2026 Military Child of the Year for the Space Force Feels Pride in Service
Adjusting to her family’s new normal with each of her father’s moves and deployments left Taylor Schreiner feeling hollow when she was a young child. Today, she has pride in her family’s resilience and her father’s military service as she is recognized as Operation Homefront’s 2026 Military Child of the Year® for the Space Force.
Taylor, 18, is a senior at Discovery Canyon High School in Colorado Springs, Colorado. She is the daughter of Robert and Nicole Schreiner. Nicole is a retired Air Force and Space Force civil servant. Robert is a Space Force brigadier general who has dedicated 28 years to military service. He currently serves as commander of U.S. Space Forces Northern.
Taylor is the middle of three children in the family. Her sister, Hayley, was the 2023 Military Child of the Year for the Space Force. Her brother, Nate, is a high school junior.
The Schreiner family approaches military life uniquely. Robert made permanent change of station moves on his own while Nicole and the children stayed in Colorado Springs to provide stability for the children and job continuity for Nicole.
Through Robert’s two deployments and 13 PCS moves — 10 of those during Taylor’s lifetime — the Schreiners adapted to being a family of four rather than a family of five. Collectively, his time away totals 65 months, almost a third of Taylor’s life.
Taylor remembers the tears she and her father shed when she was 6 years old and he moved to a new duty station in England. Before their goodbyes, she had thought about memorable moments that would be different without her dad: holidays, sporting events, daddy-daughter dances.
“This is the emotional turmoil that military families conceal,” she said. “We fabricate a façade to mask the hollowness seeping through our homes.”
Being a military child taught Taylor determination and adaptability at a young age. That has helped her excel on the varsity soccer team and in the rigorous curriculum at her International Baccalaureate school. She is among the top students in her class.
That determination, along with an interest in the health care field, guided Taylor’s decision to earn her Certified Nursing Assistant license at age 17.
The CNA license became a priority when she participated in a medical internship at a senior center. She noticed neglect and inadequate care of patients.
“I want to be the change that needs to be made in our healthcare system,” she said.
Taylor plans to attend the University of Wisconsin-Madison and, ultimately, become a pediatric oncologist.
“I am beyond appreciative for being raised in a military household,” she said. “These unique circumstances have shaped my outlook for the better.”
She credits her big sister with helping her understand the importance of being independent and emotionally strong.
“Hayley has inspired me to feel strong when I feel anything but,” Taylor said. “She has inspired me to learn the significance behind hard work, and above all, she has inspired me to find the beauty in our military lifestyle.”
Taylor’s hobbies include reading and traveling with her family. She enjoys soccer and takes opportunities to mentor and coach the JV team through indoor sessions. She likes spending time with friends, attending church, and participating in the Fellowship of Christian Athletes at school. She also finds time to work at Great Wolf Lodge.
She said it is important for military kids to recognize that navigating the struggles of military life makes them stronger.
“Supporting your parent in their military career is hard; adjusting to frequent moves and deployments is hard,” she said. “However, military children should learn to embrace the unique lifestyle we are living and recognize how its challenges develop us into more well-rounded individuals.”
For Taylor, sacrifice has brought insight and strength.
“Everyone in a military family feels the sacrifice,” she said. “Experiencing the emotional turmoil of my father’s absence has allowed me to recognize how I cope best when things are mentally tough, making me a stronger individual because of this exposure.”
Taylor will join other Military Child of the Year recipients in Washington, D.C., in April. The seven recipients will be honored at a gala, during which senior leaders of each branch of service will present the awards. Honorees will receive $10,000 each, a laptop computer, and other donated gifts.
Operation Homefront’s Military Child of the Year program, now in its 18th year, recognizes outstanding teens in each branch of the armed forces for criteria that include their scholarship, volunteerism, leadership, and extracurricular involvement while facing the challenges of military family life. This year marks the first time all the recipients are women.
Collectively, the seven 2026 recipients logged 4,849 volunteer hours in the 12 months before nominations. Altogether, they have experienced 35 permanent changes of station and lived through a total of 255 months of a parent being deployed.
Service/Leadership Highlights
- Health Occupations Students of America, president
- National Honor Society, officer
- Varsity soccer team and B-Elite club team, captain
- Colorado Springs Children’s Hospital, volunteer
- Certified Nursing Assistant, State of Colorado
