Women of the Military

My guest today is Teressa Boone. Teressa served 15 years in the U.S. Army. She was medically retired after being diagnosed with combat post-traumatic stress disorder. As a way to begin her healing process, she created Amitza Media Independent - Am I, LLC, an accessible and online establishment to expose the personal matters of U.S. military servicewomen and to bridge the gap between us and our communities by promoting education and unity. Her desire is to reveal realistic and inspirational testimonies through blogs, video, radio, books, uniquely-designed apparel, and community outreach. Ultimately, it's about bringing awareness to mental health by developing healthier relationships and personal transformation through storytelling. Teressa joined the military as a means of trying to get away from her home in Chicago, Illinois. She didn’t really know anything about the military, but saw it as a way to change her life and took the opportunity.  She headed off to boot camp 9 days after graduating high school with a waiver because she wouldn’t turn 18 for another month. The military and her childhood had a lot of similarities so it was a smooth transition to military life.  She was a logistician and her first assignment was at Ft. Knox. She arrived in the middle of an investigation for a lost M9 and went straight into a place that was on lockdown while searching for the missing weapon.  Shortly after tech school she became pregnant with her daughter. She liked being out of the weapons area while being pregnant, but knows that becoming a single mother at such a young age put a lot of responsibility on her and made her grow up quickly. When her daughter was eight months old she was sent to Korea for fifteen months. When she returned home her daughter was almost two years old.  She was only home for a few months before having to deploy. This was a really hard time for Teressa and she actually cried when she found out about the deployment. After being separated from her daughter for so long only to come home and have to leave again was devastating.  Even though video technology was beginning to become available she didn’t use it. Partly because it was set times and she was so busy at work she couldn’t do it, but even when she had time her mom didn’t have the technology at home for her to be able to call her.  At the seven and half year point she decided to become a Warrant Officer. She thought it would allow her to have more time with her daughter, but actually ended up working more and deployed to Afghanistan shortly after cross training. Afghanistan was hard because she knew the people dying and getting injured. She didn’t know what was wrong and then was sent to Korea. There she had a break down and started getting mental health help. She eventually was able to get medically retired from the military.  Mentioned in this Episode (affiliate link): Episode 1: Why Women of the Military Podcast Bravely Miseducated: How I lost my voice Connect with Teressa: Blog: Amitaz Media Independent Facebook Instagram  Pinterest Twitter

Are you considering joining the military? Do you wonder what the process is like? My guest this week is at Basic Military Training right now and will be graduating very soon. But before she left for training she told me about her path to military life. It certainly wasn't easy for her to get to where she is today.  My guest today in Mariah Hammond. Mariah is a military spouse. I had the opportunity to interview Mariah for my book, Women of the Military, when she was looking into joining the military. And I am excited to follow up with her as her journey to military life has not been easy. I wanted to talk about how much time it takes to join the military and some of the challenges people face while working to join the military. Can the words of a song have an impact on your life? Growing up Mariah remembers listening to Toby Keith sing about the Red White and Blue and it made her want to join the military. There were other factors that led her on the path she is on today, but she can always remember how it started with a song.  She met her now husband in high school. They were really good friends and when she told him about looking into the military he decided to look into his own military career and joined the Air Force. Time went by and eventually they got married and she moved to Lackland AFB where the Air Force does Basic Military Training (BMT) and she was inspired again to join the military.  When she went to meet with the recruiter, she ended up having a kidney stone. This immediately disqualified her from taking the military physical for a year. She took the Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Battery (ASVAB) and waited for time to pass so she could go to the Military Entrance Processing Station (MEPS) for her military medical physical. At MEPS another medical issue came up that required a waiver. It felt as if joining the military wouldn’t happen. And after a year of waiting to swear into the delayed entry program she felt like her dream of serving was falling apart.  Months passed and finally her waiver was approved and she swore into the delayed entry program. Even though it took almost two years from when she first met with a recruiter to the point where she actually joined the Air Force, she said it was worth it.  Hopefully I can do a follow up interview with Mariah next season to get caught up on what boot camp and tech school were like and what has happened since this interview took place.  Mentioned in this episode: Women of the Military Book Are you considering joining the military? Check out my free guide: A Girls Guide to Military Life to help you prepare for the military.

 Welcome to the latest episode of Women of the Military. This week’s guest is Anna Blanch Rabe.  Anna served in the Australian Army as an officer for two years. She left because of a medical issue that still plagues her today. Currently she is CEO of Anna Blanch Rabe & Associates LCC, an eponymous Communications Consulting serving law firms, legal service organizations community minded businesses, non-profits, and social impact business with high quality communications strategy, advice, and content. You may be wondering how I met Anna or how she found the podcast. Anna and I know each other through the military spouse community because her husband is currently serving in the Air Force. I have loved learning about her experience of being a military spouse who recently became a United States citizen and am excited to talk to her about her military life experience in both the Australian military and as a military spouse.  Anna was the oldest of four and her parents knew they couldn’t afford to pay for University (college) for everyone. So, Anna’s mom, sat her down and told her that they thought attending the military academy might be a good fit. This conversation led her on a path to apply to the Army and the Air Force. She was accepted by the Army and joined. She still remembers the feeling of walking through the doors and entering the Academy.  She ended up getting food poisoning from the dining facility at the Academy and was sent to the hospital and diagnosed with gastrointestinal which ultimately caused her to be medial disqualified from military service and she was disenrolled from the Academy. The Australian Army has a system for those who get injured during combat, but for those who have injuries in training they have a different system. In the end, Anna had to sue the government to get compensation for the medical problem they had caused.  When she became a military spouse of an American Air Force Officer she realized how many traditions from her military experience were ingrained into the American military. She also talked about some of the struggles she has faced. One of the main struggles was becoming a citizen. An event that took 5 years to happen and was completed just in time for her and her husband to move overseas.   Connect with Anna: Linked In Website Are you considering joining the military? Check out my free guide: A Girl's Guide to Military Life 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. Don’t for subscribe so you don’t miss the latest episode 

Welcome to Women of the Military, this week’s guest is LTC Olivia Nunn.  She grew up as a military brat. He dad was in the Army and she wanted to do what he did. She knew at the age of four she wanted to join the Army.  Olivia received her commission as a 2nd Lieutenant Chemical Officer in the United States Army in June of 2001 after graduating from Radford University. While she was in the final days of her training to become a chemical officer when September 11th happened. Even though she wasn’t in the Army for very long before September 11th happened, she saw many of the changes that were implemented.  In 2003, she deployed in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom I with the 4th Infantry Division. While deployed she served as a Battalion Chemical Officer and Convoy Commander. LTC Nunn served as the Brigade Chemical Officer and deployed for a second tour to Iraq in 2006 and spent the following 15 months in Baghdad as the Brigade Liaison Officer to Multi-National Division-Baghdad. In 2008 she took command of HHT, 1st Brigade Combat Team, 1st Cavalry Division and redeployed for a third time to Iraq as a Troop Commander. Her time in Iraq led her to be part of the initial invasion, part of the surge and then the draw down. She said she could see that change really happened and the country was different than when she arrived in 2003. After her third deployment, she cross trained to become an Army Public Affairs Officers. As a PAO she has held positions at the United States Military Academy at West Point and at the Office of the Chief of Public Affairs in the Pentagon. She has served as an official Army spokeswoman, Executive Officer to the Chief of Public Affairs and lead strategic communication planner. She is currently serving in the Army as a Lieutenant Colonel as the Director of Communications for the US Army Soldier for Life program. She is two years away from retirement and is still trying to figure out the next step in her life. But as she tells young women who are considering joining the military the Army has opened many doors for her and she knows she will find her path when she leaves the military behind and begins her life as a civilian.  Mentioned in this Episode: US Army Soldier for Life Program Other Podcast Episodes Focused on Iraq: Being Stop Lossed In the Army - Episode 23 Connect with Olivia: LinkedIn Want to hear more stories of military women? Check out Amanda's new book Women of the Military, now available on Amazon

Vanessa served as an Aircraft Maintenance officer, both in the back shop and the flight line. She deployed to Afghanistan in the summer of 2013 after being married for a month. Her husband was not in the military. She still struggles with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder from her deployment. She got out because she didn't want to deploy again as she started having panic attacks daily once we got back. She also knew she didn't want to leave any future babies "behind" like she saw three of her female Airmen do. When there was an opportunity to separate early due to Reduction in Force, she decided to leave the military behind and start her new life with her husband.  As a daughter of an Air Force officer she has military routes that led her to join the Civil Air Patrol and found a love for flying. This led her to join Reserve Officer Training Corps (ROTC) with hopes of becoming an Air Force Pilot. Her ROTC Commander informed her she was too short to be a pilot so there wasn’t any reason to apply for a pilot slot. This crushed her since her goal in joining the military was to be a pilot and she was disqualified before she could even apply. In 2013, she deployed to Afghanistan as a Maintenance Officer working on A-10s. She was stationed at Bagram Air Field. And although she never left the base, she endured countless incoming fire attacks on base. She was engaged and was already in the process of planning her wedding in May when she found out she would be deploying in March. Luckily, her commander worked with her and found a Reservist to backfill her position so she could get married and then leave for Afghanistan after the wedding.  Her advice to girls considering joining the military is to be true to yourself. The military will break you down and build you back up, but that doesn't mean that your personality and who you are has to change. It is exhausting trying to be someone you are not. And everyone can thrive in the military. So just be you! Resources if you are considering ROTC: A Girl's Guide to Military Life What Would You Tell Girls Considering Joining the Military? 7 Things I Wish I Knew Before Joining the Air Force I Almost Didn't Become An Air Force Officer Want to read more stories of military women, check out my new book Women of the Military, now available on Amazon.

 Welcome to today’s episode of Women of the Military today’s guest is Kelly Rodriguez. Kelly is a Retired Army veteran who served for 21 years. She is an Army spouse, Army Mom, grandmother and special assistant for Global World On Terrorism (GWOT) Memorial Foundation. She joined the military straight out of high school. She served as an Army medic and deployed to Bosnia shortly after completing boot camp and tech school.  As a young Private in Bosnia she spent a lot of time pulling guard duty, but also went on convoys outside of the base and worked in the hospital. She didn’t really know why the US was there when she left for the deployment so she read a book to learn more about why they were there and the peacekeeping mission she was a part of. Because her time in the military was so short, she didn’t know anything different and expected military life to be like her deployment.  Her career led her to live overseas and deploy multiple times. Her last assignment was at Fort Bragg in North Carolina where she still resides today. Hearing about her experience in Iraq in 2004 showed me how so much changed with tactical vehicles when I deployed six years later to Afghanistan. Even with the threat of Improvised Explosive Devices the early years of the Iraq war had soldiers on convoys in basic Humvees with no protection. She also deployed to Afghanistan. She deployed six times in career, three combat deployments and 3 peace keeping deployments. Most of her deployments she was single and unattached. But her last deployment she had gotten married to a single dad and left behind her youngest son who was two and she knew she would miss his third birthday. That made that deployment more difficult than past deployments.  Her son is currently serving in the Army. We talked about what it is like to be a mom of a solider after being a solider. She talked about how hard it was to watch him leave for his deployment, knowing where he was going and some of the challenges he would face.  Mentioned in the episode (contains affiliate links): Love thy Neighbor: A Story of War  Global War on Terrorism Monument: Website Facebook Instagram Twitter LinkedIn Get your copy of Women of the Military Book today! Order here.

Welcome to Episode 29 of Women of the Military Podcast. My guest today is Grace Tiscareno-Sato. Grace served in the Air Force on active duty in the 90s for 9 1/2 years. While she was in, she was a flight crew member onboard KC-135 refueling jets. She has been everywhere at least twice. She had two non-flying stints during her military service which included various leadership positions. She ran an airlift control center for NATO in Italy and ran counter narcotics operation support center in Ecuador. Grace’s parents immigrated to the United States and she grew up in the US. She knew in high school she wanted to attend college, but she also knew her family couldn’t afford to pay for her to attend college. She went to her high school councilors office to learn about how to attend college and she invited Grace to dinner to meet her husband. He is the one who told her about the Reserve Officer Training Corps (ROTC) program that helped her find the Air Force and her career.  She was a Navigator in the Air Force that started with flying but led to teaching others how to be a Navigator and war planning for different contingencies. Even with GPS technology today the Navigator plays an important role on the Aircraft. Grace served in the 90s in the early years of GPS but she was required to chart their course and if they lose GPS capabilities the Navigator has to quickly take over to ensure the Aircraft is in the right place. Her husband proposed to her the day she got her wings. He never served in the military, but has a shirt that says “Air Force Husband…hardest job in the Air Force.” It was hard to be military spouse as a male. Most of the other military spouses are female and almost all the events are female focused. It makes it hard for male military spouses to feel included and it can be lonely to be a military spouse and amplified if you are a male military spouse.  She left the military right before she was scheduled to meet her Major board. She wanted to PCS and see the world while the Air Force wanted her to stay and possibly move to headquarters to do paperwork and not fly. She did not want to continue on that path, but was told that was her only option.  Connect with Grace: www.Captainmama.com Get her book: Captain Mama Are you considering joining the military? Check out my free guide: A Girl's Guide to Military Life

Welcome to Episode 28 of the Women of the Military Podcast. Our guest this week is Ashley Gorbulja-Maldonado. Ashley is a 25-year-old Army veteran, and owner of Guide On Education. She is also a legionnaire, and a National Guard reservist, and competing to be Ms. Veteran America in order to give back to more veterans.  She discusses her experiences in the military. Ashley originally joined because so many people told her she would not be able to succeed and ended up exceeding expectations and becoming a leader. She has served for 8 years and has gotten 3 degrees debt free because of the military, and tries her best to give back to those around her, whether in her unit or in her community.  She started her own business, GuideOn Education, to become a Veteran Program Consultant, GuideOn can offer a personalized navigation for your organizations special projects to inspire, educate, and connect with the U.S. military community. With this organization, Ashley is able to use her education and experience to help military people get connected and inspired. Currently, Ashley is a Semi-Finalist for Ms. Veteran America, and was able to raise over 4k. She loves that this competition brings together many impressive, inspiring women from multiple branches of the military to compete. They have Military History and Lip Syncing competition, as well as an interview. The Semi-Finals took place at the end of June, and she is hoping to make it into the top 25 competitors. Ashley has a Facebook page where she is sharing all her adventures, and using her platform to spread inspiration and awareness for the competition and female veterans. Enjoy this inspiring episode. Contact Ashley: LinkedIn https://guideoneducation.com/ Fundrasing Page Faceboo Facebook Donation

Welcome to Episode 27 of the Women of the Military Podcast. Our guest this week is Natalie Olivero.  Natalie Olivero served in the Navy for 4 years and went on countless missions. Natalie was able to see many beautiful places around the world, even though her family never thought she was cut out for the military. Natalie tells about her experiences in the Navy, and her struggles transitioning to civilian life. Now for the past ten years, she has been working on perfecting the recruitment process. Natalie believes it's pretty simple when you break it all down. Treat people well, and put the best interest of others first. Natalie found a passion for recruiting but wanted to use her talent to focus solely on military personnel and their families. Today, she is the Founder + CEO of Military Talent Partners, a boutique talent consulting firm specializing in the career placement of Veterans and Military Spouses. Even with a family that had a military history no one ever expected Natalie to join the military. Because of her personality her family didn't think she could do it, but that belief pushed her to join and prove everyone wrong. And though there was a culture shock and she always struggled with military bearing she learned a lot and enjoyed her time in the military.  We talked about the stereotypes women sometimes face when people learn that you have served. She had so many great stories from serving in the Navy. I enjoyed getting hear a piece of her story.  Contact Natalie: https://www.linkedin.com/in/natalieoliverio/ Military Talent Partners links https://militarytalentpartners.com/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/MilTalent/ Twitter: https://www.facebook.com/MilTalent/ Linked In: https://www.facebook.com/MilTalent/ Linked In for Natalie: https://www.linkedin.com/in/natalieoliverio/

Welcome to today’s episode of the Women of the Military Podcast. Today’s guest is Linsey Daley. Linsey joined the Navy in 2004 on a green card in order to see America and travel more. She served 14 years on active duty as a Hospital Corpsman for the U.S Navy and is now in the Reserves. Linsey is a survivor of Military Sexual Trauma, and shares her story of recovery and finding hope. She recently started working for Veteran Sisters this June in order to give back to other female veterans. In today's interview she tells her story of being raped in her dorm room during first year in the Navy. When she told her female supervisor what happened. She told her that she allowed the male into her room in the evening, so what did she expect to happen. After that she didn't tell anyone what happened and internalized what happened believing it was her fault because she let him into her room. Because she wasn't able to get help it led to a lot of different issues in her life. It wasn't until she went through the VA claims process and had to write about her experience she was able to get help through the Veteran Sister organization. Because the incident was never reported past her initial supervisor there was no action taken against her assaulter.  One of the ways she was able to get help was when she got pregnant with her son. She couldn't drink because of the pregnancy and was able to gain control over her life. Once she was able to gain control over her alcohol addiction she was able to give back and work as a Sexual Assault Victim Advocate and Drug and Alcohol Program Advisor.  She was stationed in Japan and deployed to various ports of call. Being one of twelve females and the only female in the medical section.  LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/linsey-daley/ Website: www.veteransisters.org Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/VeteranSistersUS/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/veteransisters

Welcome to Episode 25 of the Women of the Military Podcast. This week’s guest is Elis Salamone. Elis was born in Arecibo, Puerto Rico and raised in Bridgeport, Connecticut. She is the oldest of 3 girls raised by a single mother. At 18, she enlisted in the Army and after 20 plus years of military service, she retired from the Air Force as a Lieutenant Colonel and Women’s Health Nurse Practitioner.  She served in the following assignments: Fort Dix, NJ; Camp Humphreys, Korea; San Antonio, TX; Andrews AFB, MD; RAF Lakenheath, England; Ramstein, Germany; Afghanistan, Colorado Springs, CO. Throughout, her civilian and military nursing career she has worked in neurosurgery, neonatal ICU, pediatrics, OB, the OR, as women’s health nurse practitioner, in management and leadership roles. Elis has served in Afghanistan with Army Special Forces and considers taking care of wounded warriors and being in charge of the Honor Guard team in England as two of her favorite highlights of her military career.  Throughout her career, Elis has been awarded for her advocacy and leadership. Her passions include mentoring transitioning veterans, nursing professionals and women to fulfill their full potential. In her spare time, Elis is an active Lean In leader and is on the board of the National Association of Western Washington Hispanic Nurses, Global Girls Give and the Director of Women Veterans for ALPFA Seattle.  Elis is fueled by self-care, travel, cooking, motivational storytelling and laughter.  Elis has been a military wife, is a mother to an adult son, a warrior and a self-proclaimed “badass”.  She didn’t do very well in high school so she decided to join the Army instead of going to college. While waiting to leave for boot camp she took a few college courses. She had wanted to be a medic but didn’t have high enough scores so she worked as a Personnelist.  Connect with Elis: LinkedIN Are you considering joining the military? Check out my free guide: A Girl's Guide to Military Life

Welcome to Episode 24 of Women of the Military.  Alana served in the US Air Force for 4 Years, she started out her military journey as a spouse and then joined active duty years later. She served in the medical field while in the military and got out to start a family. Her husband continues to serve active duty. She has now transitioned into the natural health field and own a business teaching people about natural ways to care for themselves and their family. She is also passionate about the Military Spouse community and run an online community called MilSpouse Tribe. Alana met her husband while she was still in high school. They had a plan for him to stay at the community college and then she would attend the community college after she graduated high school and then they would head off to a four-year institution. But her husband decided to leave community college behind and join the Air Force shortly after she graduated from high school. They were already engaged and got married about a year after he joined the Air Force. Their first assignment was in North Carolina where she was able to continue working on getting her degree in nursing.  Then he cross trained into a new career field and they ended up at Mountain Home AFB in Idaho. The town near Mountain Home had a population of 11,000 and there was no where for her to continue her degree. She felt stuck and then had a crazy idea. She could join the military too. She knew she wanted to work in the medical field so when she went to talk to the recruiter, she had the information she needed to get the job she wanted and they also were able to work with her to get stationed back in Idaho when she completed boot camp and tech school.  She was a medic and worked in Labor and Delivery doing a job similar to a Licensed Practical Nurse (LPN). She also worked Urgent Care, Ambulance Duty and finished up in a clinic setting.  She left the military to become a mom. She left the military at the beginning of January. Her daughter was born at the end of January and then in mid-February they got orders to a new assignment. Leaving the military wasn’t what she expected and she felt a loss of purpose she had found being part of the military.  Transition Resources: Free Mentorship with Veterati American Corporate Partners  (Available for Milspouses) Military Spouse Resources: Milspouse Tribe Milspouse Creative for Military Spouse Entrepreneurs Episode's Mentioned Joining the Military Without a Career Field Connect with Alana: Instagram Facebook Are you considering joining the military? Check out my free guide: A Girl's Guide to Military Life

Welcome to Episode 23 of Women of the Military. My guest this week is Pam Chavez.  Pam never intended on joining the military and ended up doing so after traveling the world backpacking in 2000. She came home with no money and went back to waiting tables. Wanting to get back into college. 9-11 happened and she moved out of Chicago to Portland, OR in hopes of a fresh start but finding work proved very difficult. She ended up enlisting in the Army because after her adventures around the world she knew she could do anything for a few years. Then she ended up getting stop-lossed during her deployment to Iraq. She left the military when she returned home from her deployment. Her service led to the life she has today. She met her husband while serving in the military and they have three boys. She also started her business, Health on the Homefront, which is focused on helping military spouses take back control of their life through mindset, connection, health and wellbeing. Pam had a military background since her dad and brothers had served in the Army. When she was stuck and relying on credit cards to pay the bills, she saw the military as a way to pay for college and get out of debt. Because she joined later in life (late 20s) it made it easier to cope with boot camp and the Army in general. She decided to become a medic because she wasn’t mechanically inclined and thought it would be an interesting career field. She deployed to Iraq in 2005. And although her job was a lot like her mission at her home station. Routine sick hall care. She always knew the danger she was in. There were regular incoming rockets to the base she was at in Balad, Iraq. Once there was a round of ammunition that landed within a block of where she was, luckily it didn’t detonate. But it was another reminder of the reality of where she was.  When her deployment came up, she only had a few months left before she could get out of the Army and was stop-lossed. Her boyfriend (now husband) was also deploying to Iraq so it worked out well for her that she deployed and was able to see him about once a week when they would have their day off. And when she got home, she began the process to get out of the military.  The military changed everything for Pam. She went from struggling to make ends meet to building up a savings during a deployment, having a way to pay for college and meeting her husband and now being a mom, military spouse and business owner. Her family recently returned from living overseas in Korea. We talked about the struggle’s military spouses face. After serving for just over four years in the military she became a military spouse and has been married almost 15 years. So, she has experienced a lot of challenges. Through starting her business, she has found a way to move her passion with her while connecting with other military spouses. Connect with Pam: Website Facebook Mentioned in this episode:  Reintegration After A Deployment  Are you considering joining the military? Check out my free guide: A Girl's Guide to Military Life

Welcome to episode 22 of the Women of the Military Podcast. This week’s guest is Lacey Langford Lacey Langford, The Military Money Expert™ is the host of The Military Money Show and LaceyLangford.com a personal finance blog specializing in the unique world of the U.S. military. She was raised an Army Brat and is a U.S. Air Force veteran, Milspouse, financial coach, speaker, and writer who changes people’s lives from being fearful of money to having control and confidence with it. Lacey’s an Accredited Financial Counselor® with over ten years’ experience in financial planning, counseling and coaching. Lacey served from 1997-2001 separating just 3 months before 9/11. During my service she was an information manager. She says, “Serving in the military was the best decision she ever made. She was scared out of my mind to do it but knew it was a good decision at the time. But she had no idea what a positive impact it would have on her.” Lacey joined the military after attending community college for six months and not feeling ready to continue on to get her degree. She worked in Information Management and did basic computer help and admin work.  Before leaving for basic training she was terrified. She said that if she could have run when she was flying to San Antonio she would have. But she was on her path to the military and ended up completing basic training while learning that she could do more than she expected from herself. Overall the military was a great experience for her. While she was in the Air Force she was stationed at Pope Air Force Base. She did spend seven months of her time in the military serving in Italy with the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO). This wasn’t considered a deployment, but instead was a long Temporary Duty Assignment (TDY). She learned a lot about the different countries she worked along side and traveled to. When her enlistment was up she decided to leave the military behind. She felt like if she stayed in for another enlistment she would stay in the military until retirement. Three months after she left the military September 11th happened. About a year after she left the military she married her now husband who is still currently serving in the military. We talked about transitioning out of the military and what it means to be a military mom who served in the military and grew up as an Army brat.  Mentioned in this episode Joining the Military Without a Career Field Connect with Lacey The Military Money Show www.LaceyLangford.com Are you considering joining the military? Check out my free guide: A Girl's Guide to Military Life

Welcome to episode 21 of Women of the Military Podcast. Today’s guest is Tammy Barlet Tammy Barlet served in the Coast Guard for 8 years. As an Operation Specialist aboard the USCGC Chase (WHEC-718), traveling halfway around the world twice was the last thing Tammy thought would happen. However, she would soon find herself on patrols in the middle of the Pacific Ocean on her way to Alaska, Thailand or the Persian Gulf. During Tammy’s time on the Cutter Chase, she participated in numerous tactical operations such as Cooperation Afloat Readiness and Training (CARAT 97, Southeast Asia) and Military Interdiction Operations (MIO, Persian Gulf). The Coast Guard Meritorious Unit Commendation from Vice Admiral Card, Distinguished Coast Guard Battle “E” Ribbon, Coast Guard Special Operations, and Armed Forces Expeditionary Medal were only a few of the medals and ribbons she earned while on board the Chase.  Watching the Coast Guard on the shores of Delaware growing up inspired Tammy to join the military. She wanted to see more than just her small town and her mom liked the idea of the Coast Guard because she thought it would mean Tammy would be somewhere close to or inside of the United States. The military also offered Tammy an opportunity to go to college after her service commitment and as a senior in high school not knowing exactly what she wanted to do this idea appealed to her. When she finished boot camp, she was assigned to the MWR unit where her job consisted of handing out basketballs and cleaning gum off the gym floor. At her six-month assessment with her Chief she told him she wanted to do something else. He suggested she become a Radarman and would be gone within 2 months and on a Cutter within 3. She did that.  It was aboard the USCG Cutter Chase that she saw the world. She did a training mission with Thailand focused on the tactical side while the Navy focused on the larger mission. And then while in the Persian Gulf her team checked and boarded ships coming out of the river and when they were found in violation the Navy would take control and they would continue to patrol.  She left the military after an accident that happened while she was volunteering. She walked away from the military and didn't get involved in the Veteran space for 10 years. It wasn't until her cousin committed suicide that she reached out for help at the VA and got connected with a counselor who gave her guidance and direction she needed. She went back to school to complete her degree and she is now almost about to receive her masters and is heavily involved in the Veteran community.  Connect with Tammy: https://twitter.com/Tammy_Barlet Organizations Mentioned in this Episode: Ms. Veteran America Mission Continues Women Veterans Empowered to Transition writing program  Team River Runner Valor Games  Delaware County Veteran Memorial Association   Veterans in Global Leadership   Are you Leaving the Military? Get my free guide: Navigating Life After the Military!