Battling the Storm Within Blog

As the Author of the #1 Amazon National-International Best Seller War Memoir “Battling the Storm Within” about living 20 years undiagnosed with PTSD, MST and the GWI. My mission is to empower others to address their own personal traumas, be healed, restored and live again. I believe in telling the truth, living the truth and being the truth. I will share the truth for it sets you free. I have battled my storm that was within me and won, so can you! Peace and blessings Sgt. Stephanie J. Shannon

Tuesday, February 21, 2017

Check out! 2016 MIWVE Conference Video- Highlights!~

Our 1st Michigan Women Veterans Empowerment Conference was success!

WATCH VIDEO!!!

Our Conference Theme: “The Voice of Women Veterans”

The 4 principals: Prisms, Pathways, Platforms, Potential

Prisms: Who are we – the different aspects and facets of who women veterans are.

Pathways: How do we navigate through to achieve a better quality of life through empowerment, education, support and resources.

Platforms: Opportunities available entrepreneurship, gainful employment and more.

Potential: Leveraging our military experience, skills and education in order to be effective leaders.

Saturday, November 19, 2016 – 8:00 – 4:00 pm
International Institute of Metropolitan Detroit Inc.
111 E. Kirby Detroit MI 48202

Our Mistress of Ceremony and Panel Moderator was the Honorable Judge Denise Langford Morris.

Our Keynote Speaker was the Honorable Judge Shannon A. Holmes – 36th District Court - Women veteran former JAG officer.

1st Panel Discussion – Women Veterans- Michigan women veterans that are active and visible in the community and advocate for women vets and hold a leadership position.

2nd Panel Discussion –Politicians Panel -Senator Vincent Gregory.

3rd Panel Discussion - Veteran Service Organizations

4th Panel Discussion – Community Veteran Service Organizations

Michigan Women Veterans Empowerment a 501c3 non-profit faith based organization that empowers women veterans and their families in the 8- Dimensions of Wellness.

For more information visit: www.empowermiwomenvets.com

WATCH VIDEO ON YOUTUBE!!!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I96zj7qD1Fs&feature=youtu.be

SPECIAL REPORT: Female vets with PTSD- VIDEO

Post traumatic stress disorder in veterans comes in many forms, whether it stems from combat missions, sexual trauma, feeling alone or worrying about family. Now more and more women are showing signs of the disorder In fact, 20 percent of female vets have been formally diagnosed.

"I'm not crazy, but PTSD is not something you can just wake up from in an instant," said Kathy Harrington. Military life is all Kathy knew

Read more...
http://www.newswest9.com/story/34496511/special-report-female-vets-with-ptsd

This Is How To Respond To A Veteran Contemplating Suicide

Hopefully you’ll never need it. Sadly many do. Here’s what to say to a veteran considering suicide.

I’ll never forget him. Or his voice. That southern drawl made him sound sleepy, but there was more to it. He was weary, frustrated. He wanted to kill himself.

It was a story as old as war: He made it home. His buddies didn’t.

GI Jane Needs a Place to Sleep

Every other year around this time, including this year, volunteers fan out across their communities on a single night, attempting to count the homeless. As part of that count, they also attempt to eyeball who’s a homeless veteran. Later, this count is put together with a tabulation of how many people pass through services geared to the homeless in a year, like shelters, to get a federal estimate of both how many homeless there are across America, and also how many veterans are homeless.

Read more...
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/587d14dce4b077a19d181007?timestamp=1485927785845

Women Marines celebrate 74 years of service Feb. 13

The Marine Corps has been in existence for more than two centuries, but women have only been able to wear the eagle, globe and anchor for the last seven decades.

The Women Marine Association, Tarheel Chapter, NC1 will celebrate 74 years of women Marines 11 a.m. Saturday at Logan’s Roadhouse.
Chapter President Shirley John said celebrating the anniversary is important to remember where women succeeded in the Marine Corps in the last 70 plus years.

Read more...
http://www.jdnews.com/news/20170210/women-marines-celebrate-74-years-of-service-feb-13?utm_content=buffercdeb4&utm_medium=social&utm_source=facebook.com&utm_campaign=buffer

Women Veterans — ‘Sisters Under the Skin’ — Share Experiences During VA Gatherings

Hartford — When Gail Fancher recently met Tish Hutchins, their conversation naturally turned to one thing they had in common: military service. In fact, both had served in the Air Force, albeit during different eras — Fancher from 1984 to 2016, and Hutchins from 1950 to 1972.

“I understand you are Air Force, too,” Fancher, a Hartland resident, said by way of introduction, asking what type of work Hutchins did in the service.

Hutchins, a Charlestown resident, said she was a computer analyst. She then asked Fancher if she had served as a nurse.

“I went in as a nurse and went to medical school to become a doctor,” she said.

Read more....

http://www.vnews.com/Women-Veterans-1126377

Clinical trial using marijuana to treat PTSD in veterans gets underway

By: Kathleen Curthoys, February 7, 2017

The first participant in a clinical trial designed to evaluate the effectiveness of smoking marijuana to treat PTSD in veterans was given cannabis on Monday, according to the organization conducting the study.

The study is the first such trial to evaluate the safety and effectiveness of using marijuana to manage symptoms of post traumatic stress disorder in U.S. veterans, officials with the Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies said in a release on Tuesday.

Tuesday, February 7, 2017

What Happens When a Rape Goes Unreported

I was a cadet at the Air Force Academy when one day at lunch the nine men with whom I shared a table started discussing sexual assault. It was February 2003, and seven current and former Air Force Academy cadets had just appeared on “20/20,” shocking the country with their stories of having been raped and then punished for reporting the rapes.

The senior cadet at the table asked, “What do you think of those whores who are tarnishing our academy?” The first-year across from me answered, “Sir, I think a woman who gets herself raped isn’t strong enough to defend herself, let alone the country, and shouldn’t be in the military.”

“Couldn’t agree more,” the senior cadet said.

Survey: Women troops feel undervalued and unappreciated

Female troops and veterans want the public to know their military service is much more than just discussion of sexual assault in the ranks, according to a new survey released Monday.

Almost three in four women in the new Service Women’s Action Network survey said they do not believe their military service is understood or valued among the general public, and only 24 percent said they think military leadership does enough to publicize their work.

Read more...
http://www.militarytimes.com/articles/swan-survey-women-troops-vets

Former soldiers with service-connected sexual trauma can apply for discharge upgrades

Thanks to a provision in this year's National Defense Authorization Act, soldiers who were forced to leave the Army due to discipline issues following sexual assault or harassment are now able to request honorable discharges if they can provide medical proof.

In much the same way the Army has been allowing soldiers as far back as Vietnam to have their post-traumatic stress recognized in their records, former soldiers can bring medical documentation from the VA or a civilian doctor to the Board for Correction of Military Records if they received a less than honorable discharge and believe their trauma contributed to their dismissal.

Read more...

https://www.armytimes.com/articles/former-soldiers-with-service-connected-sexual-trauma-can-apply-for-discharge-upgrades

VA Changes Gulf War Veterans Need to Know

December 30, 2016/in Veterans /by Cassandra Crosby, Claims Advocate

There have been some changes to the eligibility and claims period for Gulf War Veterans concerning presumptive illnesses. Because of the mystery of the illnesses Gulf War Veterans have experienced, the rules seem to be ever changing, and we expect that to possibly continue into the future. Studies on the illnesses many Gulf War Veterans experienced continue to be conducted to find causes, treatment, and But for now, here are the changes that Veterans should know about when it comes to filing for a Gulf War related presumptive illness.
Change in Eligibility:

Military Sexual Trauma On The Rise In US Military-VIDEO

Female US Military soldiers are now in record numbers are getting treatment for PTSD (Post Traumatic Stress Disorder) After being sexually assaulted by male US soldiers.

Report says troops wouldn’t recommend military service to their own kids

Spc. Yemima Tarber, a communications specialist with Charlie Company, 326th Brigade Engineer Battalion, 1st Brigade Combat Team, 101st Airborne Division, extended her commitment to the Army during a reenlistment ceremony that was presided over by her mother, Capt. Lisa Campbell, Alpha Company, 71st Transportation Battalion, Fort Lee, Va

Spc. Yemima Tarber extended her commitment to the Army during a reenlistment ceremony that was presided over by her mother, Capt. Lisa Campbell at Fort Lee, Va. A new survey by military advocacy group Blue Star Families says most service members with multiple deployments wouldn’t want their kids to go through the same hardship. (Photo by Sgt. 1st Class John Brown)

A new report from military family support organization Blue Star Families shows more than half of service members would not recommend military service to their own children. Additionally, slightly less than half of the respondents would not recommend it to other young adults who aren’t related to them.

Blue Star Families has compiled the so called “Annual Military Family Lifestyle Survey” reports since 2009, which are widely used by government officials from the White House, Congress, the Department of Defense, and state and local officials to help understand the unique needs and challenges of military families. Data collected from the annual survey often impacts legislation.

Its not PTSD but it can be just as dangerous

Combating Moral Injury- For some veterans, guilt and shame can linger years after combat — and it’s not PTSD.

Aaron Throckmorton decided to join the military the day the Twin Towers fell. A standout high school linebacker at Midland Lee (of Friday Night Lights fame), Throckmorton quit his team that very afternoon. He doubled up on his schoolwork so he could finish early and become a Marine. There were military men in his family. His grandfather served during the Korean War, and an uncle was a “river rat” in Vietnam. But Throckmorton didn’t know much about their experiences.
“I never really asked,” he told me. No, it wasn’t because of his family’s pedigree that he was enlisting. He had watched the second plane hit the towers and felt “it was my duty to go and take care of those who had done it.”

Veterans Talk About Why They Joined The Women’s March In DC

Task & Purpose interviewed veterans who attended The Women’s March on Washington to find out why they sympathize with the movement’s message.

On Jan 21., the day after the presidential inauguration, hundreds of thousands of people from across the country poured into the nation’s capital to participate in The Women’s March on Washington, a protest against the Trump administration that inundated the streets of D.C. with a sea of protest signs and pink hats. Task & Purpose spoke with a group of veterans who participated in the event. All had come to stand in solidarity with the movement and its call for universal rights and equality, which march participants believe are now under threat by the new administration. Of course, each had his or her own personal motivations for marching, too. Here’s a lightly edited version of what they had to say.

Bankole: Gov. Snyder can’t turn his back on Flint

I expected the governor to match his words about repairing the damage done in Flint with action.
But in his 2017 State of the State address Gov. Rick Snyder failed the basic test of any leader: that is to give a status report — whether good or bad — on a growing problem on your watch so that others can determine if you have done enough or need to do more.

VA by the numbers: Has the department made progress?

If Veterans Affairs Under Secretary for Health Dr. David Shulkin is confirmed as the next VA Secretary, he’ll take on a broader profile than just the medical aspects of the department.

Here’s a look at some key facts and figures on where the department stands today, based on current officials’ own statistics and assessments of operations since current VA Secretary Bob McDonald took office in August 2014.

9 Warning Signs You’re In An Emotionally Abusive Relationship

While defining physical abuse is fairly straightforward, fewer people are sure what constitutes an emotionally abusive relationship. As such, you might find yourself feeling deeply unhappy and unsettled, but might delay leaving or getting help because you never quite know whether your partner is wronging you on some level.

Look out for the ten warning signs below that you’re in an emotionally abusive relationship, and consider the advice at the end of the article if you want help fighting such a toxic dynamic.

The Invisible Veterans

Women are the fastest growing veteran population, with 2.2 million women veterans representing every branch of the military living nationwide, a number that is expected to double over the next ten years. That’s ten percent of the current veteran population. But as more women veterans return to civilian life, many are facing new battles at home.

According to the Department of Veterans Affairs, one in four women seen at a VA health facility reports experiencing military sexual trauma while in service. Women veterans are the fastest growing segment of the homeless veteran population. One in five women veterans of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan has been diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder. One-third of women Veterans experience intimate partner violence, an increase from the already astounding number of one in four among civilian women. The rate of suicide is 2.5 times higher among female veterans when compared to civilian adult females.

Read more...
http://ameriforce.net/the-invisible-veterans/

Learn more...
www.empowermiwomenvets.com