Personal Narrative: An Interview With A Military Family

The second person I chose to interview for my report is my best friend, Ashley Titus. Her husband has been in the military for 12 years and together they have moved 4 times with their 2 children. When I asked her what are the most pressing needs of the military community are she paused and said, “More money.” After we laughed and told a few jokes she gave her actual answer, she said the biggest need was better housing for soldiers and their families. With the average military family moving approximately every 3 years, the majority of military families chose to live on post rather than dealing with overpriced rentals and the worry of moving into an unknown neighborhood. The problem with living on post has become the quality of the homes.
The biggest reason why Ashley thought this was important was because it has begun to affect her family’s health and well-being. During this question she started telling me all the problems she has encountered while living in on-post housing over the past 12 years. The biggest problem she said encountered was mold at Joint Base Lewis-McChord in WA. In the home she lived in for 5 years, her family lived with mold, causing her oldest daughter to develop breathing problems. The mold was in the bathrooms and under the flooring
The best way to better the quality of the home is to properly maintain them. She said if the carpets in her home in WA would’ve been replaced when the mold was discovered instead of just cleaned, the mold may not spread throughout the home. Another idea she brought up was to knock down the older home that are beyond repair, instead of just letting them sit vacant. This would free up much needed space to build new homes that families could safely live in. New homes would cost money upfront in the budget, but if maintained properly, they could benefit families for years to