{"id":441727,"date":"2025-05-09T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2025-05-09T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/?p=441727"},"modified":"2025-05-10T15:13:24","modified_gmt":"2025-05-10T15:13:24","slug":"national-guard-spouse-highlights-strength-of-family-support-during-maine-visit","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/?p=441727","title":{"rendered":"National Guard Spouse Highlights Strength of Family Support During Maine Visit"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n
\n
\n
\n <\/p>\n

<\/a>
\n
\n <\/span>
\n <\/span>
\n
\n <\/span>
\n <\/span>
\n <\/span>
\n <\/span>

\n 1 \/ 3<\/span>
\n
\n Show Caption +<\/span>
\n Hide Caption \u2013<\/span>
\n <\/span>
\n
\n
\n Karen\u202fRaines, spouse of Senior Enlisted Advisor\u202fJohn\u202fRaines, the senior enlisted advisor to the chief of the National Guard Bureau, meets with family\u2011readiness volunteers at Joint Force Headquarters\u202f\u2011\u202fMaine, April\u202f30,\u202f2025. Raines visited Maine Army and Air National Guard units April\u202f30\u2011May\u202f5 to highlight programs that strengthen connection, resilience and care for Guard families.\u202f
\n (Photo Credit: Airman 1st Class Bridget Rossignol)<\/span>
\n <\/span>
\n VIEW ORIGINAL<\/a>
\n <\/span>
\n <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\n
\n
\n
\n \"Karen\u202fRaines,
\n <\/a>
\n
\n <\/span>
\n <\/span>
\n
\n <\/span>
\n <\/span>
\n <\/span>
\n <\/span>
\n 2 \/ 3<\/span>
\n
\n Show Caption +<\/span>
\n Hide Caption \u2013<\/span>
\n <\/span>
\n
\n
\n Karen\u202fRaines, spouse of Senior Enlisted Advisor\u202fJohn\u202fRaines, the senior enlisted advisor to the chief of the National Guard Bureau, meets with family\u2011readiness volunteers at Joint Force Headquarters\u202f\u2011\u202fMaine, April\u202f30,\u202f2025. Raines visited Maine Army and Air National Guard units April\u202f30\u2011May\u202f5 to highlight programs that strengthen connection, resilience and care for Guard families.
\n (Photo Credit: Airman 1st Class Bridget Rossignol)<\/span>
\n <\/span>
\n VIEW ORIGINAL<\/a>
\n <\/span>
\n <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\n
\n
\n
\n \"Karen\u202fRaines,
\n <\/a>
\n
\n <\/span>
\n <\/span>
\n
\n <\/span>
\n <\/span>
\n <\/span>
\n <\/span>
\n 3 \/ 3<\/span>
\n
\n Show Caption +<\/span>
\n Hide Caption \u2013<\/span>
\n <\/span>
\n
\n
\n Karen\u202fRaines, spouse of Senior Enlisted Advisor\u202fJohn\u202fRaines, the senior enlisted advisor to the chief of the National Guard Bureau, meets with family\u2011readiness volunteers at Joint Force Headquarters\u202f\u2011\u202fMaine, April\u202f30,\u202f2025. Raines visited Maine Army and Air National Guard units April\u202f30\u2011May\u202f5 to highlight programs that strengthen connection, resilience and care for Guard families.
\n (Photo Credit: Airman 1st Class Bridget Rossignol)<\/span>
\n <\/span>
\n VIEW ORIGINAL<\/a>
\n <\/span>
\n <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

AUGUSTA, Maine \u2013 Karen Raines, spouse of Senior Enlisted Advisor John Raines, SEA to the chief of the National Guard Bureau, engaged with Maine Army and Air National Guard units here during a visit April 30 to May 5.<\/p>\n

Her trip focused on connecting with family readiness teams and community support personnel, emphasizing the critical role of connection, resilience and care in strengthening the Guard family.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis was my first official visit in this role, and it was refreshing to see how closely the Army and Air Guard work together in Maine,\u201d Karen said. \u201cTheir collaboration and commitment to families, survivors and veterans is inspiring.\u201d<\/p>\n

Karen has been a military spouse throughout her husband\u2019s 36-year career, including his previous role as the command sergeant major of the Army National Guard. She has served as a key spouse at each stage of his nominative leadership journey, providing critical support to military families along the way.<\/p>\n

During the visit, Karen engaged with staff and volunteers supporting a range of programs\u2014from youth camps for military children to survivor outreach services. She noted the state\u2019s comprehensive efforts to support families from enlistment through retirement and beyond.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey\u2019re not just focused on the service member\u2019s time in uniform,\u201d Raines said. \u201cThey\u2019re following through, ensuring veterans have access to education, employment assistance and support even after they\u2019ve hung up the uniform.\u201d<\/p>\n

Karen also highlighted solo parenting as an area where Maine\u2019s programs are evolving.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s encouraging to see childcare solutions being explored for single parents. That kind of support matters deeply for family readiness,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Maine\u2019s focus on family readiness aligns closely with the work of local leaders like Madison Thompson, the risk reduction coordinator for the Maine Army National Guard, whom Karen met with during her visit.<\/p>\n

Thompson, alongside her colleague Meaddoe Brown, the substance abuse prevention coordinator, helps lead suicide prevention and substance use prevention efforts across the state, delivering training and managing case support for at-risk service members.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was lovely to meet [Karen],\u201d Thompson said. \u201cShe was genuinely interested in our work and asked how she could help. It\u2019s encouraging to know that someone in her position wants to understand the programs on the ground and advocate for what we need.\u201d<\/p>\n

At each stop, Karen continued to encourage spouses and families to get involved, particularly those who may be hesitant to take that first step.<\/p>\n

\u201cBeing present is powerful,\u201d she said. \u201cEven if you don\u2019t know everything about military life, showing up helps you learn, connect and grow. The military family is a strong support network\u2014you just have to take that first step.\u201d<\/p>\n

As she continues visiting states in support of the Guard\u2019s mission, Karen said Maine is a model of collaboration and care for other states.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re all here for each other,\u201d Karen said. \u201cThat one-ness\u2014the commitment to looking out for every Airman, Soldier and family member\u2014makes the Guard stronger.\u201d<\/p>\n

http:\/\/www.nationalguard.mil<\/a><\/p>\n

https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/TheNationalGuard<\/a><\/p>\n

https:\/\/x.com\/USNationalGuard<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

1 \/ 3 Show Caption + Hide Caption \u2013 Karen\u202fRaines, spouse of Senior Enlisted Advisor\u202fJohn\u202fRaines, the senior enlisted advisor to the chief of the National Guard Bureau, meets with family\u2011readiness volunteers at Joint Force Headquarters\u202f\u2011\u202fMaine, April\u202f30,\u202f2025. Raines visited Maine Army and Air National Guard units April\u202f30\u2011May\u202f5 to highlight programs that strengthen connection, resilience and care […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":441729,"comment_status":"close","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-441727","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/441727","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=441727"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/441727\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":441733,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/441727\/revisions\/441733"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/441729"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=441727"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=441727"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=441727"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}