Crystal joined the military when she realized she needed a change in her life. It led her to join the Air Force and begin a career. After a night of drinking a fellow airman helped her get into her room and raped her. She didn't report it and just moved on. Years later she took an assignment helping others who were survivors of military sexual trauma. This triggered a response including panic attacks and other neurological responses. Crystal bravely shared how this experience that she thought she had left in her past came back to cause challenges in her life.

Lindsay shares her story of going from being a dancer for various shows around the country and on a cruise ship to becoming a military spouse. In her memoir, Holding on and Letting Go, she shares that experience. But in today's episode while we highlight parts of her story we focus in on the hard work it takes to write your story in a memoir. She shares both her own experiences and advice she has picked up along the way. I really hope you enjoy my conversation with Lindsay.

Marina continue to help women after military service through her non profit Military Women's Collective. Marina served in the Navy for 24 years. She wanted to use her foreign language skills but ended up as a sonar technician. Her career began in 1997 and ended during COVID. We talked about the ups and downs through out her career while ending the interview to highlight the programs available to women veterans in the Southern California area.

Jaime joined the Air Force to see the world, but instead of going to Japan like her original orders said she ended up in Texas. She had a diverse career in the Air Force and as a military spouse. She worked in the what was then known as the information management but had experiences outside her career field including two deployments. Today she is working as a philanthropic consultant specializing in military giving.

With May being Mental Health Awareness month I wanted to do a podcast episode highlighting Veterans and Mental Health. What better way to do that than have an open discussion about mental health with a mental health advocate and veteran. So I brought back Tab Bartley to the show. She was a guest on episode 95 sharing her experience in the Marine Corps as she was running for Indiana State Senate. I can't wait to share this great conversation about mental health. 

Barb Carson is the Managing Director, Programs and Services at the D'Aniello Institute for Veterans and Military Families (IVMF), Syracuse University. She is also an Air Force veteran. Today, we talked about her experience in the Air Force along with her role and the programs at IVMF and how the work being done by IVMF is changing the lives of veterans.

I was the keynote speaker for the 4th Annual Women's Brunch at Mt. Soledad National Veterans Memorial last week and a number of people came up to me after the event telling me how impactful my talk was. And while I didn't record it so the words are not exactly the same I did use my notes to try and re-create my talk to share it all with you. I really hope you enjoy this bonus episode. And don't forget your story matters.

The final episode is advice from those who shared their story on the Women of the Military podcast from the second half of 2024. I hope that you enjoy learning what advice veterans shared about joining the military. Thanks for all the support!

I'm excited to welcome back Ashley Gorbulja back to the podcast. She shared her story in episode 28 and shared her expertise in as part of the Girls Guide to the Military series as an education expert. This week she is taking a turn in the interviewer seat and asking me to look back at the six years of Women of the Military podcast as I close out this chapter of Women of the Military podcast. It has been an amazing experience and I am honored to have shared a piece of the story of military women.

I'm excited to welcome JoAnne Bass on Woman of the Military podcast. She recently retired from the Air Force and was the 19th Chief Master Sergeant of the U.S. Air Force. She is the first woman to hold the position and has worked to improve the lives of Airmen. In this interview we will discuss her time in the Air Force how her career field set her up for success, balancing military and family life, and advice for the next generation.

JT Blatty is sharing military stories through photos and writing. She recently published her memoir: Snapshots Sent Home: From Afghanistan, Iraq, Ukraine. In this interview we highlighted her time in the Army. She attended West Point and graduated in 2000. Going from peace time to war was unexpected experience but it led her to where she is today. She deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan and then after leaving the service had the opportunity to head to Ukraine and found a human connection with the soldiers she met there.

Rich Sherman is the author of Never Home: Remembering the Military Heroes Who Never Returned. In this week's interview he shared about his experience in the Navy. Joining in 1989 and leaving for Desert Shield shortly after arriving at his first assignment. After serving in the military he left for the business world. And through a series of events became a photographer and embarked on a journey to share the stories of those who never came home from World War I and World War II. He shares how the book came to be and a little about the experience of visiting all the national cemeteries outside of the US.

Chef Robert Irvine took his service experience in the Royal Navy and is giving back after service. Robert Irvine joined the Royal Navy at 15 and served as a chef. His passion for food has continued through out his life and he has had many accomplishments including being a star on Food Network. Today, he is giving back to the military community through the Robert Irvine Foundation hosting events around the world and supporting both the veteran community and first responders. 

Dr. Sue Subocz shares how using the education benefits from the military enhanced her life and gave her opportunities after her career in the military ended. Sue served in the Coast Guard for 13 years and then served in the Coast Guard Reserve for another 13 years. She worked as a Civil Engineer on active duty and highlighted the different projects from her career. She transitioned into filling different careers in the Reserve including being a liaison. Today, Dr. Subocz has more than 20 years of experience in higher education, and has served in several leadership roles with Walden University since 2014.

Alex is the second half of Hello Home Books. I had Kim on two episodes ago in episode 300 to share her story of military service and a little about Hello Home Books. This week I get to share Alex's story of service. Alex also worked in Human Resources (S1) career field like Kim and they met at Fort Stewart when they both worked in an S1 shop. She also served in Kuwait and Germany before coming back to the states for her last assignment. After leaving the military she went to school to become a dietician and is coming up on graduation.

Beth H. Macy talked about how the military opens doors to the future. This was what she experienced. It may not have been open doors in the work translated to a career she was going to pursue. But her mindset shifted after her service in the Navy leading to a full career. She worked in High Tech, as a therapist, fitness instructor trainer and today she is the author the Moscow Night series that currently has three books with more on the way.

Kimberly is working with her friend Alex to create books for military kids. There are a lot of books for military kids but how Kimberly and Alex's books are different is that they focus on getting kids excited about the location they will be moving to. Kimberly serve in the Army as a Human Resource officer. She had the opportunity to serve overseas in Korea twice and shared about some of the challenges and positive aspects of military service.

Darlene joined the military looking for community but she learned how to be a leader in the military. After her parents died she was on her own and so she looked at the military for community. She ended up joining the Air Force. At Basic Training she was selected to lead the platoon and it allowed her to see the potential she had to be a leader. She is an award winning author, relationship coach, reverend and more. I'm excited to share her inspiring story this week on the Women of the Military podcast.

Naomi Connnelly's story of paving the way for women serving as the first woman in Field Artillery as a Fire Finder Radar Operator and Maintainer in not only the Army National Guard, but the Army. Field Artillery is part of combat arms and didn't open to women until 2015. But before 2015 there were some jobs that started to open un within combat arms. She was able to serve in one these roles in the Field Artillery in 2012. She is still serving in the Army National Guard in New Hampshire. In this episode she shares her experience in the Army National Guard and some insight along the way.

Jen Sardam wanted to serve in the Public Affairs career field, but initially began her career in Radio Communications. She served in both the Army and the Army National Guard. She bounced between the National Guard and active duty and move to a number of different assignments. She began her career in the Radio Communications field but was able to switch over to Public Affairs after leaving the Army. She shared about her experience doing multiple jobs in the PA career field and deploying twice. She also discussed the challenge of leaving the National Guard and the emotions that came along with leaving. She is working to find a way to help others through offering support to women veterans.