Many military families leave a legacy that causes their children to follow in their footsteps. My journey to military service had so many twists and turns that I’m not even sure how I ended up here. I never dreamed big. I was just an ordinary girl with an ordinary story. What was the point? Dreaming […]
Category Archives: Afghanistan
Stories from when I was deployed to Afghanistan on a PRT. Most focus on the different missions I went on as Civil Engineer and a female in Afghanistan
6 Things Soldiers Miss While Serving Overseas
What do you miss when you are serving overseas? Depending on where you are deployed to you can either have all the comforts of home or be roughing it in a tent or even sleep under the stars. While I was deployed I was somewhere in the middle. We lived in tents, but had concrete […]
Women in the Military: Serving Overseas
What is it like to be a woman serving in the military overseas in Afghanistan? How were you treated? Was it different from the men on your team? What did the Afghan men think of you?
Deployment Memories
It is interesting how something like a deployment stays with you forever. I have been home from my deployment for over eight years and last night something triggered me to have a dream about being back there. Deployment memories came rushing back. And by something I know exactly what it was, a picture of dead […]
There’s a Difference between Military Spouses and Veterans
My family attended a ceremony a few months ago. The announcer asked people who were military veterans and military spouses to raise their hand. My hand went up next to my husbands, as did my blood pressure. You see I am a military spouse. And I would be the first to tell you how hard it […]
Changing the Conversation about Mental Health
When people think of mental health linked to deployment their minds often jump to combat situations, being injured or dealing with dramatic situations. While these situations do happen overseas and can cause Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), there are other issues with being in a combat zone that can easily be overlooked. I deployed to […]
A Female Veteran: The Struggles Don’t End When You Leave
What the hardest part of being a female veteran? People don’t get you. Most people who meet me don’t know that I am a military veteran. Why would they? I just look like a normal girl, like you. I don’t tell people when I first meet them, it just doesn’t come up in conversation. And […]
Sacrifice Leads to being Thankful
I’m standing in a room full of people who are honoring my sacrifice of being a military veteran. Often when people hear about the military they hear of moving regularly, deploying to war and losing loved ones. And yes, there is that, but there is also so much goodness in those hard times and sacrifice. […]
Do I deserve your thanks on Veteran’s Day?
Am I the only one who thinks about something they do and then put it aside like it really was no big deal. Or compares it to someone else’s story and then thinks that their story doesn’t matter. When we look at the highlight reel of someone else’s life it makes it hard to remember […]
Serving as a USAF Intelligence Officer Overseas
Leslie* served in the as an Intelligence Officer in the Air Operations Center in Qatar and UAE. Learn a little more about what goes on behind the scenes. Not all work is done at the ground level. Name: Leslie* Rank during deployment: Captain Branch of Service: Air Force Current rank/current job if you have left […]
