Our Service Women Deserve the Best Care
Posted by Greg in 
The MHS administers the health care of our service women.
Yesterday I was on Capitol Hill again, this time giving a brief to Senate staff on the need for our government to provide the full range of medical benefits for women in uniform. Currently federal law does not allow service women to access all of the medical benefits that civilian women get. That is completely unfair. Today, service women are the only group who get their heath care through a federal insurance program that are required to pay out of pocket for abortion services in the case of rape or incest. The federal government pays for these abortions for every other group. Even women incarcerated in federal prisons don’t have to pay out of pocket costs if they are subjected to rape or incest.
Women have always answered the call to serve their nation, and for women who have joined in the past 10 years, that call has come during a time of war. There are currently 355,000 women serving in the military comprising 15% of the force. There are enough women in the recruitment pipeline to increase that number to 20% in the next few years. Women are present in all ranks and duty stations, and in spite of official policy to the contrary, women are serving in combat and making the ultimate sacrifice for our freedom. In the words of a fellow briefer yesterday, “Without women our military would fail.”
It is within this context of equal service and shared sacrifice that the need for Congress to provide the full spectrum of quality health care to our women in uniform becomes strikingly clear.
This week Senator Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH) introduced an amendment (Amendment #1120) to Senate bill 1867, the National Defense Authorization Act, which would remove the unfair military ban on abortion coverage in cases of rape and incest. The NDAA is scheduled for a vote tomorrow and I urge you to contact your Senator right now and ask them to support this amendment.
Puppy Dogs
I’m decidedly a dog person. I love most furry creatures but dogs are easily my favorite – say what you will, cat lovers, about what that potentially says about my personality. The debate of cats versus dogs will go on forever. I’ve learned that cats probably are more suited to city life and a lot less maintenance, but there’s something about the affection and attention of a dog that melts my heart.
Many of us as veterans can attest to the role that pets have played in our lives and in our healing. As I’ve lived and learned about myself the last few years, dogs have played an integral part in my growth and my pain. Much to my chagrin, not all of my actions towards some of my furry friends were pleasant for me or the dog. Much of the betrayal and anger that I was dealing with as a result of some of my experiences during my service ended up being projected onto the animals around me. read more
Meet Von
Meet Von. General Velma “Von” Richardson lives in the Washington, DC metropolitan area. She served for over thirty years, joining because her aunt had served. Von now works at Lockheed Martin. In this interview for our Women Veterans Day project, General Richardson discusses her service, leadership, and her aunt’s experience serving under segregation. Please watch this clip and share!
General Velma "Von" Richardson
Meet Rosalyn
Reservist interviewed for www.womenveteransday.orgMeet Rosalyn, The Law Student
As a second year law student and a Reservist, Rosalyn is the second of three women to be profiled this Veterans Day week in SWAN’s digital storytelling archive. Rosalyn weighed in during an audio interview on serving in the Reserves, balancing law school, the repeal of Don’t Ask Don’t Tell and advice for other women in the military.
Please hear her interview and share this week!
Meet Morgan
Morgan Cooley's artwork
Meet Morgan – click here for video.
Morgan Cooley is a veteran living in New York. She recently met with SWAN staff as a part of our Women Veterans Day project. She talked about her experiences coming out of the military, her life now, and the therapeutic role of art in her life. Her artwork is featured all month at a show at 15 E. 27th St in New York City. Share this video and our site this Veterans Day.
A Perspective on the Word “Trou”
Editor’s note: Last summer, SWAN hosted an intern from the United States Military Academy (USMA) who graciously educated our staff about the myriad issues women cadets face at the Academy, including the form of sexual harassment she describes in this blog. The cadet’s experience is her own and does not necessarily reflect the views of SWAN. Our own report about the sexual violence at the U.S. military academies can be found here.
United States Military Academy at West Point
Many people think that sexual harassment in the military is limited to the enlisted ranks. It is important to recognize that it happens at all levels of rank in the military, including the United States Military Academy (West Point). West Point is an institution comprised of people of every race and gender from around the country. This institution does not exclude sexual predators. With last year’s rape conviction at the Academy, the issue of sexual violence has come to greater light. While sexual assault is somewhat uncommon at the Academy, small infractions of sexual harassment occur daily through the use of the word “trou.”
You would think one word could not be enough to anger 600 female cadets until you look at the meaning and use of the word. The word is derived from the trouser pants in which girls’ hips would expand during their time at the Academy and have a noticeable change in their appearance in the male-fitted trousers. Many other terms have stemmed from this word to include the “trou chariot” (a woman at the gym on the elliptical machine), “t-bucket” (a pint of Ben and Jerry’s ice cream), and “grey goggles” (a male dates a female cadet only because he has no access other females). It is also directed at females who are injured and are not able to take the physical tests and those that fail these tests.
Freshman year, it was easy to laugh at being called “trou.” The strict rules regarding fraternization between the freshman “plebe” class and the upperclassmen set an intimidating tone. Being a plebe girl, it was hard to stand up for myself because I felt that standing up would draw unwanted attention and I would be labeled and ridiculed. One experience is cemented in my memory of a Thursday night mandatory dinner. I was standing in the dining hall talking to one of my male classmates. His sports team saw this and began to bang on their plates and glasses while hollering about how he was talking to a “trou.” After that dinner, one of his teammates showed me an email with my picture next to my math partner’s picture calling me a “trou.” Being a freshman, I became embarrassed and walked away without saying anything despite the fact that I passed my physical tests and have kept the same appearance since entering the Academy. I have seen this behavior continue on Thursday nights for the past three years with few cadets getting in trouble, and fewer women standing up for themselves.
Going into my senior year, I recognize that a cadet exhibiting this behavior will not become a successful platoon leader able to treat all soldiers equally. The word “trou” is one of the many examples of a cultural issue that affects the Army and receives little attention. Many male cadets think that being in the infantry means they will no longer have to deal with women soldiers, but they are wrong. More women are attaching to combat units and fighting on the battlefield. The same issues have occurred in the past with the integration of different races and will occur in the future with Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell repeal. Acting out of fear and not speaking up can lead problems in the unit.
Small actions can lead to big change. By making the “trou” issue of importance at West Point, female cadets will no longer have to prove themselves. They can work together with the male cadets without being fearful. There are male and female cadets that struggle with fitness and overeating. The issue should not be directed at female cadets but rather at those who do not meet the standard. West Point can only do so much. It is up to the female cadets to start this change and end the sexist behavior by speaking out.
The Journey Home – Regina Vasquez, USMC Veteran
Eleven years ago something terrible happened to me. Since then, it has been hard to trust people
. I’ve been let down by so many, but nothing can compare to what took place one night and in the course of the years to follow.
I am a disabled veteran with PTSD due to rape, sexual harassment and gender discrimination. It took me years to finally come out and talk about what happened to me. It shocked people, made them angry and allowed them to finally understand why I act the way I do. It is hard to face people you have grown to keep at an arm’s distance.
The odd ball, the one people don’t understand, “she is crazy, “ “oh her” – that was me. I was bitter, angry and always on the defensive because I felt I had to prove myself time and time again. My mind was full of information, but I couldn’t sit down and carry out a positive conversation. I didn’t know how. I felt like I scared people off.
Going to school was a constant battle – making myself get ready for class, having to face myself in the mirror and say I’ll be the best one out there and understand what I need to learn. I made myself out to be superwoman when in reality I’m just me – a wife and mother. Bottom line, I was running from a past I wanted to forget. I tried to stay busy so I didn’t have to confront dark secrets.
Forgetting is not easy. You have flashbacks and triggers. You find yourself full of sadness and depression. You’re plagued with nightmares and are forced to stay up because the pain of sleeping only to wake up in a cold sweat scares you. If only those damn memories could go away. When you’re in the public eye you are looked at as a crazy person, not as a veteran who needs help and needs to be comforted. Women are not seen as veterans – men are. Welcome to my world.
The VA is one heck of a scary place to be. At one point I had a cocktail of pills without being assessed. I’m just a number, a person to process; I won’t know the difference… yeah right. I’m still scared to go to the VA, but if I don’t how am I ever going to address my depression?
The VA is a constant battleground. No one hears me when I scream that I need help. Finally a glimpse of hope; a patient advocate comes to pick me up so I can see a psychiatrist. He helps me. I’m not a number anymore. I’m human who has feelings, and he sees that in me. He helps me by assessing my needs and acknowledging me. I thank him. Through working with him, I am now taking the right antidepressants.
Still, I’m at battle with my counselor at the VA. I don’t have missing limbs and TBI – my disabilities are invisible so I’m not a true warrior. If she only knew we lose the majority of our veterans every day because they commit suicide, she wouldn’t compare me to others. What a rock she is – a civilian who just doesn’t get it. I keep reminding myself I’ll keep going until someone hears me again. I turned her in to her supervisor. I am finally standing up for myself, even as I am begging for help.
I need to enjoy being me before my family can enjoy having me. I need help – my depression and my dark secrets have kept me from living a happy life. This is now my journey home.