Anna Maria is running an organization to help fight for change for women veterans. She wants to build a community for women when they leave the service and created Women Veterans United. She shared her experience of serving in the Australian Army on this week’s interview of the Women of the Military podcast and talked about what she is doing for women veterans in Australia today.
Uniting women through Women Veterans United
Anna Maria is a fourth-generation veteran. She was the first woman in her family to take up the role of the military member and her brother also served. When she joined the Defense Force she wasn’t given the opportunity to pick her career field and ended up working in Airborne in a new role for women. She did not particularly care for the career and had many challenges especially related to discrimination and harassment. She transferred to the Army Reserves after four and half years of service because she wanted to switch career fields. She went into the role of Recruiting hoping she could advocate for change on how people joined the Defense Force. But rules had already been changed and new enlistment recruits could pick their career and she helped them through that process.
Deployment to East Timor
She deployed to East Timor when she was part of the Airborne unit. She said it was very challenging but she said she also felt they were doing something important and could see the positive impact when she went home. She also mentioned how East Timor struggled when the foreign forces left and had to find their way to stand on their own two feet. When the foreign forces left they created a vacuum and it took time for things to get better. And today they are standing on their own.
Today she works for women veterans
She launched her own business and created Women Veterans United after being inspired by some of the programs created in the United States. These programs help women find community after service. She is also working with the government to create change and make policy changes. You can learn more about the work she is doing here.
Connect with Anna Maria:
Mentioned in this episode:
Related episodes:
Joining the Australian Army – Episode 33
The Rollercoaster of Military Life – Episode 117
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