Military Spouse Pours Heart Into Making Those Like Her Feel Loved
Through each one of her 650 volunteer hours with Operation Homefront in 2024, Kati Calhoun knew why she was giving her time to military families.
“I have lived the military spouse life, and I have lived all the pieces of it,” said Kati, an Air Force spouse for more than 20 years. “I love giving back to those who serve and those who appreciate it. It’s my why and my passion in life.”
Military life was unfamiliar to Kati, but she got a quick immersion. Her husband, Cliff, left for Korea just two weeks after they married. He was gone for 13 months and, later, had to get command approval on the destination for their delayed honeymoon.
Kati has been a single mom through deployments and too many temporary duty assignments to remember. She knows the loneliness of living in a new place far from family and friends. She has struggled to stretch the family budget on the salary of a junior enlisted service member, and she has been underemployed and passed over for jobs because employers feared she would move soon.
“We don’t go into the military for a paycheck – it’s for a bigger purpose,” she said. “I want those people to feel seen and loved and appreciated.” – Kati Calhoun, Air Force spouse and Operation Homefront volunteer
Kati and Cliff opted to stay in Utah after being stationed at Hill Air Force Base. She works as vice president of marketing for Kent’s Market, a regional grocery chain. She and her husband have two daughters, 13-year-old Londyn and 6-year-old Sydney.
Cliff, a senior master sergeant who works as an aviation flight chief, transferred to the Air Force Reserve in 2008 after four years on active duty. He has deployed to the United Arab Emirates and twice to Afghanistan.
Through those deployments, Kati was mindful that strength on the home front helps service members stay mission focused. She managed alone with a newborn. She later struggled to buoy her children’s spirits when they missed their dad and allay fears when boys at school told Londyn that men who go to war don’t come home.
Now, Kati seizes every opportunity to support other military families. She first volunteered as a Key Spouse and then became a mentor with what is now the Commander’s Key Support Program. The goal of the program is to provide support, information, and resources to help families navigate all stages of military life.
Five years ago, Kati became a tireless advocate for Operation Homefront’s mission of boosting the well-being of military families to keep them strong, stable, and secure. In 2023, her work earned her Operation Homefront Volunteer of the Year honors.
At a recent Operation Homefront Star-Spangled Babies® shower in Utah, Kati gave moms her phone number and told them to call her at 2 a.m. when their baby has an earache and they need to talk.
“It’s important to do what I do and spread the advocacy because there’s nothing better than having a soft voice on the phone to vent to when you’re feeling alone and overwhelmed,” she said. “I wish somebody would have loved me like that.”
During Military Appreciation Month, Kati and her family will camp overnight in the Kent’s Market parking lot in Plain City, Utah, as they prepare for 400 military families to attend a Holiday Meals for Military® event. Not only is she the Operation Homefront volunteer team captain for the event, she also grills meat and helps oversee meal kit assembly. Her oldest daughter helps fill carts with groceries for families, carrying on a tradition of service Kati began as a child assembling meal packages with her parents.
Kati has seen the needs of military families through a personal and professional lens. When working in the housing field, she met an unhoused military veteran who returned his prosthetic legs because he feared they would be stolen from him. In the grocery business, she saw families struggling to put food on their tables.
“When I met Operation Homefront in 2020, it changed my life,” she said, adding that she values the broad support for military families.
Operation Homefront’s programs holistically address the needs of military families, from service members to spouses to children, both active duty and veterans. They cover everything from backpacks and diapers to food insecurity, emergency financial assistance, and housing.
Kati wants others to better understand military life.
“A lot of people think military members live a cushy life, and they don’t,” she said. “If you’re living off $35,000 a year, that’s below poverty level.”
In her home state of Utah, one-third of families are using food pantries, partly because military wages have not increased to match soaring costs that came with an economic boom.
Military families, she said, deserve every “thank you” we can give them.
“We don’t go into the military for a paycheck — it’s for a bigger purpose,” she said. “I want those people to feel seen and loved and appreciated.”