his work in the community as a U.S. naval ombudsman at Fleet Anti-Submarine Warfare Training Center and volunteer work with Hiring Our Heroes Military Spouse Professional Network.
“In his role as an ombudsman, he reports to the command leadership and acts as a liaison between the command and the families of the sailors who serve on base. He is also very passionate about his work with Hiring Our Heroes, working to improve the nationwide 16 percent unemployment rate within the military spouse community both on a local and national level.”
The press release notes that Alvarado was named the 2016 Naval Base Coronado Base Spouse of the Year, and has since “lead the conversation on equality within the military community and looks to further promote the Department of Defense’s Equality Initiatives.”
Brian Alvarado said, “It is the honor of my life to be a military spouse and to stand proudly next to my husband as he serves our great nation in the United States Navy. The work we do to lift up, support and improve the lives of our military community is a very important part of my life.
“The LGBT community fought hard for equality, both in service to our nation and for marriage equality,” he continued. “The important thing to remember is that with that equality comes the responsibility to engage, support, and give back to the military community as a whole. We are stronger together.”
As a branch winner, Alvarado now moves a step closer to being named the overall 2018 Armed Forces Insurance Military Spouse of the Year. Nominations from non-family members were accepted Jan. 2-31 across all six branches of the United States military. Through a combination of popular vote and judging panels, the nominees have been whittled down to branch winners and after a final vote conducted on March 2 the overall winner will be announced at the USO of Metropolitan Washington-Baltimore (USO-Metro) Annual Awards Dinner in Washington D.C. on May 10.
“Armed Forces Insurance has been a part of the Military Spouse of the Year program for nine years and we congratulate the amazing branch winners who are working tirelessly to make their communities better,” said Lori Simmons, chief marketing officer and vice president, Marketing & Corporate Communications at Armed Forces Insurance.
For more information visit MSOY.militaryspouse.com.
— Tammye Nash
Nowhere does this article specify that this company is NOT an agency of the The US Armed Services or the US Government. This is a mutual insurance company much like USAA. Nothing more. Their awards and recognitions are commercial in nature.
Meh
That’s rude, Kevin. Why detract from this person’s accomplishments and honors? Your comment of ‘meh’ was an apparent and lazy way of communicating your lack enthusiasm and interest? If so apathetic, why bother posting? How about get a life?
Actually, Kevin, it says it in the first sentence of the story. And then to make it clear, it’s repeated in the third sentence. But other than that, you’re right. It’s completely unclear.
“It should be noted that the insurance company which granted this award is an insurance company and not the US government. Thus it has no meaning, regardless of the stuff the recipient actually did that inspired people to nominate him. Come to think of it, why did we write this article at all? All it’s going to do is upset Kevin by suggesting that gay people can be valued members of society.”