Military Spouse of the Year honors go to enlisted Marine Corps wife

Marine Corps spouse Natasha Harth earned a top award: Military Spouse of the Year during the 9th annual Military Spouse of the Year ceremony May 5 at the Fort Myer Officers' Club on the Fort Myer portion of Joint Base Myer-Henderson Hall.

Harth, who will soon launch a 501(c) 3 charity to support the homeless in Washington, D.C., is no stranger to advocating for the less fortunate. For over a decade, Harth contributed her own time and money to provide resources for underprivileged schools and families beyond the boundaries of military installations, according to the June edition of Military Spouse Magazine; of which Harth and her husband, U.S. Marine Corps Gunnery Sgt. Patrick Harth, graced the cover.

The edition details Harth's passion and community service, a commitment she explained during her acceptance speech at the MSOY ceremony.

"Don't ever think you're not enough to make a difference," Harth said to the audience as she held back tears after her name and poster-sized magazine cover were revealed to hundreds of attendees. "Whatever your passion is, there's going to be people that are willing to help you, lift you up and make those necessary connections and they are going to want to be part of your village. Don't ever let your own self-doubt and your own fear of failure get in the way."

"This [award] is dedicated to superb military spouses who have contributed so much to support their military family and their respective service branch," said retired U.S. Marine Corps Lt. Gen. Garry Parks. "With our nation at war during much of the 21st century the modern day military spouse has been an unsung hero, and beyond any doubt our nation's military families are much stronger today due to the incredible contribution of the military spouse."

One such example can be found in last year's MSOY winner, Corie Weathers. The Army spouse wrote a book, advocated for mental health issues such as PTSD, grief, and military marriages, and served as a correspondent for print and digital publications both stateside and overseas. She also traveled with U.S. Secretary of Defense Ashton Carter to Turkey, Iraq and Afghanistan to speak directly to troops deployed, something a military spouse rarely gets to experience, Parks said.

"It has been an overwhelming blessing of opportunities, expanding influence--and breaking through a ceiling that I couldn't have done on my own," Weathers said. But the licensed therapist and counselor, her husband, U.S. Army Chap. (Capt.) Matthew Weathers' role. "He has remained my strategic war gamer, my accountability, the guard at the door of my heart, my speechwriter, editor, coach, best friend and the strength that inspires me," said Weathers.

"Because we are military spouses--we're resilient, we're strong and we're amazing," the newly minted MSOY Harth added.

Individual MSOY branch winners, representing an estimated 1.1 million military spouses combined, were:

Army: Dave Etter, U.S. Army Garrison Kaiserslautern, Germany

Marine Corps: Natasha Harth, Marine Barracks Washington, District of Columbia

Navy: Lindsay Bradford, Naval Station Newport, Rhode Island

Air Force: Michelle Aikman, Fairchild Air Force Base, Spokane, Washington

Coast Guard: Jennifer Mullen, U.S. Coast Guard First District Boston, Massachusetts

National Guard: Cara Loken, Nebraska National Guard

Pentagram Staff Writer Arthur Mondale can be reached at awright@dcmilitary.com.