Leading Ladies: Women, War and Military Culture Change

Leading Ladies:Women, War and Military Culture Change

Female Faces of War: First Do No Harm

03/28/09 - Conference at Battleship Cove

By Ilona Meagher, author of Moving a Nation to Care and editor of PTSD Combat: Winning the War Within

Veteran Dad: My Hero

“Serving” in Uniform

Permission to come aboard?• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_CPWRoKHlBs

Women Serving: History

Women Serving: TodayTotal U.S. military forces ~ 1.5 million Total Active Duty

Portion of female service members ~ 35,000 Officers ~ 165,000 Enlisted ~ 200,000 Total Female Active Duty

Top-ranked female service members 6 - Lt. Gens/Vice Adms 13 - Maj. Gens/Rear Adms (U) 37 - Brig. Gens/Rear Adms (L)1,282 - Cols/Capts

"If you tried to pull women out of the equation, this country could not fight a war." -- Lory Manning, a retired Navy captain and director of the Women's Research and Education Institute

Leading Ladies: Highly Trained

Leading Ladies: Highly Skilled

Leading Ladies: Drill Instructors

Leading Ladies: World Ambassadors

Leading Ladies: Silver Stars

Leading Ladies: Sacrifice and Service

Leading Ladies: Greatest Sacrifices

Leading Ladies: Greatest Sacrifices

Leading Ladies: First African-American Naval Combat Pilot

Leading Ladies: Air Force CrewsFirst all-female combat mission C-130 crew

Leading Ladies: First VMI CadetFirst female cadet to serve in a US war from Virginia Military Institute

Leading Ladies: Four-Star Generals

Notable Women: Iraq War

•Jessica Lynch•Sabrina Harman•Tami Silicio

How did women impact the Iraq War in its first year?

Issues Facing Women in Military

15 percent of the force and serve in 91 percent of military specialties.

DoD report shows cases of reported military sexual trauma increased 9% from 2007-2008 to 2,932 incidents.

October 2008: Veterans Admin study found that 1-of-7 coming in for medical care at the VA suffered from MST.

Female veterans 4X likelier to become homeless than civilian women.

Returning Home: Storytelling

Dr. Edward Tick, War and the Soul:According to author and healer Deena Metzger, a story is a ‘map for the soul.’ It is ‘a living thing. A divine gift.’ When we tell our own stories and listen to those of others, we come in touch with all three: life, divinity, and soul.

Returning Home: Storytelling

…Telling our story is a way of preserving our individual history and at the same time defining our place in the larger flow of events. It reveals patterns and meaning that we might otherwise miss as we go about the mundane activities of living; it invites us to see the universe working through us.

Storytelling also knits the community together. It records or recreates the collective history and transforms actor and listeners alike into communal witnesses.”

Veterans: Our Hope

“Veterans are the light at the tip of the candle, illuminating the way for the whole nation. If veterans can achieve awareness, transformation, understanding, and peace, they can share with the rest of society the realities of war. And they can teach us how to make peace with ourselves and each other...”

-- Thich Nhat Hahn, Vietnamese Buddhist monk who worked tirelessly for reconciliation between North and South Vietnam during the Vietnam

war

Leading Ladies: A Short Clip

•http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nZxuYjLnxGo