Women’s History Month: Amanda Huffman

Photo By Diana Nesukh | After six years of service, Amanda Huffman separated from the Air Force to become a...... read more read more

Photo By Diana Nesukh | After six years of service, Amanda Huffman separated from the Air Force to become a full-time mom and support her husband in the military. While navigating her transition, she discovered a love for writing and connecting with other women who were civil engineers.  see less | View Image Page

WASHINGTON DC, DC, UNITED STATES

03.28.2023

Story by Wood Francois and Diana Nesukh

Headquarters Air Force, Office of the Director of Civil Engineers

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Service has always been the defining aspect of Amanda Huffman's life. When the country needed her in its darkest moment, she answered the call to serve and defend. Sacrifice is something Amanda has come to know personally, and it has taken many forms in her life, both in the military and she left the military.

Like most Airmen who joined the Air Force after the September 11th attacks, Huffman had no doubt in her mind that she wanted to defend her country. As a first-generation Air Force officer, she had to navigate the recruitment process on her own. While attending Fresno Community College, Huffman was majoring in Mathematics. Hungry for more, she started entertaining the thought of enlisting in the Air National Guard. After talking to a friend and mentor, she was instead encouraged to enroll in the Air Force ROTC program. After a quick visit to an Air Force ROTC open house at California State University, Fresno, she contacted a program representative to enroll. "I wanted to stay in school, but I did not know that was an option," said Huffman. By being able to earn her degree and simultaneously join the Air Force, Huffman was setting a foundation that would transform her entire life.

Huffman was deployed to Afghanistan alongside the U.S. Army on a Provincial Reconstruction Team in 2010. She was attached to an infantry unit performing convoy operations. An eye-opening experience, Huffman was pushed outside of her comfort zone and had to adjust to a new environment. However, not all the challenges she was presented with were easy to overcome. Every time Huffman found herself at a crossroads, she would recall the words her commander told her: "When you come to a great chasm in life, jump, it’s not that far." Those words spoke volumes to Huffman. "Every time I had to do something for the first time, including going off base or navigating tight spots, I would just say to myself, jump, it’s not that far," Huffman said.

One of the most significant challenges for her unit was sustainment, as they had to deal with different construction projects while lacking the necessary tools for daily tasks. Huffman often improvised with the materials she had on hand in order to find possible solutions. "We were coming up with new ways to be creative and help the Afghan people," Huffman explained. Afghanistan challenged Huffman and pushed her to rethink what it meant to be a civil engineer. No matter the roadblocks, she would complete every project she began, and it was this mentality that earned her the Bronze Star Medal. She was also awarded an Air Force Combat Action Medal for being in combat on a mission off base to inspect a school. After her deployment to Afghanistan, she was stationed at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio, working at AFMC Headquarters on energy management.

After six years in the Air Force, Huffman left the military as a captain. With a magnitude of experiences and accolades, leaving the military and adjusting to civilian life was a difficult transition for Huffman. As she closed the door on her Air Force career, she opened a new door as a military wife to her husband in the Air Force and a mother to a four-month-old baby.

"I left the military, my husband was gone for training, and I had just had a baby” Huffman explained. “I didn’t have a strong support network and I ended up having to rely on my parents who were living in California while I was still in Ohio."

While her family helped as much as they could, Huffman recognized how little she was aware of military resources that could have helped her through her transition. What she would embark on next would not only help her cope with the drastic changes she experienced post-military service but would become a safe haven for other women going through the same thing.

By combining her passion for writing and searching for community, Huffman created a blog titled, Airman to Mom. The inspiration for her blog came from participating in a segment called Five-Minute-Friday on another blog. The segment became a therapeutic hobby for Huffman as it gave her an avenue to discuss her experiences in the military and as a new mother with writing.

"When I started my blog, I initially had no focus. I talked about natural birth, traveling, and motherhood, but I began to notice people were always interested when I wrote about my military experience. That is what led me to eventually focus on military women," Huffman explained.

In 2017, when she decided to do a series on deployment, she was surprised by the response. Responses started pouring in from women who served in different military branches and answered questions about their deployment experiences. Seeing the positive initial interaction, Huffman wanted to incorporate more women and ensure everyone’s experiences were represented.

"I did outreach calls and utilized different Facebook groups to get more stories," Huffman said.

It was clear that Airman to Mom was more than a blog; it was a safe community that allowed different women to share their stories.

Huffman found herself once again utilizing the creativity and innovation she learned as a civil engineer for the benefit of others without even realizing it.

"At first, I did not know about women in the military. I just wanted women to have a place to share their experience in the military. That is why I started the Women of the Military podcast. However, after I started to connect and share the stories of women, I learned about the important history and role women have played in serving and advancing the U.S. military since the Revolutionary War," Huffman said.

Reflecting on her own experience, Huffman is thrilled to be a resource she never had by helping others to ease the transition from military to civilian life. In addition to her blog and podcast becoming a transparent resource helping other women, Huffman also wrote a book for young women who are considering joining the military and don’t know who to talk to or what questions to ask.

Today, Huffman still serves and supports her country. She works to share the stories of women who have served in her podcast, Women of the Military. Highlighting the stories of military women past and present to help inspire the next generation of military women.