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Joining Forces: Women Veterans Speak Out – The Quarter-Life Crisis

Posted by danielleac on October 24, 2011

Read the latest article of BPW Foundation’s every-other-week Joining Forces feature that brings us the voices of women veterans telling their stories.  If you are a women veteran who would like to share your story, please contact us through our Joining Forces for Women Veterans Facebook page, or email dcorazza@bpwfoundation.org.

The Quarter-Life Crisis

(This week’s blog brought to us by Liz Mclean, an Air Force Academy graduate from a small town who has transitioned into the civilian world in search of fulfillment after serving on active duty for four and a half years, both stateside and abroad. She left the service as an O-3.)

 

The concept of the “mid-life” crisis should hit around actual middle age; this dramatic era of self-doubt where people start agonizing over the imminent passing of their youth.

Stereotyping of course, it is what I like to call the Peg Bundy syndrome:  age 55, suddenly transitioning to leopard print leggings, spiked high heels, big hair and ruby red lipstick in search of an undefined dream or goal.  The result of the crisis may end up as this burning desire to make significant changes in essential aspects of day-to-day life; specifically in career and work-life balance. It becomes this constant yearning to find the next challenge.

But for a military woman, what happens when that mid-life crisis occurs at the younger age of 25? The world had best be ready for the women veterans who are going to be taking the world by storm with their eternal ambition.

Liz on Duty

Picture a disciplined military academy college alumnus with an additional graduate degree, who has served stateside and/or overseas in a leadership role in a time of a war. Picture a woman who has tackled any logistical nightmare placed in front of her, impacted lives across varying spectrums, traveled the world for business or pleasure, exhausted her own humanitarian efforts, is financially secure, wears camouflage with her hair neatly in a bun and a tube of lipstick in her back pocket, likely found a significant other (who depending on the female, may or may not have been able to keep up with her), pushed the limits of nearly every physically demanding event… and still has this burning void in life with this undefined definition to “succeed.”

The question starts becoming, what’s next? What do you do when you still have self-doubt because you don’t want to sit back and just relax…but want to continually make a difference on the quest to break away from mediocrity? For me, I am hoping the answer ends up as I join the civilian world where I have to continually prove myself with intellect….while signing up for an Ironman in Texas to prove myself physically. For some of my closest military friends, the answer has been to venture towards medical school as a second career, go back to become a pilot after already serving 5 years as a Maintenance Officer leading hundreds, teach English to Japanese forces, or start her own non-profit organization.

People may squabble over the concept of twenty-something year olds feeling like they have a lack of meaningful goals in their lives: we know we are still considered ‘young’ and have our whole lives ahead of us. The fact of the matter is, when you have accomplished as much as these women in the military have in such a short period of time, there is a feeling of not knowing where to find that next challenge so we don’t look back at age 55 and say “I wish I had accomplished what I wanted when I was younger. “

At the end of the day, these ladies simply wonder, “What’s my next challenge or goal to achieve? Am I doing well enough? I need more.”  

                     Stay tuned for more from the life of Liz McLean….

Posted in Gen Y, Joining Forces for Women Veterans, Uncategorized, Veterans, Women Veterans | Tagged: , , , , , | 2 Comments »

Joining Forces: Women Veterans Speak Out – HomeLESS to HomeOWNER!

Posted by danielleac on September 12, 2011

Read the latest article of BPW Foundation’s every-other-week Joining Forces feature that brings us the voices of women veterans telling their stories.  If you are a women veteran who would like to share your story, please contact us through our Joining Forces for Women Veterans Facebook page, or email dcorazza@bpwfoundation.org

From HomeLESS to HomeOWNER! (Part one of a two-part series: Jessica Campbell’s  story)

Life in a Nutshell -The Road to Homelessness

In 2002, at the age of 21, I made the decision to quit wandering around the small Arkansas town I’m from and to make something of myself. I chose to enlist  in the Army. I spent several months in  basic and advanced training in the field of Communications, learning how to be a Networking Systems Switching Operator or, in layman’s terms, to set up networks for phone and internet access. I learned how to use large computers mobilized on HMMWVs to perform system and network operations in the field, including development of user databases and ongoing preventative maintenance and troubleshooting. I was also awarded a Secret clearance. Once this training concluded, I was shipped to my permanent duty station in Georgia…. only to be shipped off to war six weeks later.

I spent 10 months serving in Kuwait and Iraq attached to a Large Extension Network team, a moving convoy of HMMWVs responsible for providing communications for the front line. We had no protection, no combat unit providing cover during our missions following the moving operations around the country while Baghdad was being bombed. We unexpectedly took fire during a one-day mission, barely avoiding injury and knowing we were sitting ducks.

Living in the line of fire day after day creates a stressful, constant paranoia, although it is required to stay alive, there is a cumulative mental and physical toll.

When I came home I was a different person. I couldn’t feel, couldn’t think, couldn’t function the way I used to. I seemed to be in a state of shock, and began self-medicating with alcohol to deal with the insomnia. This led to trouble in my military life – I had a hard time making morning formations after being up all night, unable to sleep. My coping mechanism, alcohol, earned me a DUI and the embarrassment and shame that goes along with it…with family, friends, and my own self image.  When my unit was issued orders for deployment again, I didn’t go—I decided to accept a general discharge instead of going overseas. I couldn’t do it again.

Once released from active duty, I didn’t have anywhere to go.  There wasn’t any transition help available—for a job or anything. I ended up approaching the VA hospital in Florida for help with the Post Traumatic Stress Disorder symptoms I had. They dealt with me in a dismissive manner – prescribed medication and sent me on my way.  I wasn’t mentally equipped to deal with everyday life at that point, my part-time job at Home Depot involved dealing with customers, and I really couldn’t handle the “in-your-face” attitude many of the civilians I was working with had.  After bouncing around from friend-to-friend’s homes aimlessly for a couple of years, I finally exhausted my resources and had to admit that I was homeless.

Now in South Carolina, I again approached the VA for assistance. They gave me a list of local shelters. I approached several of the shelters, but was denied entry because I wasn’t broken enough.

I didn’t come from prison. I didn’t suffer from alcoholism. I hadn’t been battered physically. I didn’t have children. I didn’t meet any of the criteria needed to receive their help. Thank goodness the last shelter on the list, Angel’s House, had space for me. After spending two months there and completing a job training program with the local non-profit, Fast Forward Community Technology Center, I saved up enough money to strike out on my own. I also secured a full-time job with a company offering medical benefits, 401K benefits with full vesting, and vacation time.

I still can’t afford a lot of luxuries, like internet and cable, but I am on my own two feet and getting better every day.

From Left to Right: Dee of Fast Forward, Jessie, and Bobbie of Angel House. Thanks to the helping hand extended by both of these fantastic women and the non-profits they run, Jessie was able to get back on her feet.

It took four years. Four years for me to go from active duty and traumatized to satisfactory civilian employment and independent living.  If I could influence the transition process for any service member returning to civilian life, it would be to have more access to information about programs and services that are available to veterans, best and worst case scenarios.

I wasn’t prepared when I left active duty, and I don’t think anyone should leave the service without going through transition or re-entry services.

(Stay tuned for Part II: What a Difference a Year Makes!)

As told to and edited by Danielle Corazza

Posted in Combat, Gen Y, Homelessness, Joining Forces, Joining Forces for Women Veterans, Military, Non Traditional Jobs, Veterans, Women Veterans | Tagged: , , , , | 1 Comment »

A Lesson to be learned

Posted by YWM on August 31, 2011

Something to think about as school starts.

This true story has been circulating on the Internet and we thought it was worth sharing with our readers.

Back in September of 2005, on the first day of school, Martha Cothren, a social studies school teacher at Robinson High School in Little Rock , did something not to be forgotten. On the first day of school, with the permission of the school superintendent, the principal and the building supervisor, she removed all of the desks out of her classroom.

When the first period kids entered the room they discovered that there were no desks.

‘Ms. Cothren, where are our desks?’

She replied, ‘You can’t have a desk until you tell me how you earn the right to sit at a desk.’

They thought, ‘Well, maybe it’s our grades.’

‘No,’ she said.

‘Maybe it’s our behavior.’

She told them, ‘No, it’s not even your behavior.’

And so, they came and went, the first period, second period, third period.  Still no desks in the classroom.

By early afternoon television news crews had started gathering in Ms. Cothren’s classroom to report about this crazy teacher who had taken all the desks out of her room.

The final period of the day came and as the puzzled students found seats on the floor of the deskless classroom, Martha Cothren said, ‘Throughout the day no one has been able to tell me just what he/she has done to earn the right to sit at the desks that are ordinarily found in this classroom.  Now I am going to tell you.’

At this point, Martha Cothren went over to the door of her classroom and opened it.

Twenty-seven (27) U.S. Veterans, all in uniforms, walked into that classroom, each one carrying a school desk.  The Vets began placing the school desks in rows, and then they would walk over and stand alongside the wall.  By the time the last soldier had set the final desk in place those kids started to understand, perhaps for the first time in their lives, just how the right to sit at those desks had been earned.

Martha said, ‘You didn’t earn the right to sit at these desks.  These heroes did it for you..  They placed the desks here for you. Now, it’s up to you to sit in them. It is your responsibility to learn, to be good students, to be good citizens.  They paid the price so that you could have the freedom to get an education. Don’t ever forget it.’

In 2006, The Veterans of Foreign Wars named Martha Cothren as their “Teacher of the Year.”

As school starts and we continue our daily lives don’t forget that August was the deadliest month yet for U.S. forces in the nearly 10-year war in Afghanistan with 66 of our brave soliders dying so that this nation’s children can start school.   We can thank them by supporting our veterans when they return home from defending our freedoms and the freedoms of others.  Sign up to get updates on the BPW Foundation Joining Forces for Women Veteran’s Mentorship program and lean how you can help.

Posted in Combat, Education, Joining Forces for Women Veterans, Military, Veterans | Tagged: , , , , , | Leave a Comment »

Joining Forces: Women Veterans Speak Out

Posted by danielleac on August 30, 2011

Read the latest article of BPW Foundation’s every-other-week Joining Forces feature that brings us the voices of women veterans telling their stories.  If you are a women veteran who would like to share your story, please contact us through our Joining Forces for Women Veterans Facebook page, or email dcorazza@bpwfoundation.org

In the Spirit of Entrepreneurship..

by Danielle Corazza

I’ve got a lot to learn.

I’ve always been a fan of the idea of being my own boss, and in light of the newly enacted 5% set-asides for women-owned small businesses (WOSBs), on top of the existing 3% set-aside for service-disabled veteran-owned small businesses (SDVOSBs), the timing seems right for me to strike out on my own. But first, I needed to figure out how to do it!

Thanks to a grant from the Small Business Administration, Syracuse University’s Whitman School of Management has developed a program specifically for women veterans to learn how to be entrepreneurs: the Veterans as Women Igniting the Spirit of Entrepreneurship (V-WISE) course.

After applying and being accepted, my books arrived a week later, with instructions on how to log into the online course that was going to be my guide for the next month (at the end of a month’s worth of online instruction there is a three day, face-to-face conference).

I’m not sure what I expected, but I don’t think I realized how much I needed to learn about the proper way to go about being in business for yourself. I mean, I’ve got an Masters in Business Administration.. I’ve written business plans for school assignments, and I’d consider myself a great proposal writer… but, I have never taken the time to drill down to the aptly named Nuts and Bolts of taking an idea and making it a reality..

Although a bit tasking (you try developing a marketing plan overnight!), the course so far is great. Not only is it thorough, but the other 199 women veterans I’m interacting with are inspiring and the camaraderie among us is growing tremendously as we each find our comfort zone.

Fingers crossed, as I’m not done yet, but I can’t wait to learn more!

(Danielle is enrolled in V-WISE’s Baltimore Session, for more information and a schedule of upcoming classes, visit their website.)

Posted in Career Advancement, Education, Joining Forces for Women Veterans, multigenerational, Small Business, Uncategorized, Veterans, Women Veterans | Tagged: , , , , | Leave a Comment »

Misbehavin’ Notification: A Salute to Women Veterans

Posted by YWM on August 18, 2011

Excerpts from remarks by Deborah L. Frett, CEO, Business and Professional Women’s Foundation at the Salute to Women Veterans, in Chicago, August 12, 2011.

Deborah L. Frett, BPW Foundation CEO

Business and Professional Women’s Foundation is pleased to be here tonight with the Chicago Sky, saluting our women veterans.   I would like to thank the Chicago Sky team and staff for joining us in hosting this special Salute to Women Veterans tonight.   We are very grateful that they are raising the visibility of women veterans in our society  – as women veterans often do not self-identify and are often overlooked.

I also want to Thank you Col. Sylvia Moran. We are delighted that you could join us tonight and share some of your insights based on your 35 years of experience in the military, as part of that historic West Point Class of female firsts and as well as your personal transition experiences.

BPW has been advancing the cause of working women since 1919; and BPW Foundation comes naturally to our work of supporting women veterans.

  • We were the first to focus our research and programs exclusively on women in the workforce.
  •  We were the first to elevate issues of women in non-traditional occupations.
  • And we were the first to examine the domestic and workplace needs of women veterans as they transition from military to civilian life.

BPW Foundation has always focused on working women – and more specifically, women working in non-traditional occupations including the military.

Women have fought for and served our nation since its beginning.  Women now represent more than 15% of our service members and there are almost 2 million women veterans with an anticipated 150,000 more transiting from military to civilian life in the next five years.   Our country has been slow to acknowledge this demographic change and is just now recognizing that veteran services and programs designed for men don’t necessarily work for our women veterans.  It is time to be sure that we recognize their strengths and abilities and ensure that they easily transition into successful civilian careers.

BPW Foundation recently launched the Joining Forces for Women Veterans Mentorship Program.  How we developed this program and got to where we are today can be summarized in three steps:

  • We actually asked women veterans what they needed.
  • We didn’t stop with research.
  • We are implementing a course for change.

The first step – We actually asked women veterans what they needed.

  • In 2005 we recognized that the surge of women veterans returning home from two wars was an unaddressed issue;
  • In 2007 we conducted and published the first research that examined the transition of women veterans of all eras back into the civilian workplace

The second step – We didn’t stop with research.

Last fall we organized and hosted the Joining Forces for Women Veterans Summit, to educate the government and employers from all sectors about the gender distinct issues and challenges faced by women veterans.  The discussions at that meeting resulted in the publication of a Summary Report outlining recommendations and the next steps that need to be taken to support our women veterans.

And the third step – We are implementing a course for change.

  • Because of what we learned from our research and during the Summit, we launched the Joining Forces for Women Veterans Mentorship Program. Evidence pointed to the need for one-on-one mentoring to help women veterans make the transition to successful, meaningful jobs and fulfilling civilian lives.

In addition, The Office of the First Lady and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce highlighted this “mentorship gap” with their recognition of BPW Foundation as point organization for a large-scale mentoring initiative to benefit women veterans and military spouses.

Working with our partner, the U.S. Chamber, and others, we intend to significantly increase women veteran and military spouse employment by joining forces in public private partnerships and establish a network of 10,000 women mentors from corporate, government and nonprofit communities across the country and connect them with women veterans and military wives by the end of 2012.  Beyond this joint program, BPW Foundation’s Mentorship Program has a goal of eventually engaging 100,000 women mentors.

We will be partnering with corporations and businesses across the country to accomplish this and I hope that some of you will join us in the effort.  Of course I hope many of you will also agree to join us as mentors.  You can sign up on our website, BPWFoundation.org, to get updates and information on how you can participate.

Again, I want to thank the Chicago Sky, Colonel Moran, William Schmutz of the Chicago Mayor’s Office and all of you for joining us in this Salute for Women Veterans tonight.

Posted in Joining Forces for Women Veterans, Misbehavin' Notification, Non Traditional Jobs, Veterans, Women Veterans | Tagged: , , , | Leave a Comment »

Joining Forces: Women Veterans Speak Out

Posted by danielleac on August 1, 2011

Read the latest article of BPW Foundation’s every-other-week Joining Forces feature that brings us the voices of women veterans telling their stories.  If you are a women veteran who would like to share your story, please contact us through our Joining Forces for Women Veterans Facebook page, or email dcorazza@bpwfoundation.org

A Complete Sexual Revolution.. Without any actual sex!

by Danielle Corazza

The Beatles song “Revolution” has been running through my head all weekend with these completely self-adulterated lyrics: “It’s gonna be a revolution, ohhhh, you know that it is.. It’s gonna be a revolution, a sexual one, that is..”

It all started with the repeal of Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell earlier this year. The decision to allow any person to serve their country regardless of their sexual orientation or preference was long overdue.  And, I have been a bit impressed with the relative speed with which the Armed Forces have adopted the change, and rolled out the appropriate training. (I’ve seen name changes in the military take longer.) Seems like they’ve rounded third and are heading for a home run in the fairness, equality, and open-mindedness ball game..

But, wait. Something’s missing. Wonder what that could be?

Oh, yeah. Women.

As far back as the Revolutionary War, women were there. As the quote goes:

History raves about the heroics of men in war, but few instances are mentioned in which female courage was displayed. Yet during every conflict, and the peaceful years between, they too were there.

To borrow from the irascible, yet succinct, Capt Barb, “If she volunteers to defend this nation’s rights, then this nation should defend her right to volunteer for any military assignment.”

Women are in combat. It’s an undisputed fact, and no manner of fancy rule-engineering and loophole-diving can change it. So, why don’t we legalize it so that women may begin the deserved training and support?

On May 13th, 2011, HR 1928 was introduced in the House of Representatives and referred to the Committee on Armed Services.

HR 1928 outlines the findings that females in the Armed Forces are increasingly attached to combat units and engaging in frontline roles despite the current ground combat exclusion policy and also engaging in direct combat without receiving combat training. The purpose of the legislation is to ensure that modern military combat policies reflect the current operational environment of combat operations and to raise the recognition that female members for the Armed Forces should receive for their service.

Late last week, a group comprised mainly of female Congresswomen met as the Caucus on Women in the Military. After hearing from several subject matter experts, they recommended that the policy prohibiting women in combat be changed.

It seems that the steam is building, and that the batter is in the box.  Can we hit another home run for fairness and equality on behalf of women?

Make your voice heard by letting your member of Congress know now is the time!

Posted in Combat, Joining Forces for Women Veterans, legislation, Military, Uncategorized, Veterans, Women Veterans | Tagged: , | 2 Comments »

Joining Forces: Women Veterans Speak Out – No One Told Me

Posted by danielleac on July 4, 2011

Read the latest installment of our every-other-week Joining Forces feature that brings us the voices of women veterans telling their stories.  If you are a women veteran who would like to share your story, please contact us through our Joining Forces for Women Veterans Facebook page, or email dcorazza@bpwfoundation.org.


No One Told Me by Ginger Miller

I joined the Navy to get the GI Bill to go to college….mission accomplished…well almost. The GI Bill seemed like a sure fire way to get ahead of the game, after being discharged out of the Navy. Yeah that’s right, get out, go to college, and then get a good job. Unfortunately, it wasn’t that easy!

No one told me about the years of backlog with filing claims at the VA Regional Office, and no one told me that my husband, who was my knight in shining armor, would come back from war a changed man suffering from severe Post Traumatic Stress Disorder.

No one told me that there was a strong possibility that I, an honorably discharged disabled female veteran, could become homeless, and that I would have to work three jobs, go to school full-time, take care of my  husband with PTSD, and my 3 year old son, all while living in sub-standard housing conditions.

No one told me during the three-day transition course provided exiting military members that I really wasn’t prepared for the real world and that, there was a strong possibility that my life would be turned upside down for years to come.

No one told me that I would cry out to God after 20 years of marriage, wanting to know if my marriage was a blessing or a curse.

No one told me that God would light a fire up under me to start a nonprofit organization dedicated to helping homeless and at risk veterans.

No one told me that through my efforts to reach out and help other veterans that my healing process would begin.

No one told me that I would reach the lives of so many veterans in need.

No one told me that through my advocating efforts that I would be appointed to the Maryland Caregivers Support Coordinating Council and the Maryland Commission for Women.

No one told me that one day I would be standing next to some of our country’s greatest senators at a senate press conference, advocating to save the HUD VASH Voucher program.

No one told me that I would one day pursue a master’s degree in non-profit management.

No one told me that the little boy who was once homeless with his parents, both disabled veterans, would grow up to be accepted into the University of Maryland at College Park, with aspirations of becoming an anesthesiologist.

No one told me, but now I know, I will stand on the rooftop and tell every veteran, male or female, that there is help available.

I will tell them about the resources to help them make a smooth transition from active duty to civilian status.

I will tell them that there is hope, because I made it and they can too.

I am Ginger Miller, Disabled Veteran-Wife-Mother-Caregiver-Advocate-Commissioner and President  & CEO of John 14:2, Inc and I am on a mission to help my brother and sister veterans so that they will never have to say, “No one told me.”

Posted in Diversity, Homelessness, Joining Forces, Joining Forces for Women Veterans, Uncategorized, Veterans, Women Veterans | Tagged: , | 3 Comments »

Supporting Women Veteran Entrepreneurs

Posted by YWM on June 20, 2011

Last week Representative Congressman Mike Fitzpatrick offered an important amendment to the Military Construction and Veterans Affairs Act that recognizes the need to support the entrepreneurship of veterans nationwide.  His bi-partisan amendment which was accepted into the bill would require that veterans be afforded the same contracting preferences extended to other groups for projects funded under the larger bill.  Currently, only service disabled veterans are eligible for set asides and sole source contractors.  This is a significant and welcome economic development opportunity for veterans because it will give any veteran owned business the status needed for to obtain projects under military construction.

This amendment provides important support for veteran owned businesses, which now constitutes 9% of all U.S. firms.  In fact, the Small Business Administration estimates that one in seven veterans are either self-employed or small business owners.  Yet despite the growing number of veteran entrepreneurs, unemployment rates among veterans remains stubbornly high and is especially prevalent among those who served in Afghanistan and Iraq.  In January 2011, veteran unemployment rates were reported to be 15.2% with the rate for women veterans higher than their male counterparts.  Therefore it’s especially important for initiatives like this one move forward to provide business opportunities for our women veterans.   

Entrepreneurship provides can be an important and meaningful career path for women veterans.  Overall, women’s business ownership is growing much faster than men’s.  Unfortunately though women veteran’s business ownership is not keeping pace with the overall growth of women’s business ownership however we hope that more initiatives like Congressman Fitzpatrick’s will change that, and demonstrate to women veterans the value of owning a small business. 

Entrepreneurship is certainly something women veterans should consider.  Having served in the military they naturally possess an entrepreneurial mindset, are proactive and goal oriented, and they get the job done using resources effectively.  They have made decisions in the face of significant ambiguity, uncertainty, and danger. In addition, they understand the importance of having an alternate plan and they are willing and able to adapt. These traits align with key characteristics of successful business owners and with the with opportunities provided by the federal government business ownership can be even more rewarding. And given the importance of small businesses to the U.S. economy – accounting for 99.7 percent of employer firms – women veterans as a potential entrepreneurial force should be nurtured and expanded.

We support Congressman Fitzpatrick’s sound economic  idea and look forward to working with Congress on even more ways to increase entrepreneurship opportunities for women veterans. 

Read more about BPW Foundation’s support for women veteran entrepreneurs.   

Posted in Career Advancement, Small Business, Veterans, Women Veterans | Tagged: , , , , , | Leave a Comment »

Joining Forces: Women Veterans Speak Out

Posted by danielleac on June 6, 2011

Read the latest installment of our every-other-week Joining Forces feature that will bring us the voices of women veterans telling their stories.  If you are a women veteran who would like to share your story, please contact us through our Joining Forces for Women Veterans Facebook page, or email dcorazza@bpwfoundation.org.

Female Warrior:  a review of Theater-of-War: Ajax

“Theater of War presents readings of Sophocles’ Ajax to military communities across the United States. This ancient play timelessly and universally depicts the psychological and physical wounds inflicted upon warriors by war, and reads like a textbook description of a wounded warrior, struggling under the weight of psychological and physical injuries to maintain dignity, identity, and honor.”  Here is a brief summary of the story of Ajax.

Given the rising number of women veterans, Theater-of-War has substituted a woman in the lead role of Ajax for this version of the play.  I attended the performance at the Women in Military Service for America’s Memorial last night.

I entered the auditorium a bit unsure of what I was going to encounter. I’m not exactly a Greek mythology expert, and, to be honest, I rarely spend time experiencing live theater events, so I was unprepared for the intense emotion evoked by the five actors and actresses as they read the 2,500 year-old play aloud onstage chronicling the fate of the warrior Ajax after the events of the Iliad, but before the end of the Trojan War. The audience, comprised of folks from all walks of life, active duty, military family member, veteran, and civilians, sat in rapt silence during the hour long performance. When the play was closed, the applause was tremendous, and the actors received a standing ovation as they exited the stage.

Then the facilitator explained that the second portion of the evening would consist of a town hall-style event, and introduced an all-female panel consisting of an active duty person with deployment experience, a veteran, a family member, and a military mental health professional.  Each briefly shared their backgrounds – the family member was actually a teenage girl who was the daughter of the panel member who had been deployed, and her tearful explanation of the feelings during her mom’s deployment brought tears to my own eyes. More than once, applause interrupted the speakers as they described their reactions to the reading and the facilitator skillfully posed questions to the audience, eliciting their feedback and drawing out their personal experiences and reactions to the play and its relevance to the situation we are now facing as a nation engaged in a decade long war on two fronts.

Most touching to me, a lifelong member of the military community( as a daughter and a veteran), was a comment from a gentleman in the audience. He stood and asked how he could help, and what could be done to enlighten the 99 percent of our non military population about what the 1 percent who serve has done for them. His sincerity in posing the question and his admission that he was guilty of being oblivious to the needs of warriors and veterans was genuinely heartfelt.

The personal take away from this performance validated my work with Business and Professional Women’s Foundation on the Joining Forces for Women Veterans initiatives – the world needs to know that women veterans exist. We should  not be invisible, and sometimes we do need help. We must embrace our value and connect with one another to provide the peer-to-peer support that is so vital to our success.  Just as we stood strong united in service, we are similarly stronger standing together on the outside.

As one Vietnam-era veteran on the panel explained: “You may not need help on day one, or even year one. But, you must deal with your experiences at some point, in order to transition to civilian life favorably.”

When the day comes that you are ready to connect, drop us a note, and we will help you take the first step.  dccorazza@bpwfoundation.org

Also read Danielle’s PBS blog “From Ma’am, Yes Ma’am to Mom“

Posted in Joining Forces for Women Veterans, Military Families, multigenerational, Veterans, Women Veterans | Tagged: , , , , | Leave a Comment »

Two Identities Too Many?

Posted by danielleac on May 26, 2011

I am a veteran. A female one, at that.

Not that I’ve ever considered it a strike against me, but it is a tag that is quickly becoming associated with numerous negative connotations due to the current barrage of media portraying women veterans as hot messes. Transitioning out of the military was a bit hard – after earning the respect and camaraderie of my fellow soldiers (mostly men), I found that when I exited the service, the civilian boy’s club barred the door, and civilian women didn’t quite know what to say to a woman who could hit center mass from a couple of hundred yards with a big gun. (Most of them probably didn’t know what “center mass” meant..) And, yes, I carry a couple of scars, figuratively and literally, that I didn’t claim before I entered the military. But, I’m not broken, nor are most of the women vets I know – we take multi-tasking to a new dimension, we never give up, and we just won’t stop until we’ve surpassed our goals.

I am a Gen Y er. Thirty. College degree. Married. Couple of kids.

The civilian workplace surprised me by boxing me into yet another category: Gen Y (born between ’78 and ’94). It took me some time to understand why this was a negative, as Gen Yers are known to be speedy workers who complete tasks and move on, individuals who appreciate hard work and hard play, and surprisingly, intrinsically motivated to finding the answers to life and work using every tool at their technologically-advanced fingertips . It is a strike, though, since change is hard, and the way of the younger generation does not match up with status quo.

So, what’s the bigger problem?

The snowball , in my opinion, is that there are too many of us. Too many misunderstood veterans, too many barely-launched Gen Yers that don’t know where to start to get what they want (or don’t have the patience to wait for it), and way too many employers who realize they need us to replace the ever-aging Baby Boomers, but don’t know how to harness the initiative and committed nature of either sub-population.

Here’s where you come in, Gen Y Women: Help BPW Foundation continue pursuing the creation of Empowered Workforces and Successful Workplaces by telling us what you think by taking this Gen Y survey.

We promise not to stop researching and working on your behalf, our history as the first Foundation to tackle women’s workplace issues stands behind us as proof that we mean what we say.

Posted in Diversity, Gen Y, Gen Yner, multigenerational, Successful Workplaces, Veterans, Women Veterans | Tagged: , , | Leave a Comment »

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