Theresa is sharing stories of military service members along with tools she has learned to help others as they transition out of the military. She also wants to share stories to help others outside of the military understand the experience of those who have served in the military. You can order her book Beyond the Battlefield (affiliate link) at Amazon.
Sharing stories to help with military transition
Theresa served in the Army. She was working as a Physician Assistance and when she saw the military was in need of PAs and would pay off her student loan debt she decided to join. She was worried about deploying but in the end wanted something different. With a direct commission into the Army she arrived at her first assignment before she went to Officer Basic Course (OBC).
She felt lost and confused. She had no idea what uniforms went together. And didn’t know all the rules for patches, what color socks to wear and all the other jargon and culture the military brings. But she learned it over time. Then a few month after she began her career in the miltiary was able to go to her OBC training. There she received training both as a military officer and a PA. The most impactful training during OBC was trauma training.
Deploying to Iraq
She knew she would deploy when she joined the military and it was something she was concerned about. But it didn’t stop her from serving. About a year after she joined the military she went to Iraq for nine months. The deployment had her doing similar work at home station, routine medical care. She was lucky enough to have the support of a larger medical team. So she didn’t have to shoulder all the responsibilities that some other deployments require.
Leaving the military
She decided to leave the military at the end of her three year contract. It was a hard choice. She had been given the opportunity to pursue her Ph.D but wasn’t sure if the military was the right option for her. In the end, she decided to leave the military and re-start her civilian career. She also was dating someone in the Army and they ended up getting married.
Getting sick
Another factor in leaving the military was the number of medical issues that were starting to pop up. She had been a gymnast growing up and at first she thought her intense training was affecting her. But as the years went by more challenges arose and she had to stop working. She had challenges getting support from the VA and was finally able to get full disability with the help of Wounded Warrior Project’s support.
One of the projects she worked on was creating a course to help gymnast. When she shared it with her former XO he told her that it would be a great course for service members transitioning. She decided to follow that path and began interviews for her book Beyond the Battlefield (affiliate link). And she is now working on a similar book this time for gymnast. Using the tools she has learned from meditation to help her through her experience of both leaving the military and leaving gymnastics.
Mentioned in this episode:
Beyond the Battlefield (affiliate link)
Email Theresa for signed copies: theresa@fit-intuit.com
We appreciate you sharing this kind of content. They truly inspire me and other military personnel to always see the bright side of things. Although I still have two years left in the service, I am eager to see what my future holds.
Leaving the military, whether planned or abrupt, can be such a shock. This was great information about Theresa and her military transition. There are so many great military transitioning organizations out there now. I recently learned about the Military Influencer Conference and wrote about how they are helping veterans in the community (https://vegasveteran.com/2023/03/18/the-leading-annual-military-conference-mic-is-set-for-a-record-breaking-year/)
I think this is a great start to helping veterans find a community after leaving the military.