Babette Maxwell is the founder of Military Spouse magazine and the Military Spouse of the Year Awards program.[1][2]
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Maxwell is a fourth-generation military dependent and a Navy spouse. She has three boys aged 11, 9 and 6. As a military dependent her whole life, Maxwell has lived in three different countries and traveled to 17. She received a Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering from The University of Texas at San Antonio. She graduated from Fort Sam Houston's Robert G. Cole High School in 1989. She has worked for Navy as an HVAC engineer on the SEAWOLF and New Attack submarines, and for the Air Force doing support work for the C-5s TF-39 engine. She spent three years working for Radian International in Atsugi, Japan doing air quality testing for the now-closed down, Shinkampo Incinerator.
Babette Maxwell is the Co-Founder and Creative Officer of Military Spouse magazine.[3] Shortly after September 11, 2001, Maxwell, with no prior industry experience, founded the nation's only print publication for the over 1.1 million military spouses worldwide. In the first six months, Maxwell developed distribution and advertising to launch the premiere issue in September, 2004. The magazine revolutionized how military spouses are perceived in the national public eye and how they are treated by government offices and members of Congress. With the development of Military Spouse Friendly Employers by Military Spouse magazine, it was Maxwell's leadership of this program that helped make hiring military spouses a popular, corporate trend. The magazine covers light-hearted material as well as controversial topics and hard-hitting news features.
In 2006, Military Spouse magazine was acquired by the veteran-owned, Victory Media, Inc. based out of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, as part of the publisher's military niche market magazine lineup.
The magazine has interviewed notables such as: Alma Powell, Senator John McCain, Toby Keith, Carrie Underwood, Catherine Bell, numerous other members of Congress, Department of Defense leadership, Gary Senise, First Lady Michelle Obama, Dr. Jill Biden, former First Lady Laura Bush, and military charity founders.
Military Spouse magazine, the flagship for the entire community of 1.1 million military spouses, is credited with revolutionizing military spouse life.
The Military Spouse of the Year Awards program was developed by Babette to provide the only merit-based national award program for US military spouses. It houses five branch winners, one from each military service, and a national winner that represents the entire community nationally for a full-year. This year's winner, with the assistance of Maxwell and Military Spouse magazine, has initiated the Military Spouse Education Initiative for the advancement of education opportunities for military spouses. Of note, in 2011 The Gabby Giffords' Award for Courage and Bravery was added to the program in honor of military spouse Representative Gabrielle Giffords (D-AZ). Maxwell also added The Legislative Impact Awards to honor members of Congress who act of behalf of military families. In 2011, two were awarded to Representative Sanford Bishop (GA) and Representative Cathy McMorris-Rodgers (WA) for their work founding The Congressional Military Family Caucus.