Jeremy Hilton, the 2012 Military Spouse of the Year, with his wife, Air Force Lt. Col. Renae Hilton, and their children, Jack and Kate. (Photo courtesy of Military Spouse Magazine)

You might call Jeremy Hilton the ultimate juggler. After Military Spouse Magazine presented him with the 2012 Military Spouse of the Year award — the first presented to a male — he’s balanced advocating for military families impacted by disabilities with being a full-time dad to his children Kate, 9, and Jack, 2, while his wife, Lt. Col. Renae Hilton, serves on active duty in the Air Force. Hilton retired from the Navy nine years ago to care for his daughter when she was diagnosed with a condition that caused significant brain damage. Yet despite these challenges, Hilton keeps resilient by recognizing the important role he has in serving our nation by being a military spouse and dad.

With Father’s Day approaching, we asked Hilton how he copes with the tough transitions of military life and reaches out to other military spouses — some just like him.

How has your life changed since receiving the Military Spouse of the Year Award?

This award opens a lot of opportunities — it gives you that extra bit of “oomph” to make people listen to your issues. I’ve recently met [retired] Navy Adm. Mike Mullen [former chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff] at an American Red Cross event. When I gave him my card he said, “Hmmm … tell me about that.” Being a guy with this award is unique enough for people to really open up to you.

Five military children were honored for their resilience, strength of character and leadership during Operation Homefront’s 2011 Military Child of the Year award ceremony in Arlington, Va., April 7, 2011. (DoD photo by Elaine Sanchez)

Five outstanding military children were the recipients of the Military Child of the Year® Award April 7 in Washington, D.C. Operation Homefront, an organization that provides emergency financial and other assistance to the families of service members and wounded warriors, awarded a military child from each service for their courage and service to their communities.

First Lady Michelle Obama honored Nicole Goetz, Taylor Dahl-Sims, Kyle Hoeye, Margaret Rochon and Melissa Howland for finding a need in their community and then doing something about it. From volunteering their time to help pregnant military spouses, sending care packages and videos to troops overseas to hosting a seminar for teachers about the effects of post-traumatic stress disorder on military families, these kids are selflessly making a difference in the lives of the people around them.

Photo courtesy of U.S. Army.

The Apps for the Army (A4A) competition recently announced the winners for their first internal applications-development challenge, and DCoE’s National Center for Telehealth and Technology (T2) won gold in the morale, welfare and recreation category for their Telehealth Mood Tracker mobile application.

“We want to accommodate the military’s psychological health needs with 21st century technologies,” said Dr. Greg Gahm, director of T2. “Creating tools for wellness requires a working commitment between the psychologists and the technology specialists. I am proud of the T2 team for their accomplishment in the Apps for the Army challenge and their desire to support the military community with innovative and adaptive technologies.”

T2 MoodTracker allows service members to track their moods. Users can self-monitor their mood variations daily, weekly, monthly or even from hour to hour, which helps service members understand the impact of stress and common emotional reactions that follow a deployment.

Service members track their moods on a touch screen using a visual analogue scale which allows users to choose a point on a color continuum to reflect their current emotions, such as feelings of sadness, depression, anxiety or stress.

The application also has the capacity to store information which is helpful for service members who want to be able to share their information with a health care provider.

According to Dr. Robert Ciulla, psychologist and division lead, T2 MoodTracker is one of the initial tools in a series of mobile applications under development. “T2 recognizes the need to craft tools that are quickly accessed, self-paced and support confidential use,” said Ciulla.