Every life is a road full of turns and twists that bring us to where we are meant to be.
For the Hovland family, that road was embedded in service to their country.
Darrell and Michelle Hovland met in 2005 and were married in 2009.
Darrell enlisted in the Army in November 1982 and retired in November 2004. Michelle was commissioned to ROTC in August 1982 and retired in September 2012.
She passed away on May 7 this year after a two-year battle with breast cancer, but her story and military journey carries on through those who love her.
Michelle was from Cassville, where she graduated high school. Afterward, she went to college at Missouri State University.
Through the years, she earned a bachelors and masters in education, a masters in strategic studies and a masters in counseling.
Darrell tells the story of Michelle’s military life in her honor, as well as his own.
Michele
“After she was commissioned as a Lieutenant Air Defense Artillery Officer with the Army, she got her first active duty assignment in Germany,” he said. “She was there for about four years. She came back and was promoted to captain, then she did a branch transfer and became a signal officer in the 24th Infantry Division Aviation. She was stationed in Hunter Army Airfield in Savannah, Ga.”
From there, Michelle was deployed to Operation Desert Storm/Desert Shield.
“She served in combat as a signal officer in the Gulf War from 1990-1991,” he said. “She returned and was assigned to South Korea as a Signal Company Commander in the 362 Signal Company in Korea for two years.
“When she returned, she decided to get out of the military.”
Darrell
“I grew up in New Mexico,” he said. “I didn’t have any military background. My dad worked for a phone company and was a rancher, and my mom was a teacher before she went into real estate.”
Like most ranch children in that kind of a rural area, Hovland went to the New Mexico Military Institute.
“It was there that I first thought, ‘I might want to get into the military,’” he said. “I went off to college, but I missed the military structure. I went to a reserve officer and they were offering a college bonus. I decided to join the reserves in November 1982 at Durango, Colo.”
Hovland said he had intended to go back to college after basic training, but he never did.
“I was with the last remaining portion of the 10th Mountain Infantry Division unit for about a year,” he said. “The reserve moved to Denver which was too far for me to travel, and I had a hard time finding a reserve, so I signed up for active duty in 1984.”
Hovland said with his experience, he knew what he wanted and what unit he wanted.
“I started out as Private 1st Class from June 1984 to 1987,” he said. “I joined the 1st Ranger 175th Battalion/ 75th Ranger Regiment in Savannah, Ga., but just at a different time than Michele.”
Michele
After Korea, Michele moved to California, but she continued to miss the military.
“She joined the California National Guard as a signal officer,” Hovland said. “She did a lot of things, but two things specifically had a major impact on her. She was promoted to major, and she assigned as a commandant of the Angel Gate Academy in California.
“They take in inner city kids that are in trouble and try to get them on the right path,” Hovland said.
He said Michele found her passion in working with children.
“For her, it was an honor to be selected for that position,” he said. “She did that for 2-3 years. After that, she worked for the California National Guard from 1994-1999.”
In 1999, she moved back to Missouri to her farm.
“She always had that passion for working with kids and she wanted to start a kids camp,” Hovland said. “When she moved back to Missouri she became Lieutenant Colonel in the Missouri National Guard, and also a ROTC instructor at the University of Arkansas. Then, she became the 135th Signal Battalion Commander, the headquarters were in St. Joseph.”
In 2004, Michele had a daughter, Charley.
“In 2006, she was promoted to Colonel and was assigned the first female Brigade Commander in the Missouri National Guard,” Hovland said. “She was also selected to be the first Missouri National Guard female to attend the U.S. Army War College residents course.”
Darrell
Hovland was in Savannah, Ga., from 1984-1987.
“Then, I went to a Special Forces qualification course in Fort Bragg, N.C.,” he said. “I was a sergeant, but after the course my job title was a special forces engineer sergeant. “From Fort Bragg, I was assigned to the 5th Special Forces group in Fort Campbell, Kent. I reported there in May 1988.”
Hovland worked his way up to Sergeant First Class, then he applied to attend the warrant officer candidate school.
“I was appointed as a special forces warrant officer in August 1994,” he said. “I worked as an assistant detachment commander until I worked my way up to a chief warrant officer third class.” In 2004, Hovland retired from the 5th Special Forces Group.
“I thoroughly enjoyed being in the military and in special operations,” he said. “However, it did take me away from my family and away from home. “I was married and I have a son. My son was born one month premature. He was born with a lot of issues he had to overcome.”
In 2000, when his son was 10 years old, his mother passed away.
“I was still in active duty, and now I was a single dad,” he said. “It was difficult. I think that really influenced me to retire.
“I did deploy to Afghanistan when that war broke out.” Hovland said he isn’t sure what his big take away from military life is, but it did influence his relationship with Michele.
Michele
Hovland said Michele accomplished a lot of firsts as a female in the Missouri National Guard.
“It is a big deal,” he said. “She was selected as the brigade commander in early 2007, I believe. She did that for two years, and in 2008, there were bad floods on the Mississippi River. She was tasked with helping to save those towns on the Missouri side of the river. She deployed several of her military police battalion down to the affected areas of Hurricane Katrina.
“In addition, in 2008, Michele started a counseling program at Missouri State University. Then, she went to the U.S. Army War College in June 2009 in Carlisle Pennsylvania. That is where we spent our Honeymoon.”
Falling in love
“Being in the military helped our relationship,” Hovland said. “We understood each other. We could tell stories about our time without having to explain everything.”
Michele and Darrell met in 2005, started dating and got married in 2009.
“Her cousin and I knew each other for a while,” he said. “We ended up as roommates in 2004. He was on a unit that was about to be deployed for 15 months in Iraq, so I suggested he move in with me before he was deployed instead of paying for an apartment that he wasn’t going to use.”
In 2005, before her cousin was deployed, Michele came to see him off.
“He introduced us and that was that,” Hovland said. “She had her farm here in Missouri. We wanted to be married earlier, but her cousin was deployed and we wanted him there.”
The Hovlands were married on May 16, 2009.
“She reported to the War College a month later, so that is where we spent our honeymoon,” he said. “I reverted to being a military spouse. That was different for me.”
Hovland said War College is an intense one year study, and Michele ended with a masters degree in strategic studies.
“You have to attend War College to become a General,” Hovland said. “Michele never made General, but she definitely did all the work to earn it.”
The Hovlands moved back to Missouri to Michele’s farm in July 2010. Kids of Our Heroes Adventure Camp.
“In 2013, we started the Kids of Our Heroes Adventure Camp,” Hovland said. “It was always something Michele was passionate about. She had talked about it for a long time.”
Michele finished her counseling program in 2010 after their return back to Missouri.
“With her counseling program, she worked her internship with a VA hospital working with Veterans,” Hovland said. “She did that until 2016. She did a lot of research in her studies on re-intergrading National Guard troops when they return to prevent suicides. At that time Missouri had a high rate of Veteran suicide.”
Michele wanted to develop a program that was just for kids. “She wanted a place for them away from their parents where they could talk freely,” he said. “We worked to help them, overcome fears and a lot of other things by giving them a set of tools to use.”
Since Michele’s passing, Hovland has decided to close the camp.
“There were other factors involved,” he said. “But, without Michele, there was too much to do with just me.
“We had a great run for 10 years. We have helped close to 200 kids. It was really rewarding and we really saw results. Michele developed the whole program, it was definitely her passion to help kids through any struggle they had. People in our local area were very supportive the program, we had some great people put in our paths that made the camp possible.”
Darrell
Hovland said one thing he learned as a military spouse was to enjoy the time he had with his family.
“Michele had a daughter in 2004,” he said. “But, I have been in her life since she was six months old. I adopted her.
“I was able to spend a lot of time with her and I saw the things I missed with my son. I have felt guilt about that, but he and I have had many talks over the years.”
Hovland said he did drag his feet a bit when becoming a military spouse, but it ended up being one of the best experiences they had.
“They made Michele the seminar group leader, so I stepped up and lead the family seminar group,” he said. “I got to take my daughter to a lot of historical places during our time there.
“There is a program at the War College for spouses called FLAGS (Facilitating Leadership and Group Skills). I was the first male to go through it. They teach you how to facilitate family readiness groups and how to be there for the younger families going through deployment.”
Hovland said because he served in active duty and was a military suppose he had an interesting outlook.
“I am not sure which is more difficult,” he said. “Sometimes, I thought it is easier to pack a bag and deploy.”
Michele
Once they moved back to Missouri in 2010, Michele was assigned J2J6 for the Missouri National Guard.
“The headquarters were in Jeff City, so she would travel up there,” he said. “The J’s mean it was a joint assignment with the Army and Air Force. The first J stands for intelligence officer with the Missouri Guard, and the second J stands for a communications officer in the Missouri Guard.”
Michele did that until 2012, when she retired.
Hovland children
“Because of my son’s degrees he was brought on as one of the counselors at the camp,” Hovland said. “We felt that was important , not only because of his degrees, but because he grew up with a dad that worked in special operations and was deployed to combat four times.
“He had a good understanding of that life and could relate to what the kids endured.”
Hovland went back to his New Mexico Military school for his 30th reunion in 2013.
“I had forgotten the kid I was who went there,” he said. “It was a different way to grow up. In 2014, I told Michele and my daughter that I wanted them to go back with me.”
Hovland took his daughter back a few times after that.
“In 2016, it was the 125th anniversary of the school,” he said. “She said she wanted to attend in 2018 during her eighth-grade year. That is where she is attending now. She is the highest-ranking high school cadet within the corps of cadets and is graduating this year. She will go back for junior college.”
According to an article submitted to local media by Hovland at the time, Charley Melton-Hovland was awarded eight scholarships for the 20202021 academic year for both academic and music excellence. Last year, she was named History Student of The Year in her world history class as she continues to excel academically, finishing out the 2020-2021 academic year with a 4.0 GPA for both semesters.
She was inducted into the New Mexico Military Institute’s Merle D. Prinkey Chapter of the National Honor Society and also obtained membership in The National Society of High School Scholars. For her academic excellence and achieving a 4.0 GPA, Cadet Melton-Hovland was awarded the Superintendent’s Coin by Major General Jerry Grizzle (Superintendent of NMMI) and the Academic Dean’s Coin by Brigadier General Douglas Murray (Academic Dean).
At the end of the spring 2022 Semester, she was recognized as the Best Old Cadet within her Troop. Additionally, she was awarded the Daughters of the American Revolution Bronze Medal, this medal is awarded to either a junior or senior student in a secondary school JROTC program.
