Women of the Military

A little over a month ago I found out that a biopsy of a mole on my leg came back positive for melanoma. And I was very lucky because they found it in the earliest stage and were able to remove it and I can now say I am cancer-free. But the reality of that situation isn’t that they found it because I was being proactive about my health. In fact, I was just really lucky. This week on the podcast I wanted to talk about how this incident opened my eyes to a whole part of self-care I had been completely ignoring, my physical health. I had gone to the doctor about the bump under my lip in LA, but it didn’t flatten out like they said and I was a little concerned, but also knew they had done a biopsy so it shouldn’t be cancer. I put off going to the doctor for about a year and then when I got plantar fasciitis, I went in to see if I needed a referral for my feet and since I was there, I asked about the bump under my lip. So, the doctor put in a referral to dermatology. I went to the doctor and they found another mole they were worried about on my leg. I had a biopsy done on the mole and it did come back as melanoma. I was able to get help from a friends’ mom who lived a few miles from the doctor’s office and was able to get the mole completely removed. And have since had a cancer-free diagnose from the follow-up biopsy done from the tissue collected during the surgery. This event made me realize I need to do a better job of taking care of myself physically. I haven’t visited a doctor for an annual exam since my son was born almost 4 years ago. I didn’t think I had time to go to the doctor, but I need to make sure to take the time to go to my regular doctor check-up and as I continue to get older ensure I do the additional screening to help find issues before they become major problems. This podcast episode was inspired by this blog post on www.airmantomom.com. This post contains affiliate links Are you looking for a holiday gift for a female veteran you know? Check out my book Women of the Military, if you would like a signed copy please email me at airmantomom at gmail dot com. Get your copy here.

This episode is sponsored by Insure the Heroes Inc Many people don’t know the history of military women. And many more people don’t know that women were serving in other roles than nurses and secretaries during World War II. Erin shares the history of the Women Airforce Service Pilots (WASP). She also shares a little about her grandmother, Elaine Harmond. One of the 1800 WASP. Let's go back in history and learn about these amazing trailblazing women. *This post contains affiliate links Erin Miller is the granddaughter of WASP WWII pilot Elaine Danforth Harmon. Erin has a J.D. from the University of Maryland School of Law, a Master's in international studies from the University of Leeds (UK), and a B.A. in history from the University of California, San Diego. She is a licensed attorney in Maryland, where she lives with her two Shiba Inus. Erin has become an ambassador for the WASP of World War II by sharing her own story of honoring her grandmother who wanted to ensure future generations learn about the history of these trailblazing pilots. You can read more of both Erin and Elaine’s story in her book Final Fight, Final Fight. The WASP was formed in the 1940s to allow more men to serve in combat roles overseas. While the WASP were able to do missions throughout the US training the next wave of male pilots to fly overseas. They were test pilots, they were tow target pilots, faring pilots, a lot of different jobs training pilots. Her grandmother, Elaine Harmond was one of the 1800 women selected from over 25,000 applicants to be part of this program. She headed off to training in Sweetwater, Texas. They trained at Avengers field and completed the same training as male pilots. But were still seen as civilians by the military. To this day it is the only all-female military base that the US has had. The WASP were supposed to become commissioned officers. They were waiting on the official legislation to pass and started serving while “the paperwork” was completed. In the end, the bill failed by a handful of votes and the WASP were never formally inducted into the Army. 38 WASP died during their service. Since they were not officially part of the military they were not given military honors or a military burial. Eventually, the program was disbanded in late 1944. Most women went on to live their lives finding new jobs or becoming wives and mothers. A few women worked to stay within the aviation industry. And then in the 1970s, Congress forced the military to allow women to attend the military academies. People began to start talking about the first women pilots not realizing women had flown during World War II. The WASP decided they had been quiet about their service long enough. They began lobbying to get retroactive status as veterans. It took a few years, but they were eventually granted the title of veteran. In 2015, Elaine Harmon passed away and her family requested she be buried at Arlington National Cemetery. Everyone needs to go and get their copy of Final Flight Final Fight you will learn so much about the history of the WASP and how much work goes into getting a law changed in Congress. Connect with Erin: www.finalflightfinalfight.com Twitter Facebook

Episode 48 is sponsored by AmericanForcesTravel.com Hi everyone! Welcome to another episode of Women of the Military Podcast. My guest this week is Carrie Peterson. She joined the US Air Force when she was 17 and served on Active duty until she was about to give birth to her first son. She has an honorable medical discharge. In total Carrie serve in the military for almost 3 years. She met her husband while on active duty and they came to a point where the military wanted to assign them to two different locations and it wasn’t the best fit for their family so she separated. But she still misses it. We talked a lot about the transition out of the military and how hard it sometimes is to find yourself. While in the military it isn’t about you, it is about the mission and then you leave and the focus is all on you and it is hard to find yourself again after being part of the military. We talked about how the military doesn’t give you the skills you need to transition out mentally. They focus on finding your next career, but they don’t focus on the emotional aspect of what you will feel when you leave the military. And that makes transitioning out of the military really difficult. Connect with Carrie at CarriePeterson.net SuperiorReach.com Are you Leaving the Military? Get my free guide: Navigating Life After the Military! Do you want to support Women of the Military to reach more people and share more stories? Click here. American Forces TravelSM is committed to providing high-quality and best value travel services to patrons affiliated with the Department of Defense as a way to thank them for their service and dedication to our country. Authorized Patrons Today: All current active duty military (Army, Marine Corps, Navy, Air Force, and Coast Guard) All members of the Reserve components and National Guard All retired military, including those in the Reserves and National Guard who are retirement eligible All Medal of Honor recipients and 100% disabled veterans All Department of Defense civilian serving outside the United States, including appropriated funds (APF) employees and nonappropriated funds (NAF) employees All current active duty and retired US Public Health Service (USPHS) All current active duty and retired National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Full-time, paid employees of the American Red Cross and United Service Organizations (USO) hired in the United States and serving at U.S. DoD installations overseas Eligible family members who are officially sponsored (ID card holder) by authorized patrons in the above categories Coast Guard Auxiliary Active Duty Eligible Authorized Patrons Coming Soon: All Department of Defense civilians serving within the United States, including appropriated funds employees and non-appropriated funds employees All Coast Guard and Department of Homeland Security (DHS) civilians in the Defense Enrollment Eligibility Reporting System (DEERS), including appropriated and nonappropriated fund employees Learn more here.

In episode 47 of the Women of the Military, I am sharing my experience of going through the grief process as I lost a part of myself when I left the military. The more I learned and reflected on the process I realized I had gone through the four stages (Reeling, Feeling, Dealing, and Healing) and I spent a lot of time stuck in the second phase because I was unaware I needed to deal with how I was feeling so I discussed how I did that and where I am today. The four stages of grief are Reeling, Feeling, Dealing, Healing. As I transitioned out of the military and became a military spouse and mom I really struggled with the loss of identity and the loss of purpose the military had given me. I had gone from knowing who I was and following the orders, I had been given to becoming a mom and military spouse. Where I no longer had orders, but was still directly tied to the military community, but in a totally different way. I thought if I just kept pushing forward and didn’t stop to look back I could find my new purpose and have an impact. But the reality was I truly couldn’t find myself until I dealt not only with the loss of my identity but also some of the challenges that I faced while serving in the military. I stayed in the reeling phase of grief for years. I was stuck. When people asked me if I was glad, I got out I wouldn’t have a solid answer because my identity was still wrapped up into being in the military, but the reality was I wasn’t in the military anymore. It wasn’t until I went to get help through Celebrate Recovery that I was able to take the first step in the second stage (feeling) and begin to move through the stages of grief. Once I was able to realize and acknowledge what I was feeling I was able to start dealing with the emotions that had left me stuck and living a half-lived life. If you have transitioned out or about to transition out of the military don’t miss this episode. It is powerful to think about how full of a life I had when I was still stuck in the first stage of grief as I mourned the loss of my military identity. And what I have today is so much better than I could have ever imagined six years ago. If you need someone to talk to please email me at airmantomom [at] gmail [dot] com. Mourning the loss of military service Are you Leaving the Military? Get my free guide: Navigating Life After the Military!

Danielle has been serving on active duty in the Army since 2004. She enlisted as a paralegal after graduating college. She deployed to Iraq and submitted her Officer Candidate School (OCS) packet. She was selected and attended OCS 3.5 years after joining. She was branched Signal and was stationed in Korea and Germany. After a successful command (and becoming a single mom), she transferred into Public Affairs. She is a Major currently stationed at Fort Meade, MD. Danielle was burnt out from school and decided to do something no one would expect, not even herself. She decided to join the military. She had her degree, but was given advice to enlist and then become an officer because it was easier. She wouldn’t trade the time she spent as an enlisted troop and did learn a lot. She ended up not qualifying for O-1E pay because you have to serve for four years to get that entitlement. But there wasn’t a lot she could do to make that happen even if she had known about that requirement based on timelines and class dates moving around and her not really being in control. She deployed to Iraq in 2005 in a paralegal office. She didn’t quite know what to expect going to war and thought she would have a more pivotal role to play on the battle ground. But found herself primarily working in her office doing paralegal work and being relatively safe inside the base. She struggled with the feeling of not doing enough because she knew others were going outside of the base and dealing directly with the enemy. With the encouragement of senior leaders and non commissioned officers who saw something in her she decided to put in her package to become an officer. She found out before she had left Iraq that she was selected for Officer Candidate School and would be attending the program after returning home from her deployment. OCS was different from Basic Training because she felt like there was more to lose. They would hold your commission over your head and if you failed you would go back to the Army under needs of the Army which meant you could end up anywhere. She was happy to complete the course without getting hurt and having to be recycled. A few years after becoming an officer she found herself as a new company commander. She was excited about the opportunity and felt humbled to be selected. About 6 weeks into her command she found out she was unexpectedly pregnant. She told the father and he quickly told her she was on her own. She felt alone and conflicted. She told her commander after completing a field exercise and he said he still had confidence in her and that babies were blessings. And she was able to continue to serve in command. Motherhood changed her as a person and caused her to change the focus of her career. She is still committed to the military, but also has another person she has to think about when making choices and picking the opportunities that came up. And although being a single mom in the Army isn’t easy it has worked for her. Are you considering joining the military? Check out my free guide: A Girl's Guide to Military Life

Tiffany served in the Army for ten and a half years. While she was in the Army, she was a logistician and she deployed to Iraq twice. She left the military with her masters degree using Tuition Assistance while on active duty and this past December graduated with her second masters degree using her GI Bill.  Tiffany decided to join the military because she felt lost and didn’t know what she wanted to do. Although she had been a good student in high school, she didn’t want to have her parents pay for college without her knowing what she wanted to do. So, she decided to join the Army. After she had committed to the Army the one school she had applied to came back with a scholarship upon her acceptance. She was hoping she could get out of her military commitment and go to college instead. But her parents told her she had already committed to the Army and needed to fulfill her commitment. So off to boot camp she went. Not long after being in the Army she deployed to Kuwait for the initial invasion to Iraq. While waiting for the invasion to take place they were in Iraq and a Non-Commissioned Officer told her that they were waiting to go to war. She couldn’t believe it. It seemed like someone would have told her before it. It wasn’t until she saw the scud missiles in Iraq that everything came together and she realized she might not come home. As they pushed into Iraq, she expected they would enter war and there would be fire fights and bullets. But crossing the border was uneventful and instead their days were full of driving. They were always hot, always dirty and almost always on the move. They lived in their vehicles and kept pushing forward. About a year and a half after she deployed to Iraq she went back to Iraq. This time there were camps built up and since she went back to almost the same location, she could see how much change had happened since she had left. In 2003 you had your vehicle and your uniform, but it wasn’t like that the second trip. There were showers, you had a room, there were internet cafes, tents to call home, and more. Another big change between 2003 and 2005 was how the war was being fought. They hadn’t seen a lot of combat in their first round while they had been looking for landmines in 2003. In 2005, Improvised Explosive Devices, suicide bombers and convoy ambushes were a real threat. The war had evolved. The threat was amplified. She watched the evolution of the war. As the military tried to respond to the threat. Going from Humvees with no armor to trying to armor the Humvees, but sometimes causing more damage and having sand bags as protection. The war progressed in such a way and eventually the military was able to create a vehicle that added more protection. And if you have ever seen a side by side comparison of a Humvee and a Mine Resistant Ambush Protection (MRAP) vehicle you can understand why the change was so important and necessary to fight the war. She also dealt with a helicopter crash where she didn’t allow herself to grieve and really struggled for years after the incident happened. She felt guilty for living and she felt guilty for struggling with the deaths of the people she knew who passed. We talked about the importance of getting mental health help along the way and for military members to process all the different experiences they go through. It may have happened years ago, but if you are struggling you can and should get help. Want to connect with Tiffany? Check her out on LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/tbroussard08  This Episode was sponsored by Insure the Heroes, Inc. Is life insurance on your transition checklist? Contact Melissa at 844-514-LIFE. Insure The Heroes, Inc. is the term life insurance brokerage for military families!

Jaime Chapman is a proud military spouse and served in the U.S. Army for 6-years. She is a philanthropist and fierce advocate for the military community. She is actively advocating to influence policy to reduce the 24% military spouse unemployment rate. She serves as the Career & Employment Advocate for MSAN-Military Spouse Advocacy Network where she offers career expertise to over 10,000 Active Duty Military Spouses. She is a mentor on Veterati where she provides guidance to veterans and military spouses. Jaime is the Founder & CEO of Begin Within, a career consulting firm that launches high-performers and rising stars to their career peak. She has helped over 1,500 people land their dream position during her tenure an executive career consultant, resume writer and as the Regional Manager of a transitioning military career program. Jaime currently serves on the Board of Advisors for financial company Securing Life Today. She is a keynote speaker and authored the book Find a Federal Job in 2018. Additionally, Jaime hosts a career-based radio show that airs live to over 20,000 listeners each week and was recruited to appear as the career advisor on a TV show that will broadcast live to over 400-Million viewers later this year. Joining the Army Reserves was an impulse decision. She looked to be on her way to go to college with the scholarships she had attained and her parents were shocked when she told them she had decided to join the Army. She didn’t have a lot of time to contemplate on her decision. Once she signed up the process began and she was at boot camp a few months later. While serving out her six-year commitment she attended college and worked full time. While also devoting one weekend a month and two weeks a year to her Reserves unit. She joined the military and loved Boot Camp and her Advanced Individual Training that followed and when she arrived at her Reserves unit the commander was a Chief Warrant Officer and she was ready to take over the base. She wanted to finish her degree and start to make changes and be impactful for the Army. It wasn’t very long into her time in the unit where everything changed. A sexual assault that was swept under the rug until she went to the Inspector General at the active duty post. They quickly completed an investigation and he was finally charged and taken out of the leadership position. It changed everything for Jamie. It changed her ambitions and rode out the rest of her time. Her transition out of the military was a welcome relief. She was ready to move on and since she already had a job and didn’t have the same type of identity crisis and starting over that people who often leave active duty find themselves in. But she also became a military spouse a few years after leaving the Reserves. Which she has found very challenging, but has found her passion to help military spouses find careers through her company Begin Within and help to decrease the unemployment rate of 24% for military spouses. Military Spouse Advocacy Network Programs from MSAN Veterati LinkedIn MilSpouse Creative on Facebook Websites:  https://www.beginwithin.life https://jaime-chapman.com LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/chapmanjaime/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/beginwithin2016/

Alicia served for 6 years in the Iowa Army National Guard as a Public Affairs Specialist. She deployed to Kosovo for a year and traveled to other countries for small exercises for brief periods. And she spent 10 years a print journalist, 6 of those with the Army. On top of that, she is a fiction writer with her debut novel, Squared Away released on July 2, 2019. It is the first novel in series. She joined the military 2 days after her 17th birthday in June of 2001. The summer between her junior and senior year of high school. She was looking for a way to pay for college and joining the Army seemed like the perfect fit. It would also give her needed experience in journalism that would help her in the future when she wanted to work as a journalist. *Post Contain Affiliate Links Because she was still in high school, she didn’t leave for boot camp until after she graduated. In that year she was “trained” for boot camp by some young enlisted troops that helped to prepare her for boot camp by pretending to be drill sergeants. Because she had such a long period of time not going to boot camp, she was ready for the boot camp phase and realized how much she still didn’t know even though she had been attending her drill weekends. It made her appreciate boot camp and all that she learned from it. During her time in the Army she worked to share stories of what the Army National Guard was doing. She got to meet a lot of different people of all different ranks as she covered stories. She also deployed to Kosovo. Which took her from doing her job on drill weekends to a daily mission of sharing the stories of the Army. She was helping manage the print magazine for the Army in an editor role that most young people do not have the opportunity to do. Being a journalist in the Army gave her so many unique experiences in her job. She really struggled when she came from her year in Kosovo. She got to do an amazing job and felt like she was making an impact and when she came home, she went back to being a college student and doing her one weekend a month duty. It wasn’t the same impact and really changed how she looked at things. When her six-year enlistment was up she had the opportunity to be promoted to Sergeant, but she made a pro and con list to help her decide if she should continue to serve in the military or leave the military behind. She wanted to test her skills as a journalist as a civilian and made the choice to leave the military behind. But it wasn’t easy. Her time in the military had changed her and the people she worked with had become like her second family. And leaving the military meant she was giving away a part of herself. She released her first novel Squared Away in July. It is a fictional novel based on two battle buddies. She brings in her military experience, but also uses the fictional space to tell the story to add twists and turns along the way. You can get your copy here. Connect with Alicia www.aliciadill.com Twitter Facebook  Mentioned: Beyond the Point – Fictional Novel about 3 women attending West Point

There was a lot I needed to learn before I decided to join the military. You might know that before I started looking into the military, I didn’t know anything about it. I didn’t know the difference between officer and enlisted. I even remember when a friend recommended, I talk to someone, he happened to be a col, I called him by his first name when I went to his office and was quickly corrected. At the time I thought the way they responded to my mistake was a little dramatic, but now I know that Col is more than just a job title. Now, I have a hard time not calling my past commanders with their rank that no longer applies to their name. So, you could say I knew nothing about the military and little did I know how my life would change when I decided to join the US Air Force. Listen and hear what I learned while serving in the military and how I hope to use the information I have learned to help others who are considering joining the military. This episode was inspired by  7 Things I Wish I Knew Before I Decided to Join the Military Mentioned in this Episode Kiva.org Connect with Amanda Hear Amanda's Military Story - Episode 2 Check out Amanda's Blog: www.airmantomom.com Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Are you considering joining the military? Check out my free guide: A Girl's Guide to Military Life

Tracee joined the United States Air Force in 1994, She was part of the Nurse Corps as a clinical nurse she spent 4 years on Active Duty and 3 years in the Reserves. She is currently a registered nurse, public speaker and is married to a service member who is serving in the Air National Guard. Tracee has a military background. Everyone she knew was Enlisted and she had a dream of becoming a nurse and didn’t think she could serve in the military. But while she was in college, she learned about Reserve Officer Training Corps (ROTC) and was shocked to learn about the option to be an officer and have a degree. So, she went and talked to the cadre at her school started with the Army ROTC program, but wasn’t under contract. She liked the Army, but was looking for something different so she commissioned into the Air Force after she graduated. She began her military career at Andrews Air Force base where she received her initial training as a nurse with the Air Force. She initially was disappointed with the eight-week course. But it ended up helping her transition from school to working at the hospital. She spent a few years at Andrews and then went overseas to Germany to finish out her active duty career. Then she transitioned out of active duty because she really wanted to try out civilian nursing. But civilian nursing wasn’t what she expected and she missed the military. And then when 9-11 she decided to go back to the military and serve in the Reserves. She was stationed in California, but got a job working as a contractor in Japan. Right before she left, she found out she may be deploying. She ended up leaving about six months after arriving in Japan to deploy to Germany to help with anyone coming in from Afghanistan or Iraq with injuries and get them through the medivac system. While in Japan she met her husband and decided she did not want to be a dual military family so when she finished her 3 years in the Reserves, she transitioned out of the military to become “just” a spouse. We then dived into the challenge’s military spouses face. Tracee couldn’t even pick up packages addressed to her without her husband. And military spouses can feel belittled by the military system with words like dependent to describe them and not being able to do basic things like get your mail. Mentioned in this episode Episode 25 - Women's Health Practitioner Connect with Tracee LinkedIn

The Honorable Deborah Lee James has served in senior homeland and national security management, policy, and program positions in the US Government and private sector for more than 35 years. She has led and transformed large-scale enterprises, including a $2 billion private sector entity and a $140 billion government agency, the U.S. Air Force. Today she serves on several for-profit and not-for-profit organizations; provides strategic advice to a variety of firms; and speaks on matters of national security, leadership, and other topical areas. She is also the author of "Aim High: Chart Your Course and Find Success" Deborah had wanted to work in the State Department and had thought she had done everything right to make that happen, but when she applied, she wasn’t selected. This came as a huge surprise to her but eventually found a job working for the department of the Army. It was at this job she found her first mentor. He helped by opening doors to opportunities and giving her advice on her career. One of her first big career opportunities was to be an intern at the White House in the 1980s. She also worked on the staff of the house armed service committee. She then went to work for the Assistant Secretary of Defense specifically on Reserve Affairs. She left the civilian-military workforce for 15 years, but then from 2013 to 2017 came back as the Secretary of the Air Force. She left government service after 17 years and made the switch to the private side expecting it to be an easy transition where she would have no problem succeeding. She ended up having a few bad bosses before finally finding a fit at SAIC. One of her jobs was managing the MRAP program to get the MRAPs out to the troops in Iraq and Afghanistan. This program brought tremendous purpose. Within the first few months of becoming the Secretary of the Air Force, a cheating scandal within the Nuclear community was uncovered. And although it only included a handful of people it brought to light cultural issues that needed to be addressed and changed. She also worked on diversity and inclusion with a big focus on opening jobs and making it easier for women to do jobs. While also working on work-life balance and changing the maternity program. We also talked about a few topics that are covered in the book Air High: Chart Your Course and Find Success ranging from the importance of outsourcing, Knowing what is important to you, and positive and negative role models that helped push her to be who she is today. You won't want to miss this week's episode. Mentioned in this episode (contains affiliate links) Aim High: Chart Your Course and Find Success My Vector Follow Honorable Deborah James Twitter LinkedIn Website

Linda Mitchell served in the Air Force for 10 years beginning her service in June of 1995. She served on active duty and had assignments at the Pentagon on September 11th, was on watch when the space shuttle disintegrated reentering the earth’s atmosphere, she helped serve 42 heads of state during the NATO 50th Anniversary Summit in DC and she also had severe preeclampsia with her first child that she gave birth to while her husband was deployed to Afghanistan. These are just a few of the highlights from her career. Linda’s father served in the military and inspired her to join. She grew up as a military brat and got to see the world through her father’s career. While going to college she decided to join the Reserve Officer Training Corps Program so she could see the world. Her first assignment was at Edwards AFB where she was a section commander and then an executive officer for the Mission Support Group. While at Edwards she found out her career field was going away and would need to be retrained. She ended up becoming a Comm officer. She had a follow-on assignment to Nellis AFB, but had gotten married and had was able to get a join spouse assignment with her new husband at Maxwell AFB. This was the first time she had to put her career in the back seat for their relationship and ultimately led to her getting out of the military earlier than she planned. After Maxwell she went to Bolling AFB and then to the Pentagon. She was at the Pentagon on September 11th. At the time of the attack they didn’t have a communication system to execute a mass evacuation and it was interesting to hear how people found out about the crash and how there was no clear plan to get people out of the building. September 11th had a huge impact on how Linda’s career moved forward. She was supposed to complete a program and it never happened. Her next assignment led to the end of her career. She had been warned about her next supervisor, but had an optimistic attitude that it would be okay and they would be able to work together, but in the end it led to the end of her military career.

Jasmin graduated from West Point in 2005. She commissioned and her first assignment was in Germany as a Military Police Officer. She deployed to Iraq in 2008. In 2010 she headed to Fort Riley Kansas and it is there she completed her military career. Today she is an Attorney in Columbus, Ohio. Jasmin has a military family linage and serving in the military was something she had always considered. In high school a high school algebra teacher was a graduate from West Point and he inspired and encouraged her to consider attending West Point. The application process requires a lot of different requirements ranging from passing the physical fitness test, getting a nomination from Congress or the president and various test scores and academic and leadership requirements. September 11th happened the first year Jasmin was at West Point and had a huge impact on her experience at West Point and her military career. When it was time to pick her career Jasmin decided to put Armor and Infantry as her top two choices even though at the time both jobs were not open to women. So, her 3rd choice Military Police was essentially her 1st choice and that was the career she got. She deployed to Iraq as a Platoon leader and was lucky that everyone in her Platoon came back home with her. With Iraq being a male dominated society sometimes the Iraqi male leaders would ask the same question to the male squad leader and he would answer you already asked the Platoon leader. She mentioned how great the men who served with her were in supporting her authority and helping her through the deployment. While deployed she felt a need to do something different, she had one year left in her service commitment from the Academy and decided to adjust and take it a year by year basis. She still felt a drive to do something different, but didn’t really know what that meant when she transitioned out of the military in 2011. Today she lives in Ohio with her husband and is an attorney. If you would like to connect with Jasmin and talk to her about West Point you can connect with her on LinkedIn. Episodes connected to this one: Beyond the Point - A novel base one West Point - Episode 19 Military Child to ROTC hopeful to Military Mom - Episode 16 From the Naval Academy to Air Force Officer - Episode 15 If you are looking to join the military don’t miss out on my free “Girls Guide to Military Life.” Get your free copy here.

My guest today in Sherry Eifler. Sheri is a former Army soldier turned devoted Army wife and mom makes her home where the Army sends her husband of over 25 years, Brian, and together they embrace the adventure of military family life with their three amazing children and faithful pups, Kate and Sol. Sherry’s military experience both in and out of uniform have shaped her skills as an engaging storyteller who invites you to think a new way. She is a recognized transformation specialist, ready to connect today through her multi-faced approach to engaging women’s ministry. Sherry joined the Army Reserves while in college. She was looking to be a medic, but when the recruiter found out she was going to school he convinced her to Enlist in the Reserves while completing the Reserve Officer Training Corps program and finishing college. She agreed and headed off to boot camp in the summer. When she completed Field Training, she went to her first drill weekend and was a little overwhelmed by all the officers she worked with. And then when she went to ROTC she found even more officers and wondered what she had signed up for. She really enjoyed ROTC and found life long friends and met her husband through the ROTC program. She and her husband spent a lot of time apart while in the military and even though she was able to move with him to his next assignment she wasn’t able to do what she wanted/needed to do to continue her career. She decided at the five year point to leave the military behind and start a family. When her daughter was one month old her husband left for Korea. She moved back home to be with family for the approximately two years while he was overseas. When she came back to the military as a spouse she had to transition and find her place. She helped to bridge the gap between new military spouses and military members. And she has worked to get more male military spouses involved in the spouses clubs and volunteer opportunities. Today, she pulls together her kaleidoscope of certifications and talents as an author, John Maxwell Team certified speaker, executive coach, and leadership team coach to create transformational events with you at heart. *this post contains affiliate links She also published a Bible Study called, Royal Reflections – The Making of a Warrior Princess. Connect with Sherry: Website Facebook Instagram Do you want more stories of military women veterans? I just launched a book sharing 28 stories of military women. It includes stories ranging from women in the process of joining the military to women who have served and retired. Stories from the Army, Air Force, Marines and Navy. Order today!

Kerry was an officer in the US Coast Guard. She attended the Coast Guard Academy and graduated with a degree in Marine Science, but the Coast Guard needed Engineers so she spent her first five years in the Coast Guard doing Engineering work.  She ended up bouncing around to different jobs and not following the traditional career path all of that starting with going into a career that she didn’t have a background in. Her jobs ranged from Sexual Assault manager to logistics to emergency response.  We talked a lot about the different missions the Coast Guard is a part of. The Coast Guard does so many different missions to support and defend the United States and most people don’t even know about what they do.  When she tried to get pregnant at 38, she found out she had Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome (PCOS) and needed infertility treatments. Her leadership didn’t support her choice to seek infertility treatments. She was forced to move in the middle of treatments and lost the embryos. Her leadership gave her low marks and sent her out into the field. In the end she wasn’t able to get pregnant and then after being forced to retire she was told by the VA that her PCOS was service related and they provided medical care, but it was too late. She was then 43 and the likelihood of success was almost non-existent. She never became a mom. She now works with the Service Women Action Network (SWAN) to help work to change policy and prevent others from having to go through a similar experience. She has chosen not to complain about her situation, but to be an advocate for women and bring change.  Mentioned in this episode: Service Women Action Network (SWAN) Would you like to be a guest or know someone who might want to share their story for the Women of the Military Podcast? You can sign up here and I will be in touch with you shortly. Are you Leaving the Military? Get my free guide: Navigating Life After the Military!