057 : Group Captain Toria McPhaden

Hello you wonderful lot,

I hope you are well, no matter where you find yourself in the world. It always astounds me when I check the stats on the podcast how many of you are listening, here in the UK and further afield. It’s great to see how these inspirational stories are being spread across the world and hopefully helping you feel a little bit more positive in your military life.

Last week I felt especially honoured to talk at the International Military Spouse Virtual Employment Summit – showcasing military spouses, partners and other-halves in business and learning from other armed forces partners from across the globe. It was a wonderful event and really did highlight the challenges but in equal measure the people from our own community stepping up to support us all. I came away with a new sense that our voices really are being heard on a global stage, and a new hope that military families will now be part of the conversation. Something we can all work towards in our own ways.

A charity that has always known how important military families are is the RBL, who are sponsoring this series.

The RBL know that families are the most important support structure within the serving community. But time spent apart during exercises and operations has its challenges and can strain any relationship. As the UK’s largest Armed Forces charity, the RBL works with its partners to support us when we need a bit of support ourselves. They are here for us 365 days a year, even if it’s just for a phone call to talk to a friendly voice. Head over to rbl.org.uk for more info.

We all know how busy military life can be, but I’ve always been keen to know what life is like when both partners are serving. Today’s interview is with Group Captain Toria McPhaden. Toria is the Station Commander at RAF Northolt and is also married to a serving officer.

In this interview we talk about how that works, and if life as a female officer is any different to the boys! I hope you enjoy this episode of The InDependent Spouse.

Last series I spoke to the lovely Chris Keen on how life as a military husband was, so it’s great to hear the other side, and these interviews go so well hand-in hand together so I would recommend you checking out that episode too.