Army Wife Network CoFounder Retires, Names New Owner

Nov. 16, 2015 - PRLog -- Bartonville, TX – Nov 16, 2015 – In an untraditional business manner, Army Wife Network (AWN), the leading site for Army wives by Army wives, announced the hunt for a military spouse owner or “adoptee” of their community in early October 2015. AWN is proud to welcome Crystal Niehoff as the new owner of Army Wife Network.  Crystal currently serves AWN in the role of Social Media Coordinator and directly supports AWN’s mission of providing relevant resources, information, and expert advice in various online media.

Crystal, an Army chaplain’s wife and mother of five, discovered Army Wife Network in 2012, crediting AWN with an empowering start to her Army journey.  Crystal is passionate about volunteering, giving her time to PWOC (Protestant Women of the Chapel), the Patriot Spouses’ Club, PTA, Operation Homefront, and Now I Lay Me down to Sleep.  Crystal originally reached out to AWN mid-2015 to serve as an Experience Contributor on the blog.

A former child welfare worker, Crystal is also a certified doula, and birth and bereavement chaplain.  She has written articles for several organizations and websites on parenting, foster care and adoption; developed workshop curriculum for single parent soldiers, and presented parenting workshops to soldiers and spouses.  Crystal is also a contributing author of From Reveille to Retreat, the Journey of a Lifetime:  A Handbook for the Army Chaplain’s Spouse, published by the U. S. Army in 2015.

“My heart is to serve and support our military families who have sacrificed so greatly for our country.  I am beyond thrilled to be the one to carry the AWN mission into this exciting new chapter, with a vision for providing even more opportunities that will engage, equip and empower Army wives,”  says Niehoff.

Tara Crooks, cofounder of AWN and the owner of Army Wife Network, LLC, will retire in December but intends to remain as a volunteer advisor for the community. Crooks founded Army Wife Talk Radio in April of 2005 on a whim during her husband’s first deployment. Tara realized through the creation of her blog Loving A Soldier (LAS), that her experiences and need for resources was a common thread of military life.  Soon, what started out as a fun “hobby” grew in popularity and took on a life of its own.

In 2006, Crooks partnered with Star Henderson to create Field Problems™ and Field Exercise™. In April 2009 the pair launched Army Wife Network as the umbrella that joined what was previously known as the websites of Army Wife Talk Radio (AWTR) and Field Problems™ (FP).

The show/site has been featured in Military Spouse Magazine, Stars & Stripes Newspaper, Military.com, and Army.com, to name a few. Crooks has been featured in the national news circuit on the FOX REPORT and even been called the “Oprah of the Armed Forces” by CBS Evening News Anchor Katie Couric. Tara holds the distinction as one of Military Spouse Magazine’s “Who’s Who Among Military Spouses” for 2009 and she was named the American Legion Auxiliary “Woman of the Year 2008”. In May 2013 Tara was honored as the Armed Forces Insurance™ Army Spouse of the Year. Her most precious contribution, and what she hopes is her legacy to the military community, is the publishing of the book 1001 Things To Love About Military Life.

“This journey has been amazing. There have been ups and downs, twists and turns, tears, elbow grease, and jubilation; but with every moment came a lesson – YOU are responsible for your own journey. When I “grew up” my plans were never to be an Army wife, the host of a radio show, an author/blogger, or a business owner. I fell in love with a soldier and then in turn, with a community.”

Crooks leaves the network in the hands of the AWN Core Team led by Niehoff. “This empowering network is will be adopted by one of our own community. There is no better feeling to leave someone at the helm that cares as much as you do,” Crooks said. She continued, “It has been my honor to have served Army families for the past ten years. I cannot wait to see what the future holds for AWN or for my family’s next chapter.

About Army Wife Network

Army Wife Network (AWN) was opened in April 2009 as the umbrella that joined what was previously known as Army Wife Talk Radio (AWTR), Field Problems™ (FP), and Loving A Soldier (LAS) blog. The website, powered completely by volunteer passion, features Field Exercise™ events, AWTR podcast, expert columnists features, experienced military family member stories, YouTube Resource videos, military shopping links, resource database, post reviews and directory, mobile app, and social media galore!

For more information, contact Crystal Niehoff at Crystal@ArmyWifeNetwork.com.
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