AVOW Magazine Winter 2020/2021 : simplebooklet.com

You deserve a Medicare plan that has your back. UnitedHealthcare® has a wide range of Medicare Advantage plans designed to complement the health beneﬁts you already receive for your service. The AARP® Medicare Advantage Patriot plan from UnitedHealthcare includes the freedom to visit doctors and hospitals in our large network for a $0 monthly premium. Additional plan beneﬁts may include:Learn more about Medicare Advantage plans that complement your VA or TRICARE For Life beneﬁts.It’s time to take advantage.Comprehensive dental services Allowance toward eyewearRoutine hearing exam plus hearing aids$0 monthly premiumChoose a Medicare plan designed to serve you.Beneﬁts, features and/or devices vary by plan/area. Limitations and exclusions apply. You do not have to be a veteran to be eligible for this plan. Plans are insured through UnitedHealthcare Insurance Company or one of its aﬃliated companies, a Medicare Advantage organization with a Medicare contract. Enrollment in the plan depends on the plan’s contract renewal with Medicare. UnitedHealthcare Insurance Company pays royalty fees to AARP for the use of its intellectual property. These fees are used for the general purposes of AARP. AARP and its aﬃliates are not insurers. You do not need to be an AARP member to enroll. AARP encourages you to consider your needs when selecting products and does not make speciﬁc product recommendations for individuals. AARP does not employ or endorse agents, producers or brokers. Other hearing exam providers are available in the UnitedHealthcare network. The plan only covers hearing aids from a UnitedHealthcare Hearing network provider. ©2020 United HealthCare Services, Inc. All rightsreserved.Y0066_2000910_031245_M SPRJ57947 0032BD01Laura DebuhrLicensed Sales Agent844-430-6300, TTY 711lauradebuhr2@gmail.com

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6Winter 2020/2021 • www.AVOWMagazine.comChristina Wilkinson - USAFPUBLISHER Sheila L. Holmes - USAFEDITOR-IN-CHIEFErin Trower - USAFEDITORIAL ASSISTANTSPECIAL ADVISORSGenevieve Chase - USALindsay Church - USNVR Small - USNMelissa Washington - USNCassie Gabelt - USNAT-LARGEDanielle Johnson - USMCPat White - USMCCONTRIBUTORSWritersCREATIVE TEAMSabreDesign.comART DIRECTION/DESIGN/LAYOUTchris@sabredesign.comSocial MediaO: 209-841-8866 (Sabre Design)E: contact@AVOWMagazine.comAVOWMagazine.comCopyright © 2021 by AVOW Magazine. All rights reserved. The name AVOW™ and the AVOW logo are trademarks of AVOW Magazine © 2018-2021 exclusively for the American Veteran Organization of Women Magazine which is published quarterly for women veterans of the United States of America. No part of this publication may be reproduced,distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods, without the prior written permission of the publisher, or in some instances with third party copyright holders.For permission requests, write to the publisher, addressed “Attention: Permissions Coordinator,” at the address below.Sabre Design & Publishing18737 Back Street #605Groveland CA 95321www.sabredesign.comProudly published and producedin the United States of AmericaA magazinefor women veterans,by women veterans,and for the peoplewho love them.Ruth Moore - USN Jen Nikodem - USASheila L. Holms - USAFPat White - USMCStephanie Roman - USMCChristina Wilkinson - USAFPhotography by or Provided byFacebook.com/AVOWMagazine | Instagram.com/avow_magazine | Twitter.com/AVOWMagazineThought CatalogBrett SaylesRuth Moore Richard MatthewsJen NikodemCalley CloudInez RajoLori ArchiquetteMitchelene BigManAmanda Plante

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7Facebook.com/AVOWMagazine • Winter 2020/2021Hello Service Sisters (and families), Much of this month I spent reminiscing about the generous Native American Women Warriors I had the opportunity to learn from while collecting articles for this issue of AVOW. Though I spent many years growing up in New Mexico and learned about Native American heritage, I realized how small my own scope of knowledge really was. I sat transxed as I listened and learned across the phone lines and in slide presentations about color meanings, ceremonial activities, new words, the painful memories, and exciting growth these women carry in their cultures. Above everything, I sensed generations of pride and service -and vested interest in our country that transcends and transforms that pain into service for a better future we can all benet from.We’d be remiss, as a veteran’s service magazine, to not acknowledge our country’s trauma right now, given the events of last week at our nation’s Capitol Building. Please take a moment, as you’re able, to reach across the divide to your service sisters and offer a kind word. There are no politics in a friendly, “Hello, just checking in to let you know I was thinking of you.” We can all agree that each of us entered our military service with the very best of intentions to serve our country, and we can mourn the loss of our fellow veterans; the two concepts are not mutually exclusive. Empathy is never wasted as we work to lighten the burden of our peers, friends, and family to uplift each other’s spirits through our own service in our communities and beyond.I trust you will enjoy reading about the rich heritages and honorable service rendered from all these warrior women veterans -Indigenous and beyond- within these pages who’ve contributed to our country’s knowledge, safety, and growth. May each shared experience remind us of the warrior within ourselves and the challenges we commit to helping each other overcome. Sheila L. HolmesEditor-in-ChiefAVOW MagazineAMERICAN VETERAN ORGANIZATION OF WOMEN MAGAZINE

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8Winter 2020/2021 • www.AVOWMagazine.comCassie GabeltCassie Gabelt is a mother, a trained mediator, a college professor, and proud Navy veteran. She served from 2008-2012, spent her rst two years at the De-fense Language Institute in Monterey, California, and her second two years at the Naval Medical Center in San Diego. During her time with the Navy, she spear-headed a Quality Assurance program, developed a program for her then-as-signed department, and drafted corre-spondence between her unit and a more senior unit in Washington D.C.At the end of her enlistment, she returned to her home state of Ohio, and re-enrolled to complete her un-dergraduate degree in French. Due to her early graduation, she was able to apply the remainder of her GI Bill to-ward post-graduate work. She earned her Master’s in Political Management (M.P.S.) through The George Washing-ton University in 2017.Cassie believes it is the duty of our country to honor the sacrices made by our troops, without regard to race, col-or, religion, national origin or citizenship status, sex, gender identity or expression, pregnancy, sexual orientation, age, dis-ability, or military status, and the best way to do so is to promote social, political, and economic justice for all. She is committed to upholding, promoting, and advancing the principles of diversity and social jus-tice under any and all circumstances.AVOW Magazine is proud and pleased to introduce a new special advisor to help guide us into the future.We’d like to welcome Cassie Gabelt to AVOW. She comes to us with a diverse background, and a unique insight of minorities serving and who have served. Welcome to the team Cassie!

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10Winter 2020/2021 • www.AVOWMagazine.com(CONTINUED ON PAGE 12)Once beyond her Navy years, Plante nished her degrees and studies, and started vol-unteering at a local wildlife rescue when things started to come together. She volunteered as a Wildlife educator and found a niche that aligned with her skills of public speaking, motivating, en-couraging, and also aligned with part of her goals of giving back and being part of a bigger cause, her for love of animals. She knew this was it –she was inspired to speak about wildlife and conser-vation and giving back.Plante’s work at the rescue started in wildlife education programs and wildlife rehabilitation. During her wildlife rescue time, she became al-iated with a nonprot that worked with parrots. She shared that there are 13 dierent types of wild parrots in California alone. Plante recalled this was around the same time the government was shut-ting down in 2007/2008. She told the non prot she loved helping out, but as the government was shutting down, she needed to nd a job. ey had no rm plans for volunteers, structure, recruitment, or website development, so she helped them with everything –merchant accounts, volunteer orienta-tion, plans to release wild parrots such as working with the federal and state agencies to coordinate the release of the parrot back into the environment. Amanda Plante is a ve-year Navy veteran in her late 30s who grew up in the Midwest on a small farm. She was surrounded by, and has always had a love for, animals. She beneted from a strong mother who encouraged that love.HERE’S LOOKINGAT ZOO!BY SHEILA L. HOLMES

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12Winter 2020/2021 • www.AVOWMagazine.com Today, Zovargo has grown to over 30 animal ambassadors in five years. Zovargo is not a rescue...Plante was working there and still volunteer-ing with the rescue while she attended the Associ-ation of Zoos and Aquariums (AZA) certication program that focused on conservation education courses and obtained her own non prot man-agement certication through her local university.Everything started coming together and she realized if she did this work for others, then she could do it for herself. After her formal training, to have this realization about what, “I thought a conservation education program with live ani-mals could be like;” after all, she’d already talked at length to hundreds of folks about parrots. She could talk to thousands of people about wildlife.e one piece not being touched on was an organization that was well rounded and includ-ed insects, invertebrates, an explanation of how important they are, and also included the pet trade and how detrimental that is to exotic ani-mal species. She wanted to create a really cohe-sive program with bugs, birds, and pets. Plante started with only a few animals to begin with, then networked with zoos and AZA, and was able to move to ve animals –a parrot, tree frogs, hissing cockroaches, a guinea pig, and mil-lipedes. But how would she convince people to come? She started o small but looked really big –she attended many street festivals, started a groupon, and attended up to four animal birth-day parties on some days.Today, Zovargo has grown to over 30 ani-mal ambassadors in ve years. Zovargo is not a rescue –each animal is considered and re-viewed to determine how it ts into conserva-tion programming and whether Zovargo take care of this animal for the rest of its life. Plante has a heightened empathy and consideration for the animal. Every animal is precious.When asked what led her into the military, Plante joined the Navy after graduating high school and became a Meteorologist Aerographer’s Mate.

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13Facebook.com/AVOWMagazine • Winter 2020/2021Plante described being 11 years old, staying in Oregon for a summer where it was her rst time seeing the ocean and the coastline. She was very drawn to the Coast Guard and said to herself, “I want to be near the ocean, always be on a ship, travel, and help people.” Her mom kept the brucure from the Coast Guard station that they’d go and visit.At 15 and-a-half years old, she was going through driver’s education and felt grown up. When she mentioned, “I think I’m going to call the Coast Guard,” her mom pulled out the Coast Guard brochure. In speaking with the recruiter, she realized they don’t really travel a lot. She called the recruiter every six months asking if the rules changed, but she had to graduate rst –and there were no early graduations in her small town.She joined the Navy three days after she graduated high school; she was o the farm and on to bigger things, becoming a Meteorologist Aerographer’s Mate. She then worked regular jobs in human resources, then a global corporation, then scooped back into the government.Her favorite animal? Any bird really; par-rots are her favorite, and she likes birds of prey as well as cats. Zovargo recently acquired a great horned owl, and a year ago obtained a Georoy’s cat -which she explained is a whole other level of specialty with licenses on state & federal levels. Plante also explained that the Animal Am-bassador is the animal itself, as the animal is an ambassador for its species. Animal educators work as a team and go out to share and edu-cate about the species.nimal educators directly support conservation in this way by spreading awareness, increasing compassion and under-standing about species. During the pandemic, Zovargo has survived by doing virtual programs, and through this ac-tivity they’ve been able to reach thousands more people –normally about 600 people reached per year, but now they’ve reached over 3,000. Zovargo has programs for folks in Japan, Cana-da, and other locations outside U. S. territories. (CONTINUED ON NEXT PAGE)

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14Winter 2020/2021 • www.AVOWMagazine.comPlante now knows that is the future: to main-tain virtual programming presence. Technically, she said, she’d always wanted to do that, but it just wasn’t a good enough market. She’s had to reinvent her internship program training to give skills in person to educators, but also helps them realize they must be presentable online.Initially, she wanted to wait on training, but after so many months they’ve onboarded four new people (interns) in the last few months –and there’s soon to be a fth. She explained that previously in an entire year Zovargo might bring on that many, but there is a new surge of people wanting to do some-thing dierent and having more time available, so now she’s been able to be a little more selective of the very best candidates because more people are interested.Plante shared a few things that have guid-ed her –being open to volunteering in order to gain experience, because in relation to her story, if she’d never volunteered at the wildlife rescue, she’d have never known she was so good at what she’s doing now. “Find your passion.” She’s helped young people gain employment in zoos, aquariums, and helped others nd jobs in biol-ogy or other elds by having worked with them and written them letters of recommendation. Zovargo gives heartfelt messages of conservation but also continues to pay it forward to others. She sees Zovargo as a breathing, living, giving organization and acknowledges that, “Anyone who has service to country has that passion to give back. Volunteering –starting somewhere and nding your way through that process is a beautiful way for anyone to start.” DID YOU KNOW?• Out of 37 wild cats only seven are big cats.• The Geoffroy’s cat is able to change the times that they hunt based on various factors –where other species only hunt at night or during the day. • When it comes to birds of prey, the two at top of the owl food chain are the Great Horned and Barn owls. They hunt at different times of day so they don’t intersect. The Horned Owl is a dawn/ dusk hunter and the Barn owls hunt at night.

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17Facebook.com/AVOWMagazine • Winter 2020/2021In March 2010, when her dresses caught the eye of an elder, the group was recognized as the rst all female Native American Color Guard. e name at that time was the Army Women’s Iraqi Freedom Veterans, because it started out as a group of Army veterans. e name was then changed to Native American Women Warriors to include all branches of service. In the original dresses, the red, white, blue, and Cheyenne pink signify patriotism. e red dresses, designed by NAWW’s members (past and present), signify the blood that was shed for this great nation. e blue dresses signify valor and courage as a warrior.e ladies of NAWW have made special appearances as motivational guests and keynote speakers at various Veteran and Native events, such as conferences, pageants, trainings, and eth-nic observances. NAWW is still oered opportu-nities to color guard, but the organization o-cially grew into a non-prot on March 1, 2012, with a mission to help lady veterans of Native American descent in various areas of need, such as health, employment, and education.rough member growth and changes, the group’s recruitment eorts have blessed them with outstanding and passionate Native lady veterans assisting in the NAWW vision and mission. e organization is working on setting up chapters in various states. eir duties are still color guard, but they have tak-en on a mission: “We are dedicated to surface recognition of women veterans, especially of Native American descent, and their contribution to the military that represents our indigenous people and the United States of America.” NAWW Vision Statement: Our goal is to assist our Native American women veterans in receiving the help desperately needed to empower themselves to take on modern chal-lenges in education and employment and to guide those needing special services to attain a powerful mind, body, and spirit.NATIVE AMERICAN WOMEN WARRIORS

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19Facebook.com/AVOWMagazine • Winter 2020/2021Below are excerpts from a video she created to bridge the gap during the pandemic and to still share her unique story of service and reconnecting with her community. Logistics Specialist Chief Petty Ofcer (SCW) Inez C. RajoI am an enrolled member of the Northern Arapaho Tribe in Wyoming, and I am one of four groups of Arapaho who originally occu-pied the headwaters of the Arkansas and Platte Rivers. My tribe speaks a variation of the Al-gonquin language which are the most south-west extension of today’s current United States. My name is “HO3E’USEI” which means Morningstar Woman. My oldest daughter is named Valley Woman; we have not named the youngest yet but will at a later time; and I am also due with our fourth child who will also need to be named as well. I was born and raised in Ethete, Wyoming, on the Wind River Reservation. ere have been many battles, wars, and massacres that have been a part of my tribe’s history and I encourage you to read a little bit more about them, as they ex-plain how we were relocated multiple times to get to where we are today. Culturally, we are plains indians, but socially and historically we are distinct from others. My family lineage includes Chief Yellow Calf, one of very last histor-ical and traditional chiefs of the Arapa-hos. His noticeable accomplishments include learning sign language to communicate with the non-Arapahos, saving the ceremonial Ghost Dance that was banned by the forces surround-ing my tribe; and led the tribe before our Arap-aho business council (ABC). After signing the treaty of 1851, the Arapaho and Cheyenne tribes shared land encompassing a sixth of Wyo-ming; a quarter of Colorado, and parts of where western Kansas and Nebraska met. In November 1864, the Sand Creek massacre occurred; led by Colonel John Chivington’s Col-orado militia that killed almost 75% of the tribe, leaving more males who were out hunting. e women and children who waited at camp were all slaughtered even as they were waving their white treaty ag. is was the last known massa-cre in which my tribe still remembers and oers prayer to during the summer. We host a long dis-tance relay run from Colorado to Wyoming, and the runners total over 600 miles which is the trail the Arapaho had to walk after being massacred to nally rest and recover in Wyoming. When the treaty of 1868 occurred, it left the Northern Arapaho without a land base. We were placed with a Shoshone tribe in west cen-tral Wyoming on the Wind River Reservation where we currently reside today. We did join at one point to be a joint business council on which decisions were based on a 50/50 turn-around for each tribe but it was later dissolved. Recovering after many years of pain and suering, my tribe -along with other tribes- were introduced into boarding schools. is era of boarding schools started in 1870 to 1970 in dierent remote sites located outside of Native American villages or reservations. e boarding school era is a sensitive area for my family to talk about because we were passed the stories of how they were treated, and how they were abused, and how they had to learn that the priest and nun behaviors in those schools wasn’t always the right thing to do to children. [She asks the audience how many are bi-lingual and had to learn english as a second language.] Imagine the learning practices of boarding schools back then versus how we NATIVE AMERICAN WOMEN WARRIORS(CONTINUED ON NEXT PAGE)Rajo has had positive experiences in the military and is still serving for another two years, though she is able to reenlist for up to another six years. Her husband (also Navy -a Corpsman) has been chosen for orders and she will negotiate to see if she can get orders with him.

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21Facebook.com/AVOWMagazine • Winter 2020/202121(CONTINUED ON NEXT PAGE)learn today, and you will then understand why many tribes speak only english today. I had the opportunity to get a story from one of my Aunts of the Oglala-Lakota tribe. She is one of the few survivors who publicly speak about her experiences in the boarding schools. My father was also sent to one but he was too young to remember what exactly happened and since his sister was older, she was punished for both children’s behaviors and learning practices. In March 2019, my hus-band was able to meet her and my father at a Native American celebration called a powwow. e Denver March Powwow is the third larg-est in the United States, and has many tribes and dancers who come to dance and sing from all over. She showed us her 80 year old hands that still have lines of scars stretching from thumb to pinky from when she was whipped with rulers or sticks because she couldn’t com-prehend how to say things in english. But her story isn’t the only story that has been passed down. I’ve heard that a grandmother grew up with an identity crisis because a priest never chose her and she wondered if she wasn’t pretty enough for years. I’ve also heard of another lady whose job at only 10 years old was to throw the babies in a burning re that were born from Na-tive American Children who were raped at these boarding schools. All of these innocent children did not know anything they were doing was wrong at the time and have since learned to live with these experiences and how to share them so they are able to live with peace. at’s a part of dark history that still unfolds today and I only shared it because addictions didn’t always start as addictions -neither did substance abuse. e story of Pocahontas isn’t true to the cartoon that Disney distributed. ere are stories that you don’t know until you ask.Growing up on a reservation wasn’t as iso-lated as many think. We have schools, hous-es, cars, electricity, sports, and opportunities that help us grow, learn, and even move o of the reservation. I grew up in a three bedroom house, attended mostly an all Native American school. I excelled in academics and was a part of National Honor Society for many years; an A and B honor roll student; attended math and science camps during the summer that let me visit universities and colleges around the US and meet dierent people. Most of all, we had a large, dedicated base of teachers who en-couraged us to embrace diversity and leave the reservation for opportunities that were there. I enlisted in 2002 after two years of college while majoring in engineering. e reason was because of the disastrous terrorist incident that happened on September 11, 2001. After that in-cident, I wanted to do something to combat terr-rosim and show my patriotism toward our coun-try, even though I was discouraged at rst against it. Some of my family members did not want me to join a military that had repeatedly mistreated, lied and stole from my people in the past and had voiced their concerns of distrust and disfavor with the government. ough I respected others’ opinions, I enlisted one year after the terrorist attack at the age of 21 with hopes of traveling the world, meeting new people and getting the Montgomery GI Bill for higher education. In 2003, during my rst year of enlist-ment, I took a short break from college work and concentrated on my new job which was to help fuel the aircraft onboard the USS Peleliu LHA-5. e USS Peleliu was an amphibious assault ship used to transport sailors, marines, and equipment to and from overseas. e air-craft I fueled included P-53s, P-46s, and Har-riers all on board the ight deck during day and night operations. After returning from a deployment in 2004, I visited the college oce on base to begin in-quiring about schools that would have tuition assistance from the Military. With three years left on my contract, I wanted to stay on track to getting a degree prior to getting out of the U. S. N. I did change my major to general studies, since I was now unsure if I wanted an engineer-ing degree and took only two classes that year in humanities. Many times I found myself the only Native American at dierent events and meetings, and I missed attending powwows, or NATIVE AMERICAN WOMEN WARRIORS

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2002 Enlisted after two years of college while majoring in engineering because of September 11, 2001. 2003 Took a short break from college work to concentrate on my new job of fueling the aircraft onboard the USS Peleliu LHA-5. 2004Returned from a deployment and visited the college office on base to inquire about schools that have tuition assistance from the Military. celebration dances, and my tribe’s annual reli-gious ceremony -e Sundance.In 2005 the Northern Arapaho tribe won a huge victory in court against the state of Wyo-ming to operate Class III gaming in their local casino. is was big news because originally the tribe only operated a bingo style casino with pull tabs and Keno machines. With class III gaming the tribe could now operate a Vegas style casino with card tables and slot machines. At this time, I changed my major to Business Management because I wanted to work at the big casino that was being built in 2008. I decided to reenlist in 2007 and received orders overseas. In 2008, I got married and transferred over-seas to Rota, Spain, to continue with my career in higher education because I still didn’t com-plete my degree. In 2009, I earned my Bache-lors of Science in Business Management, and in 2010 I had my rst child, Lydia. After realizing the big casino had been built for my tribe, I decided I wanted to reenlist and pursue an ad-ditional higher education in business to nd a good job after getting out of the military. In 2011, I transferred to NMCB 74 in Gulfport, Mississippi. I got along with the Sea-bees really well; they even command-advanced me a whole pay grade while stationed with them. I also earned my rst Masters degree in Logistics and Supply Chain Management in 2014, and I reenlisted for another three years. At the end of 2014, I transferred to Aviation Support Detachment in Jacksonville, Florida. While visiting the college oce to see if there were any certicates I could earn before I got out of the military. e college advisor said I could earn another masters degree in less time. In 2015 I enrolled in another masters degree program in management with a specialty in leadership. Two years later, I earned my sec-ond master’s degree and found out I was preg-nant again. In Jan 2018, I had another girl and in May 2018 I remarried. In the summer of 2018, the academic advisor contacted me again and said I could earn one more masters 22Winter 2020/2021 • www.AVOWMagazine.comLeft: With the NAWW Color GuardAbove: Receiving one of her many degrees.

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2005The Northern Arapaho tribe’s court victory against the State of Wyoming to operate Class III gaming in their local casino. Changed major to Business Management to be able to work at the big casino that was being built in 2008. 2008Got married and transferred overseas to Rota, Spain, and continued career in higher education to complete my degree. degree while still active duty, so I enrolled in a third master’s degree program. When I rst enlisted, I only remember two adult male gures who were in the military from my tribe. One of them was my uncle who was in the Air Force, and the other was a distant rel-ative who served in the Army. I didn’t know any females who were in the military or in the Navy. One reason I chose the Navy was because of the leadership title being a Chief. Once I began re-searching other tribes and meeting other tribes throughout my journey, I was nally able to meet Mitchelene BigMan who contin-ues to be an inspiration to not only myself but to other young Natives and females who want to serve in the military. I was fortunate enough to get her interview from the history channel and to receive a personal message from her for others. Mitcheline, thank you for your time, ef-fort, and contribution to this month's Na-tive American Heritage celebration. In April 2019 I transferred to the USS Iwo Jima in Mayport, Florida, where I earned a computer science apprenticeship; but since our ship was underway a lot, taking classes was a bit more risky. I began classes again in my third master’s degree program in May 2020 and then transferred to Southeast Regional Maintenance Center in Mayport because I found out that I am pregnant again. I am still enrolled in classes and plan on graduating in spring 2021. While on the Iwo Jima, I led the color guard team and was a co-lead for the Multicultural Heritage Committee while onboard. My initial goal was to get more money for college to get a degree a long time ago; but since then, my dreams have evolved. ey now include pursuing a higher education to support my fam-ily and inspire my children in the future. I want to be able to nd employment when my military career has ended and reenter the big circle of Na-tive American celebrations with my family when we retire. I am so grateful for the friendships and relationships that I have made throughout my career, and I know that I will continue to speak about my experiences and opportunities to oth-ers who are interested in enlisting. Video excerpts end.Rajo also shared during our discussion that her husband is full Mexican; and the more pow-wows and ceremonies she takes him to, the more they discuss similarities and dierences between their cultures, such as language. He enjoys being a part of her culture and also looks forward to retir-ing in Wyoming. eir 11 year old girl also danc-es at powwows; they have a two-year old girl, and as of this interview, a brand-new girl of two days. In her last command Rajo mentored active duty women because she feels it can be a little hard when you come from civilian life to mili-tary, but it is dierent now than when she rst enlisted. e leadership has had to adapt to the sailors coming in because they’re not used to the hierarchy of leadership -they are used to dier-ent styles; however, in order to relate to them, changes need to be made. She wrote a paper on this topic for college and interviewed a couple of women who have been serving around 30 years to see how they viewed adapting their leadership style. Rajo feels it changes for everybody, and it’s for the better well being of everybody -if they focus on only one style, it can break someone and not turn out. Even the military must evolve. She likes to encourage people to share their story because everyone’s story does change, and we cannot expect everyone’s experiences to be the same. e outcome is determined by their actions and she thinks a lot of women have a lot more courage to speak up today in all kinds of situations, and it is possible to have a positive and successful career -not every-body gets to enlist, but if you can, you can also have a family, higher education, and have that cultural and heritage relationship. Being a part of NAWW for her keeps ties to how she grew up, how she serves and how she will one day retire. Rajo also shared that when she rst met Mitche-lene and NAWW, they had a red jingle dress, and Mitchelene made Rajo a blue one for her Navy service. She and her sister are part of NAWW be-cause her sister served in the Army. NATIVE AMERICAN WOMEN WARRIORS23Facebook.com/AVOWMagazine • Winter 2020/20212009Earned Bachelors of Science in Business Management. The big casino had also been built for the tribe, but instead reenlisted to pursue even higher education in business. When I rst enlisted, I only remember two adult male gures who were in the military from my tribe.

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NATIVE AMERICAN WOMAN WARRIOR:CALLEY CLOUDWinter 2020/2021 • www.AVOWMagazine.com24WE FOUND CALLEY CLOUD THROUGH AN INSTAGRAM VIDEO WHERE NATIVE AMERICAN MILITARY WOMEN PASSED EACH OTHER A BROWN T-SHIRT AND THE WOMAN RECEIVING TRANSFORMED FROM A BATTLE DRESS UNIFORM INTO THEIR OWN BEAUTIFUL FANCY-DRESSED NATIVE AMERICAN WOMEN WARRIOR (NAWW) CLOTHING. The video, it turns out, was created by Cloud during a time when she was in Okinawa and Japan. She’d had an interview as one of the United Dragonboat Paddlers and was informed she was one of the few who had the most likes on IG. The rst year that she paddled, her team won the Strong Woman competition when they rowed against the all women’s Navy and Air Force teams. She found that once she was on the water, it made her peaceful and happy. She also felt that videos were more effective than just an image and a post -that they are more relatable. She was certainly right as her video connected us with multiple women afliated with the NAWW group. Cloud retired in 2016, after 21 years of service that included inspiring her little sister to join, who is serving in Korea and is also a member of Native American Women Warriors (NAWW). Cloud’s son attended Kansas State University, joined the Army and is now stationed in Alaska. After Cloud’s retirement, she returned to Montana where she provided a couple of briefings to high schoolers. She shared that some students do reach out with questions about the military and sometimes their children do much later.Cloud is still working for the Army at Fort Leavenworth. She explains that while most people think of Leavenworth as merely a military prison, it’s also actually where senior managers for civilians and field-grade Majors and above are trained. There are many decision-making processes being done at Fort Leavenworth, including tracking all the instructors and leaders. BY SHEILA L.HOLMES

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NATIVE AMERICAN WOMEN WARRIORSCloud informed us that she is one of the few in her family to join the military, and she wanted to do something dierent from the normal. She knew she needed to do something dierent in order to get something dierent out of her life. Initially, she was supposed to join the Navy, but MEPS (Military Entrance Processing Station) was closed, so she joined the Army. She’d joked around in high school about joining, but once she turned 18 or 19 years old, she started to mentor some young women after graduation, and that inspired her to do something even more to be a role model for other Native Americans, where too often a norm was being pregnant young and not grad-uating high school. Cloud didn’t know many Native American women who were in the mil-itary, so she learned from men, but it was a totally dierent experience. She recalls walking into service on blind faith and though it was a dierent mindset -she was hungry to succeed and she knew she was not going to leave empty handed -she expected to leave with a degree, a house. She had goals. When everyone else wanted to party, she had a child to look out for -and she wanted better for her child. She wanted him to be successful.25Facebook.com/AVOWMagazine • Winter 2020/2021Cloud spent about three years in Japan after her service working as a teen counselor during the time between her military service and her start in work as a civilian contractor, followed by two years in Okinawa working with mostly American teens and a few Japanese teens -military dependents, mostly. “You start to realize what you put your kids through -your children being left behind when you’re going to school.” As for her personal life, she shares, “Personal-ly, my kids. I’m impressed. My oldest graduated college and did everything right.” Her youngest graduated at 16 years old and will be 21 years old in August and is graduating.” Her sister is in the Army and both Cloud and her sister served at the same time. While her youngest son hasn’t joined the military -he knows education is very important. She is thankful for her parents and how supportive they are, “Every time we go home, there’s a big feast for us and a family gathering.”Cloud describes her military successes as becoming a non-commissioned officer, then becoming a commissioned officer, and she is most proud of becoming a paratrooper.

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NAWW Color GuardWhile serving as a company commander, Cloud’s little sister who was stationed at Fort Carson reached out to her about NAWW and encouraged her to attend a Color Guard event. Cloud paid her membership, and once she attended one event, she was hooked. She recalls that was the Denver event, and she’s now been to every one after that in her region, except when she was in Japan.Pivotal MomentsWhen asked if there was a pivotal moment in the military that helped her transition to civilian life or challenges she’d like to share, Cloud stated there were many challenges, “Being on reservation I had no consequenc-es; there was a lack of law enforcement due to minimal resources and, therefore, also a lack of discipline.” Part of what she learned was per-sonal responsibility and timeliness. She had a mentor telling her to be smart and learn from other’s mistakes. For most people, Cloud de-scribes, it’s not until you’re in your 30s when your ears open, but she’d started to learn early because they scared her into it. She knew the consequences were lost money or demotion -and that would aect her child. “Everything at that time was for my son. I had to put him rst at a very young age,” she recalled. Cloud stated that she never tried to move back -once she left the reservation, she knew she was going to stay elsewhere. She shared that she did have some conict because of women leading anything (soldiers or other events), “When we led a few parades, it was a double edged sword, but the good outshined the bad,” and she admits she’s inspired a lot of young girls. “When we go home and do Color Guards and parades, it makes them proud and inspires them. ey get very excited. You can tell in their eyes. Looking into their future.” She mentioned that when she leaves if they don’t reach out there at the event, sometimes they reach out to her later and she always leaves herself open for contact, claiming, “If you’re a member of my tribe, I would take them in and prepare them for their rst unit.” WisdomI asked what Cloud would like to impart to other women veterans and those who love them, and she replied, “Everything is possible. Believe in yourself. See it for yourself. ere’s no limits. I’ve jumped from a plane and I’m alive, even though my fear is that my boys will do that!” She claims her son and sister are very lucky because all their friends in the military were ones who helped them. At each place Cloud was at, if she saw a female she tried to take the role as a big-ger sister rather than a boss or a leader. She always looked at them as a little sister. Cloud recalled her own mentor, Tracy Haynes, was an amazing lead-er to work for who, “Showed me how females are supposed to work together,” so Cloud took on her role on, and said, “We are gonna work together.” Haynes had this mentorship early; she was the rst leader that played an integral role in Cloud’s career. Both were at Fort Bragg together. Cloud has also learned from her own chil-dren. She shared that Native Americans tend to be stand-osh when they see another Native American, but her daughter encouraged her to go up and speak; and afterward, no matter where she went, when she saw another Native Amer-ican, she tried to help them acclimate. She’s noticed changes with her own children; they’re speaking, nding each other, and really feel that is normal. What’s next for Cloud? She’s creating a new video and has had several interviews. Stay tuned.Winter 2020/2021 • www.AVOWMagazine.com26Cloud at Dignity Statue. Dignity is a sculpture on a bluff overlooking the Missouri River near Chamberlain, South Dakota. The 50-foot high stainless steel statue by South Dakota artist laureate Dale Claude Lamphere depicts an Indigenous woman in Plains-style dress receiving a star quilt.

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27Facebook.com/AVOWMagazine • Winter 2020/2021JUAN PABLO SERRANO ARENASI want to touch on something that is very near and dear to my heart: the Warrior blood that runs through my veins. Apache blood. I am also Dominican and I love that side of my heritage as well. One thing my mother always harped on to never forget was the Apache in me. The Apache people have a proud his-tory of the warrior mindset. The tribe’s name “Apache” came from the Zuni word “apachu” which means “enemy”. Noted leaders have included Cochise, Mangas Coloradas, Chief Vic-torio, Lozen (a skillful female warrior), and Geronimo, who the U.S. Army found to be fierce warriors and skillful strategists. This warrior mentality resonates to this day with other Native Americans I’ve crossed paths with within the military.Warrior. Fighter. Veteran. Whether you have served in the Coast Guard, Air Force, Army, Navy or Marines -one thing remains the same and is woven into all branches: justice, bravery, relentless pres-tige, and pride of a great Nation tie together these dauntless brothers and sisters in arms. Whether you are retired, active duty, or reserves -there’s something unique about our veter-ans. I have been asked several times during my 14 years in the Marine Corps, “Why do you even serve? Hasn't the government screwed with your "people" enough?” The first time I heard that, I'm almost certain I looked like a confused puppy with my head canted sideways. I serve for several reasons. Both of my parents were Ma-rines so that may be a contributing factor, but going back to the question that particularly addresses why I serve even though I am Native American. This is my home, my land. This country fully belonged to the Native American people origi-nally. Geronimo, Cochise, Alchesay, Lozen, and Mangus are but a few examples of Apache warriors who fought fiercely and relentlessly for their people and land. They fought know-ing full and well that their choice to fight could very well mean that they could meet a certain demise. That bravery has been carried on through Native Americans who are still protecting their homeland today. NATIVE AMERICAN WOMAN WARRIOR:GUNNERY SERGEANT, STEPHANIE ROMANNATIVE AMERICAN WOMEN WARRIORSBY STEPHANIE ROMAN

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29Facebook.com/AVOWMagazine • Winter 2020/2021(CONTINUED ON NEXT PAGE)Our interview started with my curiosity over one of the titles presented in her email signature: Troop 598 Popcorn Kernel. Ini-tially, I’d only thought of a kernel of corn; but in hindsight, I see the double entendre of Popcorn Colonel. Archiquette explained that Troop 598 is her youngest son’s Scouts number, and she’s in charge of all popcorn sales. She manages to get the Scouts forms, deadlines, patches, and when delivery time comes, she picks up the whole troops’ popcorn sales and divides it out to each family for delivery. As for Outings Chair, she plans and coordinates the troop’s events. e Scouts choose the things they want to do, and she gures out what events can be accomplished in which months. Archiquette’s 20 years of service was spent in four dierent reserve units, as a Patient Ad-ministrator (including as an acting Field First Sergeant for a year and was constantly in the middle of convoys and moving equipment). She also sidelined as an instructor for basic ri-e marksmanship where she traveled the state with a completely electronic mobile qualica-tion range, she served with Human Resources in the last couple years. While Archiquette misses some aspects of the service after retiring at age 38, such as being able to leave for two weeks to go to the rie range, she chose to leave service and is now a crossing guard in order to be accessible for her children as her husband has a job that can call him with a two-hour notice 24 hours a day, seven days a week. How did she hear about Native American Women Warriors (NAWW)? Archiquette shared that she was at a powwow and the head danc-er asked if she knew about NAWW, and so she looked it up and became involved. She is also the Eagle Sta Carrier for the University of Wiscon-sin, Milwaukee. She educated me that a person who carries the Eagle Sta must be a veteran in order to carry and care for the sta; and if a feath-er falls, only a combat veteran can pick it up with a special ceremony. She remembered attending an Eagle Sta teaching lodge last year, and the Elder said he was amazed how many female vet-erans have been asked to take on that position and how much he really loved their interest. Because Archiquette’s children are young-er, she doesn’t get much opportunity to attend as many powwows as she used to. e other Native Americans she’s friends with and hang out with aren’t veterans. Even when she was attending college, there weren’t many veterans. When I asked if she was an anomaly as a woman veteran in her circles, she mentioned that one of her ocers while in service was also one of the rst female generals. Archi-quette shared that considering the reserve unit she was in was medical and in the 90s, there were many women in her unit as nurses and eld medics, etc., and that it was only when she changed units did she realize any dier-ence. e medical unit was in charge of several humanitarian missions, such as helping with medical and dental services. NATIVE AMERICAN WOMEN WARRIORS...a person who carries the Eagle Sta must be a veteran in order to both carry and care for the sta;and if a feather falls, only a combat veterancan pick it up with a special ceremony.

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30Winter 2020/2021 • www.AVOWMagazine.comArchiquette reminisced about serving in a medical unit where they had an outstanding Family Readiness Group (FRG) that brought the families together with the soldiers by host-ing events such as a Commander’s cup run (a 5k). Participants received trophies according to age group -even little kids participated. e unit also managed a Moulage tent (fake wounds for simulations) -the kids enjoyed the realistic look-ing trauma wounds with “bones” sticking out of their arm. Her nephew came to her Family Days and shared that he still has those captain bars her Commander had given him o the Com-mander’s own collar. at medical unit was so tight, she recalled, that they had a social co-ordinator who would share where each week-end’s social activity was, such as bowling. In a dierent unit where several servicemembers rode motorcycles, they’d go out before break-fast and ride their bikes before drills. She still has the bike but doesn’t get out often. Archiquette admits the military was her identity, and when she retired in 2008 sud-denly becoming a stay-at-home mom, it was extremely dicult. Shortly after, her husband’s unit had a crisis and that's how she became his unit’s FRG lead. She managed to stay close to the military by continuing that volunteer eort over the next 13 years in helping with her hus-band’s (who just retired himself after 36 years) FRG. She’s learned how to be ‘just a spouse,’ as she noted many of the guys would leave the re-serve unit and still use her as their FRG. In this way, the Army was still a part of her and she was not only an FRG for his unit but became the “misst” for any unit that needed or didn’t have an FRG reached out to me to ll in. ings she wishes she’d known when she rst enlisted that would’ve made life easier now? She knew other soldiers that took their military check and put the money away as their trav-el fund for when they retired. “When you’re young (she enlisted at 17), you don’t really think about that. You can get hops and y wherever on a military hop or use your veteran’s ID for discounts.” Archiquette chooses to promote and use those FRG connections, whether it’s free tick-ets to games with vettix.org or Guitars for Vets. “ere’s a whole other realm of businesses and people out there who support veterans.” Archiquette shared that her heritage comes from a long line of veterans; they have, including husband and herself, a whopping 21 veterans in their family, including cousins serving now and ancestors serving pre-World War 1. Her hus-band is related to Chief Skenandoa, also called Shenandoah and one of her family members was a Polish ocer way before World War 1 -so their service is not limited to this country but others as well. In her family alone, they have served in four out of the ve branches. She has both challeng-ing and positive memories of service overall, as many service members understandably do.e challenge? She wasn’t ready to retire in 2008, but she had to because of her children. “Daycares aren’t open on weekends so nobody could take both children on drill weekends. As her husband was a military instructor -they were both serving on the same drill weekend. She was a soldier and still a mom, and while she was told to leave her children with family, her parents were older. As she retired, her Unit Commander asked what it would take for her to stay and she promptly responded, “Daycare.” She now knows that the Military OneSource and FRG could have helped her nd child care. at last drill weekend, she remembers, “It took six people to replace me as a parent, sending one kid to my family and the other with my husband’s family. It’s a good thing I learned logistics in the military because that’s how I manage now, between sporting events, scout-ing, etc. Women do make a dierence when they push through and get that rank,” in helping other women navigate service and their families.On the positive side, she recalled the won-derful opportunities traveling to other coun-tries with humanitarian missions and her take away from the missions is how precious drink-able water is. Ever since she went to Guyana, she works hard to conserve clean, drinkable water. She imparted the love of service to her boys who both love volunteering at Operation Homefront where they collected toys and di-vided them up, collected back-to-school sup-plies, and even sent extra popcorn for the sol-diers. Her family’s service continues.Taken in Guyana in the market with another soldier, (right) Betsy Martin from the Menominee. Dolly training. Ever since she went to Guyana, she works hard to conserve clean, drinkable water.

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33Facebook.com/AVOWMagazine • Winter 2020/2021(CONTINUED ON NEXT PAGE)As a Lance Corporal, Barron was pregnant one year before she was due to discharge from the Marines; though she wanted to reenlist, she was denied because she was pregnant and her MOS was being closed out. She decided to get married, have another son, and instead joined the Marine Corps Reserves around a year later. She stayed in the Reserves for another year-and-a-half during which she was the only female in a ground unit. Her husband at the time was also a Marine in the same unit. After enlistment, Barron obtained a job in ad-ministration/word processing and started school again using the GI Bill. Her husband left and became an absentee father; they later divorced. Barron remembers the culture shock after being in the Marines. Just as she was to be promoted to a computer technician support role, she received another shock as she was dropping her children o at the babysitter prior to work: the babysitter told her she quit and could not drop them o; then her job told her not to come back. Barron recalled they’d been looking for an excuse to re her and not having a babysitter was a perfect out. Barron could not nd work and started selling her things to make money. She lost everything. She tried to get herself and her sons into a home-less shelter, but they told her she did not qualify because her car was worth too much money. She talked to churches and drove around to play-grounds. Barron was trying to nd food, work, and a place to live when she turned to the yellow pages to look for shelters, but many of the shelters did not take children. She then went to a local YMCA for an interview and found out they had a shelter that accepted children. Barron shared that the shelter was always running out of food, or they had cereal but no milk. She would go to Taco Bell and buy their two-bean burrito and a Pepsi special so she would have food for the day and give the food from the shelter to her sons. She found the shelters to be very regimented. While she obtained a job delivering auto parts, it was dicult to be able to go to work. About a month into her stay, the shelter went on lock-down. Shelters house a lot of battered women and lockdowns usually happened because the shelter heard that someone’s ex was looking for them. Barron was about to go to McDonald’s to get food for her children when the shelter told her if she left, she could not come back. She was very depressed but the experience gave her a deep appreciation for shelters and the work they do. It was during this time, Barron’s pager went o to call a friend. Her friend said he would rent out one of his rooms in his house. He was unaware of her full situation. She then found a good job. She was able to get out of debt and she decided to enlist in the Army National Guard. She saw this as an opportunity to get back in uniform and serve her community. She was forty-ve years old at the time. She then went on to Ocer Candidate School (OCS) at the age of forty-eight and is still serving today. Barron eventually remarried and had two more sons; however, the couple has since been (CONTINUED ON NEXT PAGE)Cyla Barron’s brother enlisted just prior to her own enlistmentto the United States Marine Corps in 1988, at 21 years oldwith one year of college under her belt. Her brother was the onewho talked her into her Military Occupational Specialty (MOS)as an aircraft mechanic for OV-10’s. The OV-10 is an American,twin-turbo, light attack, and observation aircraftthat was decommissioned after the Gulf War in 1993. BY PAT WHITE

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34Winter 2020/2021 • www.AVOWMagazine.comPat White was born and raised in Philadelphia, PA. She enlisted in the Marine Corps at 28 years old, and left for boot camp at Parris Island at twenty- nine years old. Once completed, she attended MilitaryOccupation Specialty (MOS) school at Camp Johnson, North Carolina.Pat graduated from Temple University with a Bachelor of Science in Education. Over the next twenty years, she was a special education teacher with the School District of Philadelphia while serving in the United States Marine Corps Reserve. In October of 2010, Pat enlisted in the United States Air Force Reserves and worked at Dover Air Force Base in Dover, Delaware. She retired from the military on November 1, 2014, after serving for a little over twenty years, and she retired from the School District of Philadelphia in January 2018. She became a number one Best Selling Author when her children’s book “Molly the Marine” was published in March 2019. She is also a songwriter and yoga instructor. Pat continues to live in Philadelphia. divorced. In addition to serving in the Guard, she owns her own gym, Tapout Fitness. It was opened two years before she had to shut down in March of 2020 due to Covid. While at the Vteran’s Administration Med-ical Center (VAMC) for an appointment, she bought a Vietnam Veteran some breakfast. He told her about the Ms. Veteran America contest. Ms. Veteran America is a movement to encour-age women Veterans to uplift each other and nd their tribe. Proceeds from the event provide hous-ing for homeless veteran women and their chil-dren. Women Veterans are currently the fastest- growing homeless population in America. Over half of homeless women Veterans are single mothers. May 31st, 2020, was the deadline to sub-mit an application for the contest, and Barron submitted hers that same week; the next week, they announced the top twenty-ve for the next round and she made it! She then started cam-paigning and fundraising for Final Salute and advocacy. She also started studying women’s military history. Contestants are scored on four areas: the interview, talent, military history, and advocacy. Candidates must provide 100 hours of community service and perform speaking en-gagements for Final Salute Inc. Barron personally represented the cause for homelessness. is was the rst time she’d told people she’d been homeless. She experienced sadness and depression from reliving it and said, “Maybe I didn’t deal with it when I was going through it.” She made it all the way to the top ten! I earned the Marine Corps uniform. I make this uniform.What’s behind the uniform is more important than what I wear.I like being an ofcer better than enlisted. I get to be in charge. Being an E-3 was just about getting the job done.They should maximize what women can do well.Continue being yourself.Don’t be ashamed of being yourself. Don’t be ashamed of being a woman.Remember what you bring to the table.And nally— Women have gifts that men don’t have. Be proud of them and make them big!Some things that Cyla has learned:

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After high school, I did what a lot of recent grads did by attending community college. ere, I did very poorly, which makes sense given how poorly I did in mid-dle and high school. My parents insisted that I now get a job and pay them back for the classes I failed, so I began the job search. Unsurprisingly, in late 2010 through early 2011, the job market wasn’t ex-actly promising for a re-cent high school grad with no job experience, but the military is always hiring! O I went to the Navy re-cruiters oce. ey lured me in with promises of a fair and equal workplace, free healthcare and housing, and free college after my enlist-ment was complete. What a great deal! I’d be a fool not to take them up on this oer. So I did, and 4 weeks after go-ing to MEPS (Military Entrance Processing Command), I was o to boot camp in Great Lakes, IL. Boot camp and A-School (where I was taught how to do my job in the Navy) were quite the culture shock. is was the rst time I’d had the freedom to choose whether or not to go to church. Other rsts included meeting and befriending people who were openly gay, people who weren’t religious or were of a dierent religion than I was, and people of color. I began the process of deciding whether or not I believed in what I’d learned growing up. After all, my bunk-mate had sex, and she seemed like a really good person. My neighbor was gay, but she was really nice, too. And my lead RDC (Recruit Division Commander, in other branches called Drill Instructors) was a black woman, and while strict, she was phenomenal. Once I arrived to my rst duty station in Norfolk, VA, the learning didn’t stop. In my rst watch team of ten In elementary school, I attended a religious program on Thursday nights in middle school, it was a youth group on Tuesdays;in high school, the youth group was on Wednesdays in addition to helping out with the elementary school group. All that to say, church was a big part of my life. What I was blind to at the time was just how white my church and school were. There were very few BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, and People of Color) at my church,and the same was true of my school. I learned that my BIPOC coworkers and neighbors have rich upbringings, very dierent to my own, and that those dierences are beautiful.(CONTINUED ON NEXT PAGE)37Facebook.com/AVOWMagazine • Winter 2020/2021I grew up in a conservative bubble of the Chicago suburbs. My family went to church every Sunday.

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people, I was one of four white folks on the team, and one of only two women. While I learned a lot about my job, I learned more about my co-workers and their life experienc-es, and also how to operate within the military structure. ese lessons were not learned through second-hand experience. ey were instead learned by the actions of my leadership, who openly mocked me and asked if i was pregnant while rubbing my stomach; they were learned by the guy brazenly grabbing my breast in front of two other bystanders; by being pushed o to do the parts of the job no one else want-ed to do, hurting my chances to advance; and by being teased and belittled by my shipmates who were supposed to have my back; by being written o as, “just a dumb c***,” by someone who I’d gone through Navy schooling with and worked alongside for two years. In crying to my division Chief (an E-7) about these things, I was told, “is is just how it is in the Navy. You’ve got it good here. It’s worse on the ship.” When my Chief wrote me o, I thought I had no other recourse left. ank god for Master Chief Rufa: a seasoned E-9, and someone who, frankly, didn’t take any shit from anyone. He walked in while I was sob-bing to my Chief, sent me home from my shift early, and told me to show up in his oce at 0700 the next day. He told me to write down names, dates, and what was said to and about me. He told me that those individuals were not my shipmates, that shipmates don’t treat you the way I had been treated. He arranged to have me transferred to the training division, where I spent the remainder of my enlistment. Because of my time in the Navy, I have learned how to stand up for myself. How to ask for, and demand, help. How to properly document and report injustices and inequities in the workspace. I learned that my BIPOC coworkers and neighbors have rich upbring-ings, very dierent to my own, and that those dierences are beautiful. I learned that the LGBTQIA+ community is full of love and joy, in spite of those who do not accept them. Most importantly, I learned what my own val-ues are. ese are valuable lessons I wouldn't have learned otherwise. I also learned that while society claims to strive for fairness and equality, I’m still living in a man’s world. When I left the Navy, I moved to San An-tonio, Texas, following my then-husband to his next duty station. I worked at a call center for a time; then, after leaving that job and separating from my husband, I moved up to Dallas, TX, and stayed with family while I got back on my feet. I have such love for my aunt and uncle, who allowed me to live with them. One of the condi-tions of staying in their home, however, was to attend church with them each Sunday. is was the rst time since leaving home seven years prior that I’d regularly attended a religious service. To say the experience was eye-opening would be an understatement. While I saw and experienced a community coming together for something they believed, I very much felt like an outsider -an imposter. I didn’t believe all the things the pastors said, the book they were referencing, or the boundaries they drew. Why should my gay friend have to put aside her at-traction to women when I didn’t have to put aside my attraction to men? Does that make her lesser in the views of the Lord? I thought He was supposed to love all His children equally. When I re-entered the workforce a few months after the divorce was nalized, it was at a religious non-prot as their Administra-tive Assistant. Perhaps not the best choice for someone recently decided as an agnostic, but it did teach me about life at a non-prot, which would come in very useful later. During my time there, I went from working as simply an assistant, to being the Phone Systems Manag-er, lling in with accounting, being the backup for the fulllment team -all of which gave me a broad scope of knowledge and an in-depth view on how the business was run. After two years, I decided that it was time to move on. I had no real friends or family in Dallas after my aunt and uncle moved back to Utah, so I decided to look for opportunities elsewhere. A friend referred me to a contracting compa-ny, so I accepted a position in Washington DC as a project coordinator. After living in DC for less than a year, COVID happened and I was sud-denly working from home full-time. is was a dramatic shift, as the majority of my interaction with people was at the oce. As I’m sure many others did at the beginning of lockdown, I strug-gled with depression. Winter 2020/2021 • www.AVOWMagazine.com38Jen Nikodem served for 4 years in the Navy.Nikodem sporting the uniform of the day.

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39Facebook.com/AVOWMagazine • Winter 2020/2021Originally from the suburbs of Chicago, Jen, 28, served four years in the Navy as an Information Systems Technician, stationed out of Norfolk, VA. After leaving the Navy, she explored a few different career ﬁelds before settling in the Washington DC area working as a Project Coordinator for a government contracting company. Additionally, she volunteers as the operations director with Continue To Serve, a grassroots progressive veterans group, committed to social justice causes. In the spare time she has left, she enjoys practicing nail art and petting dogs. In August, I found out about a veterans group called Continue To Serve. ey were gathering together and protesting alongside the local BLM (Black Lives Matter) groups. I really wanted to get involved because the COVID isolation had been aecting my mental health signicantly, and I’d been casually looking for a veterans group for quite some time. So, mid-August, I attended my rst protest march. After that rst march, I was hooked. is veterans group resonated with me so deeply, and everyone I met was passionate about social justice and caring about underserved members in the community. I’d also felt as if I was one of few veterans who weren’t conservative and had a heart for others. I was thrilled to nd other veterans who felt the same way I did. After attending a few marches with David Smith, the founder of Continue To Serve, he asked me to help out with the website. We de-veloped a fantastic working relationship; and now, six months later, Continue To Serve is getting o the ground as a non-prot organi-zation. I am now rmly embedded in the CTS sta and wouldn’t change a thing. I am still working my full-time day job in addition to helping run a budding non-prot. is makes for a very full schedule, but the work we are doing is so impactful. Right now we are mostly focused on the BLM movement, but in the fu-ture aim to branch o and focus on immigra-tion, along with working on recruiting people transitioning out of the military, and keeping them from falling into radical white suprem-acist groups like the Proud Boys and Oath-keepers. I am so excited to see where Continue To Serve goes, and what awesome new team members join us on the way. When I left home at 18 years old, I had no idea what life would bring me. e past ten years have denitely had their share of ups and downs, but I wouldn’t trade them for anything. Without my time in the Navy, I wouldn't be who I am today. While it was dicult, and I don't recommend it to everyone, I learned a lot about myself. I was able to develop my own ideals and values, and now I am doing the work I never knew I would love so much, alongside a fantastic group of people. Life brings hardships to everyone, some more than others. My hope is that I can take my experiences and use them to help others. And, like we would say in the Sailor’s Creed, “I am committed to excellence and the fair treatment of all.” ose words ring as true today as they ever have to me. And that commitment, my fel-low veteran, has no expiration date. We are veterans and we can stay silent no more. Whether this be to stand up for the BLM movement, ghting for immigration rights for those we are holding in camps in Texas, or holding law enforcement and the federal government accountable for their actions, we must hold to our oath to support and defend the Constitution and the citizens it represents.

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(CONTINUED ON NEXT PAGE)And they should know, because Dr. Moore is a Navy veteran, indeed THE Navy veteran, who dared to speak up and testify in Congress about the ef-fects that military sexual trauma had in her life. Her story in 2012 highlighted the hopelessness, despair, and retraumati-zation that veterans faced when trying to get help from the veteran service organiza-tions and both the legislative and medical communities who did not want to address the proverbial elephant in the closet.When looking at Dr. Moore now, most people do not see the broken women who begged Congress to do the right thing and pass the Ruth Moore Act of 2013 and 2015 (which was rolled into and passed in the 2015 National Defense Authorization Act). Instead, they see a vibrant, condent, and educated integrative healthcare pro-vider who has kicked the Veterans Health-care Administration (VHA) addiction of counseling, pills, and constant sickness. In 2012, her testimony sparked a wellness journey that has literally saved her life and given her new lease for a healthy and fulll-ing future that both she and Dr. Matthews feel every veteran should have.COUSINS BY BIRTH AND SIBLINGS BY NATIVE ADOPTION, DR. RICHARDMATTHEWS AND DR. RUTH MOORE ARE TREATING AND TEACHING VETER-ANS ABOUT HEALING AND RESTORING HEALTH TO THE WHOLEPERSON THROUGH THE MODELS OF COMPLEMENTARY, ALTERNATIVE, INTEGRATIVE, AND FUNCTIONALMEDICINES. Winter 2020/2021 • www.AVOWMagazine.com40

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Winter 2020/2021 • www.AVOWMagazine.comROCK BOTTOMWhen Dr. Moore transitioned out of the Navy, she had no purpose or direction for her life. As with many of her military sisters, she began to gain weight and experience symptoms of undiagnosed post-traumatic stress disorder. Later, after the diagnosis was made in the Flor-ida VHA system, she was denied health care because the Veteran Claim rater would not establish a service connection for a rape that occurred while she was on active duty. Instead, she was labelled a psychiatric patient, given a cocktail of drugs that led to complex symp-toms of weight gain, diminished libido in her early 20s, complex headaches, and sent home to fend for herself for the next “twenty plus” years. In this time, when she gradually fought for, and won, her right to VHA healthcare; she also opened Pandora’s box as her health declined to the point of developing Petit Mal seizures, needing a service dog, and reaching a maximum weight of almost 220 pounds on her 61 inch frame.Dr. Ruth’s downward-spiraling life and history is not unlike many of her veteran sisters who have complex health challenges and diagnosis of bromyalgia, chronic fa-tigue syndrome, multiple sclerosis, muscu-lar dystrophy, both Type II and non-insulin dependent diabetes, seizures and migraines, hypertension, lupus, arthritis, cardiac issues, thyroid issues and Hashimoto’s disease, etc. e common denominator to all of these conditions is that they are ALL stress based or stress exacerbated; and according to the mindset of allopathic (or traditional) med-icine, are not curable – only treatable with medications. And the VHA attempts to treat them, unsuccessfully for many, because the roots to the problems lie beyond a simple diagnostic/prescriptive approach; rather the causes of these issues need to be explored by providers who have the ability to empower wellness by partnering with their patients.Dr Richard Matthews grew up with a Navy veteran father, and after graduating from college with a degree in biology, went back to school and obtained his Doctorate as a Doctor of Chiropractic. After several years of structural-based Chiropractic practice, he grew disillusioned with the recurrent nature of people’s health issues and began looking deeper into the causes for the problems his patients faced.THE SEARCH FOR A BETTER PARADIGMis led Dr Matthews back to the class-room; this time to become a Diplomate of the American Chiropractic Neurology Board. With this new functional approach, he was able to work on rebuilding patients’ under-lying health, instead of only treating their in-juries and dysfunctions. Over time, Dr. Mat-thews approached patient care by combining nutrition, genetics, and the inuences of the brain on postural stability to help patients “hold their adjustments” while reducing sys-temic inammation and deeper metabolic problems that were blocking progress toward better health.UNDERSTANDING THE NEW MEDICINES OF OUR ANCESTORSroughout the records of time, our an-cestors have treated these conditions suc-cessfully with common sense, herbs, and a knowledge that has been collected and doc-umented from Biblical times to now. Com-mon sense treatments for healing started with a patient talking to the healer and the healer taking time to not only listen to the symptoms, but also hearing the words and emotions that were behind the condition. Overall healing was comprised of much more than physical interventions; it was also infused with spiritual checkups, physical touch, and friendship.The healers of old were skilled herbal-ists, aromatherapists, spiritual leaders and physicians, who developed and used a nat-ural apothecary for their patients’ needs. Many of their medicines were disguised as cooking herbs and teas. Headaches and various aches and pains were often treated with cinnamon, juniper, and pepper, hot water baths, willowbark teas, and massages with oils. Illnesses were often treated with (CONTINUED ON PAGE 44)Dr. Matthews and Dr. Moore both practice in these specialty areas of complementary medicine. Dr. Matthews is a board certified Chiropractic Neurologist who specializes in brain-based health, structural wellness, and functional medicine and Dr. Moore is an integrative practitioner who specializes in Indigenous medicine, cognitive behaviorism, and clinical aromatherapy. She is presently entering her dissertation phase in a doctoral program for Mind-Body Medicine or Psychoneuroimmunology.Together, they are sought out for their combined expertise and dynamic presentations on stress-based illnesses, brain-based and behavioral health, and functional medical approaches to self-care. In their separate practices, both Dr. Matthews and Dr. Moore work with veterans and see many commonalities where veterans are disempowered and not able to get consistent healthcare through VHA facilities. Using many of these complementary therapies, they are able to work together to offer veterans drug free, natural, and effective solutions for pain management, chronic conditions, and holistic therapies that can be implemented in daily self-care.THE NEW HEALERS42

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Winter 2020/2021 • www.AVOWMagazine.comgrandma’s chicken soup, strong spirits and teas with honey, sage smoke, and pepper-mint. Skin injuries and infections were treated with mullein leaves and tea, tobac-co leaves and honey, lavender, and various herbs like oregano and reindeer moss. Re-spiratory conditions were treated with pep-permint leaves, and osha root; and depres-sion / anxiety were often treated with cedar smoke, oak moss tinctures, pine needle tea, and rosehips. While not all – encompass-ing, these remedies are indicative of the older therapies that seemed to work, but were dismissed by medical doctors after the publishing of the Flexner Report in 1910. This report led to the American Medical Association mandating that new physicians, as a condition of their licensure, replace all complementary therapies with empirical science and evidenced based therapies.THE ORIGINS OF CHIROPRACTIC MEDICINEChiropractic medicine was discovered and developed by D. D. Palmer in Iowa, cir-ca 1895, after helping his assistant regain his hearing by correcting a spinal misalignment. Dr. Palmer went on to develop Chiropractic as a full healing discipline, followed by his son BJ Palmer. Many of the early Chiropractors that followed had to persevere despite repeated at-tempts by the medical profession to discredit the practice. It has solely survived to this day because of the benecial eects that patients experienced.REBIRTH OF NONTRADITIONAL MEDICINEDuring the 1970’s when antibiotic over-use led to antibiotic resistance in modern therapies, traditional medicine began to fail. A renewed interest in complementary and alternative medicine arose out of need for effective treatments to super germs. Maverick and rebel physicians began to explore the science behind these therapies and found empirical data that supported the therapies’ reputations. As the limited science caught up with the complementa-ry and alternative therapies, new fields of complementary and alternative medicine began to merge into mainstream medicine. These fields, inclusive of Chiropractic, Ayurvedic, Chinese, and Indigenous Medi-cines, began to develop standardized proto-cols for treating patients; which facilitated them becoming more widely accepted by mainstream physicians.DR. RUTH MOORE’S CASE STUDYWhen looking at Dr. Ruth’s decline in health through VA healthcare, a few things stood out. Since 2010, she repeatedly self-ad-vocated and tried to adopt a lifestyle wellness approach to her care. At every visit, she spoke about familial health conditions that she felt she was at risk for; and asked her VA provider to run tests to nd out why she was getting sicker and gaining weight after stopping a complex cocktail of antidepressants and pain medications.Sadly, her providers did not listen and told her that she needed to lose weight by joining the MOVE program and eating less. She was also told that her chronic back and rib pain was because she had developed -bromyalgia. Citing a recent VA study, her practitioner quoted “according to a recent study, most rape survivors developed this.” e petit mal seizures which developed were an unfortunate side eect of bromyalgia and neurologically atypical migraine head-aches. Because her blood work was within normal limits, nothing pointed to a need for physical care; basically, she was told that her symptoms were all in her head and she should continue with counselling.From Dr. Matthews perspective, he saw a fellow colleague and cousin who could / would not ask for his help. Calling it stubbornness and sharing this trait, he understood that a dif-ferent approach was necessary to explore what was going on in her body. In her practitioner training, he knew that Dr. Ruth was studying and applying holistic health care to herself, but her interventions were not enough. She need-(CONTINUED ON NEXT PAGE SIDEBAR)Sadly, many veterans do not have an understanding of their physical or mental health needs. They know they are in pain and identify with (or become) their diagnosis, with the promise that VA healthcare can fix what is broken in their bodies and minds. Additionally, the VHA does not have a consistent and unified approach to health-care, which differs greatly from VISN to VISN. Some VISNs are research dominated and some are focused on palliative care; which when applied to veterans, means that some veterans receive “cutting-edge” care and some are stuck in “evidenced-based” therapies that are outdated and ineffective over long periods of time.Despite a few small experimental initiatives in complementary health care, many veterans are not even aware that they have multiple options for therapy, outside of VHA healthcare. The VHA has been slow to adopt Complemen-tary and IntegrativeMedicine, requiring extensive data and certification of its practitioners (Kligler. Personal conversation, 2017) in fields that are not normally certified and accredited by physicians. In VETERAN HEALTHCARE, REDEFINED.44(CONTINUED ON PAGE 46)

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Facebook.com/AVOWMagazine • Winter 2020/2021(CONTINUED ON NEXT PAGE)2017, the VHA Directive 1137, An Act to Implement Complemen-tary and Integrative Medicines, was an optional “trial run” for directors to see how many of the 21 veteran integrative service networks would embrace these newer, drug free options over standard VA care. The directive allowed for some facilities to use “evidenced-based” complemen-tary therapies including chiropractic care, acupuncture, yoga, and massage therapy; but other therapies like binaural (sound and brain-based) therapy, light entrainment, biofeedback, hypnosis, energy work and QiGong, and holistic kinesiology (Dorn and Feldenkrais techniques) were discouraged.In Dr. Ruth’s case, her VA facility in Maine allowed for limited chiropractic care and physiatry (pain management) through experimental Botox injections and physical therapy. They did not use a functional medicine or functional nutrition approach, and rather than listening to her needs, wrote her symptoms off as a vestige of an inaccurate mental health diagnosis arising from a rape. Her case is not unique, as many veterans across the country experience VA healthcare similar to hers.Based on her care and progress, Dr. Matthews and Dr. Ruth realize that many female (continued...Veteran Healthcare, Redefined)(CONTINUED ON NEXT PAGE SIDEBAR)45

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Winter 2020/2021 • www.AVOWMagazine.comed more in-depth care that could determine what was really going on. In a simple assess-ment, he shared that her stability was o and this pointed to a brain-based imbalance that could aect her body in multiple ways. And from this initial meeting, they began to work on her neuroscience and overall health.Based on her symptoms, Dr. Matthews suspected that she had food sensitivities and he recommended specialized testing that the VA did not utilize. He also used her ge-netic information from ancestry.com to look into health conditions that she may have in-herited from her parents. When all the infor-mation came back, she nally had answers that had eluded VA healthcare providers for over a decade. She learned that she had a wheat / gluten intolerance, that over a long period of time caused leaky gut syndrome and wide-spread inammation throughout her body and brain. Additionally, because some of her hormones were very low, her body couldn’t recover from the increased oxidative stress; moreover, the health conditions / chronic pain that she lived with were directly resultant from the widespread inammation. Her blood work also pointed to her being at risk for a massive stroke (part of her maternal health history that she was concerned with).Dr. Matthews taught her specic neuro-logic and physiological exercises, and recom-mended immediate changes to both her diet and inclusion of specic daily supplements to support her body’s recovery. Since July 2020, Dr. Ruth has lost a tremendous amount of weight (moving from a size 18 to a size 6-8) and has not had a seizure. Her migraines have diminished from week-long episodes to one day occurrences; and her chronic pain has become intermittent – controlled through physical adjustments, meditation and breath work, and physical exercise.veterans need this information to make empowered choices for their healthcare. They work together to uncover the reasons behind the symptoms that veterans have. With access to a wide variety of test options from hormones and neurotransmitters to inflammation markers, food sensitivities and chronic infections such as Lyme Disease, they work to get to the bottom of chronic problems. Dr. Moore and Dr. Matthews have partnered with AVOW Magazine to reach veterans, offer options for care that the VHA can not provide, and answer questions that veterans may have about achieving healthy lifestyles again. To schedule speaking en-gagements, retreats, or corporate training events, or for appoint-ments or distance consultations, In health and wellness in 2021,Dr. Matthews can be reached atwww.neurodoc4u.comDr. Moore can be reached at www.downeastwellness.com.(continued...Veteran Healthcare, Redefined)DEFINITIONS OF OTHER HEALTHCARE OPTIONS• COMPLEMENTARY MEDICINE — Defined as modalities that are meant to be complementary to medical care. This emerging field has many different modalities, of which some are licensed like Chiropractic, Acupuncture, Massage Therapy, and Chinese Herbalism. Other modalities like holistic health practices, mind-body therapies including hypnosis and biofeedback, QiGong and Tai Chi, both energy (Reiki) and Vibrational Medicine, and health, wellness, and life coaching (not counseling) are not regulated.• ALTERNATIVE MEDICINE — A collective term to describe Indigenous or complete medical systems (Ayurveda, Chinese and Japanese Medicines, and African Tribal healing) outside the limitations of traditional Western allopathic medicine.• INTEGRATIVE MEDICINE — According to the Andrew Weil Center for Integrative Medicine, “healing-oriented medicine that takes account of the whole person, including all aspects of lifestyle. It emphasizes the therapeutic relationship between practitioner and patient, is informed by evidence, and makes use of all appropriate therapies”.• FUNCTIONAL MEDICINE — According to the Institute for Functional Medicine, “a systems biology–based approach that focuses on identifying and addressing the root cause of disease. Each symptom or differential diagnosis may be one of many contributing to an individual’s illness”.46

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48Winter 2020/2021 • www.AVOWMagazine.comLieutenant Colonel, Jennifer-Ruth Green begins by stating she appreciates the oppor-tunity of joining the military. “My grandfathers and father were military. When I was a fresh-man in high school my sister Jubilee introduced me to AFJROTC and I became intrigued by the program. at program introduced me to the Air Force Academy and I decided to attend. Along with graduation in 2005, I earned a com-mission in the US Air Force.”Green is currently an undergrad in cyber-training where she is learning the language for the next six months in schooling at Keesler AFB. It’s not easy and not natural but she has solid classmates with a 100% start -to- nish can-do attitude. e reason she was cross-trained? She took over the unit! She’s been serving since 2000, graduated the Air Force Academy in 2015, and has been com-missioned a little over 15 years as of June, 2020. Out of pilot training, it typically takes six weeks to earn wings during ights with the Navy. ey made a decision that she wouldn’t move forward as a pilot, but that year Oper-ations combined with the Oce of Special Investigations and ve positions became avail-able. Green earned one of the slots, so she moved from pilot training to OPSEC where there was work from Baghdad as a Counterin-telligence Ocer who vetted spies and recruit-ed them. During her time, she developed an FBI training center equivalent.Due to a reduction in forces, Green then joined the Guard and graduated at same time. After completing grad school in 2013, she started working at a small Christian college school in Northwest Indiana and was com-muting to Chicago. In Jan 2016, she was transferred to Fort Wayne and placed on sta as an Inspector General Complaints Director working for the wing commander where she was recommend-ed for command. Green mentioned she had a regular inter-view with specic skill sets to move between MILITARY SPOTLIGHTJENNIFER-RUTH GREEN

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49Facebook.com/AVOWMagazine • Winter 2020/2021positions during Active Duty service, and when she joined the Guard after serving Active Duty, it was more like a job application. Logis-tics picked her up, though, and on March 1, 2012, she left active duty.Her Assumption of Command ceremony was held in January 2020. She is both the rst African American and the rst Phillipi-no to take command of the 129th Rescue Wing’s Logistics Squadron, as the Logistics readiness ocer. Typically she’d have to meet time in grade requirements, professional military require-ments; then her record would go before the board, but on June 2nd after just four years in-stead of the normal seven, Green was boarded for accelerated promotion. Her paperwork was submitted telephonically and she was unani-mously supported in the promotion, and she was approved through the presidential process that promotes people below the grade of colo-nel in the Air National Guard. e day before her promotion, she was ex-cited; the day after, she realized she still had a lot to learn. “Even subtle changes like thinking out loud -you need to say, ‘Let me think on it.” she works to ensure she walks circumspect-ly as there’s more eyes on her, and she’s had to grow into owning it. Green states, “Being a commander is unique; as an ocer you lead by example, but being a commander is dierent.” Green remembers Pilot Catherine Cook’s husband who was Green’s Junior Reserve Of-cers’ Training Corps (JROTC) instructor and mentor, Colonel Fortner, and she recalls him as an amazing example of always asking, “Where are going from here?” She’s learned to maintain focus. She explains, “You can get so excited about future you lose your focus on now. You have to focus on now -rather than what you always want to do. e next step is being fully present with the need -serving the team. Not being so forward-focused that we’re irrelevant today. Focus on the require-ments of this opportunity at hand. An example is iIf you’re so worried about how a colonel will or would act, you may not be as eective in the role you are in right now.”Green is single, having never married, but jokes, “If you know someone…” She has no kids and admits that even as a commander sometimes you feel like you have to live up to something. “I can be a single black female and lead in our county’s defense; whereas 100 years ago we were ghting slav-ery, surage, etc.” Green mentioned she doesn’t look Phillipino unless a person looks closely and she typically isn’t recognized as such, but when she mentors youth in a ight suit people do recognize there are fewer than 150 African American female pilots in the country -they are excited and encouraging, and this is cause for introspection. Her passion is developing and serving mis-sionaries through aviation, and she is clear about her next goals, “I want to be known as a lead-er who loves God, loves others and serves both. My desire is to mentor and model. Informally, I mentor through representa-tion. People see the opportunity I have to serve as a commander, and that’s a rarity as an Afri-can-American/Filipino, male or female. Underrepresented military members see my rank and position and have told me they are encouraged. Formally, through the MissionAe-ro Pipeline’s Archer Academy I am able to speak to adults, but primarily youth, about trailblaz-ing and AeroSTEM opportunities. I teach and adult ladies Sunday School class as well.When asked if she had anything else to share, she chose to reiterate, “Colonel Fort-ner was so impactful in his training and in his investment in us -even after retiring after his own 30 years service, he then took time to invest in us. From our school there was never a thought process in North Highlands to hear about anything ‘Air Force’. He could have just retired and rested, but he didn’t; he imparted to her, “If you’re still breathing your job’s not done.” Her number one success tip for women veter-ans: “Don’t fear excellence. Dream big. Do more. Don’t quit. ere’s no point in blazing a trail if the trail doesn’t become a road.”

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53Facebook.com/AVOWMagazine • Winter 2020/2021Although she had a college degree, she was not computer literate. So while living in Pacica, she went back to Skyline College in San Bru-no. is time to learn computers and word processing. During this time, she had worked a lot of temporary jobs. “My last temp job was working at Pacic Gas and Electric in Daly City, California. After I nished that temp as-signment and shortly thereafter, I returned to a previous job I had at the California Employ-ment Development Department (EDD) as an intermittent,” she said. Soon after, she was of-fered a permanent full-time position and she retired from the EDD in 2004. In 2016, Shaer had the opportunity to attend the LACMA Veterans MakeMovies program where she learned basic lmmaking skills and editing on the iMovie on a MAC. In 2017, she was awarded a scholarship through the Veterans in Media and entertainment, the Art of Visual StoryTelling with Miles Watkins in West Hollywood. With a huge smile on her face, she said that these two courses gave her the skills and condence to create interviews and content by herself. “I prefer to create con-tent with people that are smarter than me so I may learn from them, and I love the synergy that comes from that,” she added. When the Covid lockdown started this past March, Shaer had to pivot when she was no longer able to lm on location or at the Mid-pen Media Center HD studio she frequently used for her production work. So the moment she had her rst Zoom vid-eo conference was when she realized that she could do virtual interviews. So far, Shaer has completed seven virtual interviews with one in post-production and she has plans for two more interviews. She uses Apple Mac, iPhone and iMovie for editing. Her editor, Richard Gon-zales, is a 24 year old UC Riverside grad who completes nal edits using Premiere Pro. She explained because of studios being closed, a lot of the producers can only lm virtually through video conferencing. For Veterans Help-ing Veterans TV (VHVtv), she requires guests to provide digital photos, B roll and to sign a talent release. She said, “I love lming with the iPhone and editing on iMovie. Technology is changing rapid-ly and now with video confer-encing a lot of productions are being done virtually.” Shaer continued, “What used to take a 12 person volunteer crew in the studio to create, we can now do with just two people.”Shaer added, “e inter-view is my favorite part and the nal edited video is my second favorite. e art of the conver-sation is what I am after. I love having an authentic and reveal-ing conversation with some-one, a meeting of the minds, insights and a natural ow and some wisdom revealed.”Normally, someone in Shaer’s eld has a college degree in TV or in lm pro-duction. But with the new technology and the ability to lm content on cell phones and desktop editing, she said it is much easier for anyone to be involved in lm these days. Advice that Shaer gave us is that work eth-ics are simple. You do the right thing, work on solutions and collaborate, the greatest good is for the most people. “I spent a career following state rules for unemployment insurance and job service as a vet rep. I believe in doing things the right way, honesty, and following rules. Now I am not saying I haven’t bent the rules or pushed the envelope but doing things the right way is the best way,” Shaer said. She also mentioned multiple people who in-spire her; they are risk takers and those who think outside the box. “Because my parents were veter-ans and I am a veteran, I believe in veteran caus-es. I admire veterans like Melissa Washington, Founder of Women Veterans Alliance, and Lila Holley of Camouage Sisters, who both have the same goals and that is the empowerment of Women Veterans.” She continued, “Also, Kather-ine Webster, Founder of Vetsin Tech community. People empowering others is what inspires me.”at inspiration is what Shaer uses since covid-19 has changed her industry. She happily admits to reinventing herself, not just prior to 2020, but during the pandemic itself. She has truly become an independent lmmaker, because she is no longer tied down to a studio setting. And she is an inspiration to all of us.Shaffer is a Vietnam Era Veteran and she served as a Personnel Specialist in the Women’s Army Corps.Visit VHVtv at https://vhvtv.org/virtual-interviews

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54Winter 2020/2021 • www.AVOWMagazine.comDISCOVER THE WORLD OFPODCASTSObsessed with true crime or just need a hearty laugh? AVOW Magazine has you covered! Listen to what you already love, discover something new, or learn more about life and other women veterans in these podcasts.What is it about?The podcast Murder, Mayhem and the Military is a true crime podcast that highlights murders in the military and veteran communities that are often shoved aside or forgotten about. The goal is to bring the story of victims to light and help people recognize red flags. No one wants the tragedy of what happened earlier this year to Vanessa Guillen happen again. We want to expose the military and their constant need to hide the truth. Our first case was in 2008 where six wives’ were murdered in six weeks in and around the Fort Bragg region. We tackle Sgt. Christine Smith and her story. We hope to do other wives cases. We also plan to tackle some hard ones like the Chris Kyle case. We use swear words and do describe crimes in detail, so we recommend a mature audience. We also encourage you to visit our Facebook group and post any cases you know or would like to see.Where can you listen?Listen on Spotify at https://tinyurl.com/murdermayhemmilitaryAbout the PodcastersJESSICA – Jessica Lynch-Cline (Jess Cline) lives in East Texas. She served in the Army from 2005 to 2010. She did one tour in Iraq in 2008 and worked at the VA for some time. She also worked at a prison most recently. Currently, she is a manager at a nursing home. Jessica’s husband, Nicholas, is also a veteran, and he provides commentary. Together they have three children and are nerds at heart, and she says, “We probably swear just a little too much”.

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56Winter 2020/2021 • www.AVOWMagazine.comSistersInArmsPodcast.comJO - SSG(R) Joleen Parks was born and raised in Idaho and enlisted in the Army in 2005. She was a 37F, or a Psychological Operations (PSYOP) Specialist, where she met Diann. In 2007, Jo deployed to Iraq with a Military Information Support Team (MIST). After her initial enlistment she did about 1.5 years in a Reserve PSYOP unit. After her time in the Reserves, she went back to Active Duty at Ft. Bragg, NC. Jo medically retired in 2014. She now lives in the Twin Cities area in MN with her husband Aaron, who is an Air Force Veteran, and their family.DIANN - MSG Diann Traina was born and raised in San Diego, CA. She joined the Army in 2003 as a Psychological Operations (PSYOP) Specialist, where she met Jo. She deployed to Iraq in 2007 in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom. Diann has spent most of her career at Ft. Bragg, NC, but has also been stationed in Germany, Joint Base Lewis McChord in Washington, and Hawaii. She is currently still serving on Active Duty as a Career Counselor.What is it about?Women in the military throughout history. “A podcast about women veterans by women veterans”Where can you listen?Podcast apps — Apple, Google Play, Spotify, Amazon Music, etc., and directly on the website at sistersinarmspodcast.com About the Podcasters

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57Facebook.com/AVOWMagazine • Winter 2020/2021Veterans Drinking VodkaAMANDA – Amanda Frost served 10 years as an Air Traffic Controller. She left the Navy and worked as a Locomotive Engineer for five years before deciding to go back to school to get her degree. She received an Associates from Navarro College and is currently a student at Tarleton State University working towards a degree in Business Management. She knew she wanted to pursue a career in public speaking and that transitioned into cohosting and producing Veterans Drinking Vodka. AMBER – Amber Rogers is from New York state and joined the Navy in 2004. After boot camp in Great Lakes, she went to Pensacola for her schooling as an Air Traffic Controller. She spent most of her military career and Naval Air Station North Island, where she met Amanda. Amber currently resides in east Texas with her two children. When she isn’t working or recording for the podcast, she enjoys camp-ing, fishing, travelling and spending time with her kids and dogs.What is it about?This podcast is a platform to tell veteran stories. We talk about the good, bad, and ugly of being a service member and being a veteran. We also discuss the harsh realities of the transition from service member to veteran and we ask those that we are interviewing to provide advice for others based on their experiences.Where can you listen?Found on Podbean, Apple Podcast, Spotify, Tune-in, Google Podcasts, Amazon, and multiple smaller platforms. Also unedited outtakes can be viewed on YouTube under Veterans Drinking Vodka.About the Podcasters

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The Female Veterans PodcastKIA – Kia Baker is creator and host of “Hot Topics Live,” a live stream interview series, “The Female Veterans Podcast” and “Woman Warrior Stories” for “The Veterans Chan-nel.” After serving in the US Navy, she spent 20 years helping other veterans make the transition from active duty to civilian life. Her mission is to bring attention to the dis-parity between male and female veterans, shine a light on female veteran stories, help homeless female veterans and advocate for alternative therapies for sick and suffering veterans. Kia holds an MBA in Finance and Accounting and is an alumni of the Milton Hershey School. She also works closely with Passageways LTD, a foundation that helps homeless veterans transition back to thriving in life, and The Barbara Giordano Founda-tion volunteering to give transformational workshops to female veterans. In addition she is a member of the board for Hope 4 Veterans, a nonprofit that helps female veterans residing in Florida through peer support. Kia is a graduate from The London Real Acad-emy and now coaches rapid transformation Accelerators for the Academy. Kia’s latest video project “Woman Warrior Stories” is in development with The Veterans Channel.What is it about?To raise awareness of the unique issues that face female heroes who serve and allow their diverse stories to be heard. Each episode features a “girl talk” style, real conversation. We discuss what it was like to serve, the transition out of active duty service, life as a veteran and how to make civilian life successful. The goal is to help other women by sharing our experiences - good or bad. We share the true stories to change the prevailing perception that veterans are male.Where can you listen?Available on Apple Podcast, Spotify, Google Podcasts, Overcast, PocketCast, RadioPublic and Breaker. It will be available on Amazon Podcasts, iHeart Radio and Stitcher in 2021.About the Podcasters

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61Facebook.com/AVOWMagazine • Winter 2020/2021When her grandparents moved to central Louisiana, she and her brothers joined them. Bond became a surrogate mom, which she admits was a little overwhelming for her. At 17, while commiserating to her grand-mother, her grandmother responded, “You know what sweetie? What would you think if I told you that you could start out your career at the age you are now and you wouldn’t have to babysit.” at caught her attention.Her grandmother had run into a woman Army recruiter who wanted to talk to her. While she’d wanted to make the United States Air Force a career, she knew if she went right then, she wouldn’t have a high school education; however, if she went into the Army, she could get her di-ploma in the Army, have time in grade, and then transfer into the Air Force. “As a recruiter, she painted a wonderful, wonderful picture,” Bond recalled. But she needed her parents to sign; she did so and was o into the US Army. She realized maybe the military wasn’t exactly what she was looking for during her three year enlistment, so she went back into civilian life. Bond shared that while it was during her Army service that she’d started working on her own al-coholism, but she got into drugs as well. None of it came to a head until some time after she’d reentered the civilian world where she went into treatment thinking it was caused by depression and anxiety. After a little time in a psychiatric unit, and realizing there was more than depres-sion and anxiety to be managed, she was trans-ferred to a chemical dependency unit. As of to-day, Bond has over 22 years of sobriety. Bond recalled that it was a few years ago, give or take, where an incident at the Louisville VA, occurred with another veteran. “As you know there’s male VA and female VA, and he was sitting there and some of his reproductive equipment wasn’t working the way he wanted it to and he wasn’t being friendly.” According to Bond, the urologist had told him, “We can put some air in your tire (a penile implant),” and she sat there thinking, “Really? ey’re doing surgery on vets just so they can get a little bit?” She felt this was unwarranted, that the Vet-erans Healthcare System will perform sexual sur-geries for the men but not for women, and her frustration comes into focus as we chatted about her being a biker chick, veteran, and a trans woman member of our veteran community.She shared that the VA had given her coun-seling regarding gender identity dysphoria, and you had to have a licensed sexologist or psychol-ogist evaluate you to make the assessment and conclude you were a “bona-de transsexual” and that informaiton would be documented in her records; only after all that work would she be considered an appropriate candidate and be provided treatment. One portion of that treat-ment is hormone replacement therapy. e Veteran’s Administration (VA) also performs electrolysis, but she’s just now nding out about this and hopes to receive the treatment. Bond is learning as she goes, and shares that one of the things opponents often bring out in discussion is, “If we do it for this person, then we have to do it for that one,’ when the reality is that funding for surgery would be miniscule for veterans. Opponents, in Bond’s experience, tend to be either gun shy, egoists, or it’s a mor-alistic issue to them. is results in the VA not being an option for surgery for our veterans who need the surgery. Bond considers it very hypocritical for the VA to do an implant for a male to be able to restore the function of sexual performance, but not for trans members. She’s talked to other transgendered people, gay men and lesbian women who have served and nds that most within the LGBTQ commu-nity feel there has been a little bit of ‘thawing’ as far as the VA trying to be compassionate toward LGBTQ communities and most give them an E for eort, but what most don’t seem to be able to come to terms with is that it’s an alteration of body image versus sexual performance. Bond reminds us of the veterans who have returned from a battle situation where they’ve lost a limb or an eye -this becomes an alteration of the body image, which also requires a certain amount of psychiatric coun-seling. In some cases, especially in Vietnam with use of napalm, there would be major burns -dis-gurement. So again, it’s a body image issue, sim-ilar to how breast cancer for a woman in her 60’s isn’t necessary to ‘restore function’ because what 60 year old needs to lactate? “We have women now having radical mestectomies and breast recon-struction -which doesn’t work to restore function.” To come to a resolution, the question needs to be asked, “What’s the goal of VA care? To manage restoration?” If our physiological structure dictates our gender identities -psy-chological and physical- when you have prob-lems with both, you have a major conict. You have to have quite a bit of counseling to come up with something normal psychologically.Between e twelve steps of Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) and her church, there’s only a small handful of people aware of transforma-tion in her church, and Bond shares that she’s so proud of her church, American Baptists, where she describes some standard family names have attended for generations. One of those family members in her 20s or early 30s, along with a couple others, and the pastor with a doctorate in theology, published a book called “UnClobber: Rethinking Our Misuse of the Bible on Homo-sexuality.” e church has about a dozen people in Bond’s study group, and she recalls that when she became a member of the church about ten years ago when during a feast or famine time (Bond was a private duty nurse), she was incred-ibly busy, so the only time she was able to make AA meetings was on Saturdays and she felt her attendance was getting a little akey. Bond con-sidered joining a church for spirituality -a baptist church -and here it is ten years later still waiting for the other shoe to drop….When they started this study group, it re-inforced to Bond how special her church is. She’d promised the pastor and the assistant pas-tor, she’d be mum on her transformation and they said it was a good idea to simply be very judicial about whom she told. She asked if they were protective versus silencing as she also didn’t want to be a divisive element in the church. Bond shared that not only does she not stand out but that her church has been very Bond shared that not only does she not stand out but that her church has been very supportive.(CONTINUED ON NEXT PAGE)

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Winter 2020/2021 • www.AVOWMagazine.com64INTIMATE PARTNER VIOLENCE (IPV)ese additional stresses may also result in in-creased strain or conict in intimate relationships. Issues such as unresolved family conict, work demands, increased alcohol use or health worries, may exacerbate risk for unhealthy communica-tion, conict, or intimate partner violence (IPV). e term “intimate partner violence” describes a serious, preventable public health problem that aects millions of Americans. IPV includes phys-ical, sexual or psychological harm by a current or former partner or spouse. is type of violence can occur among heterosexual or same sex cou-ples and does not require sexual intimacy. e Department of Veterans Aairs (VA) Intimate Partner Violence Assistance Program (IPVAP) recognizes that individuals, couples, families, and communities face even greater challenges during the holiday season. e IP-VAP strives to ensure that Veterans, their part-ners, and VA sta know that each VA facility has a program ready and available to promote safe, healthy relationships and stand ready to as-sist, should they need to talk to someone about their relationship health and safety. e VHA IPVAP has launched a national campaign to as-sist in raising this awareness during this holiday season entitled, “Relationship Health and Safety rough the Seasons,” which provides awareness information and ways to receive support.e IPVAP program recognizes the impor-tance of having strong, connected and supportive relationships. ese healthy relationships are key to managing stress, not only during the holidays, but throughout the year as well. Recognizing this, the VHA IPVAP is committed to treating everyone with dignity and respect while also Holidays are often a time of reection, fun, and connecting with friends and loved ones, but they can also be a time of stress and exhaustion, both physically, mentally and emotionally. This year, in addition to the usual holiday stresses we have become accustomed to, we endured additional stresses, uncertainty, and hardships. This holiday season, many of us had to avoid seeing family and friends, observe social distancing requirements, had additional nancial difculties, faced job loss, illness or loss of loved ones, and/or closure of needed services or businesses such as childcare or schools. The aftermath of these stresses can leave us depleted as we turn the page into a new year. HELPINGVETERANS MAINTAIN SAFE,

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65Facebook.com/AVOWMagazine • Winter 2020/2021understanding how the unique stresses placed on Veterans and their families can aect relation-ships. Programs are inclusive, serving those who experience as well as those who use, or are at risk of using, IPV. Comprehensive services include promoting safe, healthy communication and conict resolution skills, preventing IPV through education and resources, and providing interven-tion and referrals to evidence-based treatment and programs. SIMPLE THINGS YOU CAN DO TO CELEBRATE AND BRIGHTEN HOLIDAYS Some have had to modify and limit their contact with family and friends and it is easly to feel isolated or disconnected but, it is important to maintain connections with supportive others. Social distancing does not have to mean having to be disconnected from loved ones and support-ive friends. e VA IPVAP emphasizes the im-portance of promoting relationship wellness and ensuring that Veterans have someplace to turn if their intimate relationship is negatively impact-ing health and wellbeing. Consider the following tips to promote healthy and safe relationships during this holiday season. With social distancing requirements, try social media group connecting apps to connect online to spend time with loved ones. ink about activities, or games that you can play to-gether online. It is important to plan ahead to connect with your providers during this time too. Don’t wait until you are in crisis to have a plan of how you will reach out. Know if your provider will be on vacation or out of the oce during the holidays and who you can contact in the meantime. Talk to your providers about any con-cerns you have about switching to telehealth and plan ahead for discrete ways (such as a non-verbal signal) that you can us to let them Ways to ReduceHoliday StressAfter the holidays, and throughout the coming year, the IPVAP is available to provide support to promote relationship wellness and safety for those who feel their intimate relationship may be negatively impacting health and wellbeing. When an individual begins to feel increased stress and tension over the holiday or winter season, here are some things you can do: • Identify your triggers or stress points.• Develop a self-care or time-out plan (to remove yourself from a stressful situation).• Practice mindfulness.• Eat healthy and exercise.• Minimize or avoid alcohol use. Balance time and expectation management.• Express gratitude. • Help others.• Have a stress buddy – someone you can call for help or just to vent.• Communicatepotentialconictswithyourpartner.• Seek help to “Check Up” on your relationship health. You can contact your local Veterans Affairs Intimate Partner Violence Assistant Program Coordinator about services and resources. HEALTHYRELATIONSHIPS(CONTINUED ON NEXT PAGE)A special resource article from the National Intimate Partner Violence Assistance Program

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66Winter 2020/2021 • www.AVOWMagazine.comknow if you are in danger or in crisis or when it is not safe to talk about sensitive issues. Plan ahead and schedule times to connect with family and friends so others don’t feel left out or forgotten. Remember loved ones can ben-et from having contact with family and friends. Don’t forget the low-tech, time honored art of writing letters. Put a little of yourself in hand-written cards or letters. It can be thera-peutic to reect on the triumphs of the year gone by and share those with others.Social isolation can increase feelings of loneliness and sadness. e smallest gestures to connect can bring joy to others – think about ways to be a Virtual Support to others. Make time to check in with your friends and family. e IPVAP is considered a strong national leader and advocate for changing models to end IPV. e IPVAP promotes services for all im-pacted by the use and experience of IPV. Visit the VHA IPVAP website for more information and to locate the nearest IPVAP Coordinator for sup-port, resources, and assistance or for 24/7 access to support call the National Domestic Violence Hotline 1-800-799-7233. Simple and fun activities and ideas to increase connectedness when reaching out to family while social distancing:• Hold gatherings online or telephone group chats. • Take a virtual museum or zoo* tour around the world* with loved ones.• Record video messages and send them to loved ones. This can be a wonderful memorable lasting way to show you care. • Playinggamescanbeafunwaytoafrmand deepen connections. Games such as: 20 questions, virtual treasure hunt, trivia, Pictionary, bingo or charades are just some options. Find additional options here.* • Play online interactive games, some of the most popular are listed here.* • Prepare and deliver small care packages to loved ones.• Send digital postcards. • Host an online group gathering event to watch movies or paint together.• Tell positive stories or read inspiring books to younger family members.• Write and star in your own short play: Creative family members can write and star in a play which can be recorded or shared live online with loved ones. • Share old family photos and memories.• Create a digital or printed photo album featuring fun images and memories to share with loved ones. • Kids can make homemade holiday cards with paper and crayons for loved ones. There are many simple and cost-free activities that can increase meaning during this holiday, see 125 Ideas for Kids During COVID19.*Authored by the National Intimate Partner Violence Assistance Program LeAnn E. Bruce, PhD., LCSW. IPVAP National Program Manager Tisha Petelo, LCSW, MAC, IPVAP National Program Coordinator, DetailedTara M. Brunswick, MS, LCSW, IPVAP CoordinatorLucy J. Ramos, LICSW, IPVAP CoordinatorErin Scott, LCSW, IPVAP CoordinatorManage Stress Workbook, with a focus on mindfulness.www.prevention.va.gov/docs/NCP_ManageStreeWkBk_F_Ed-itedJune102019.pdfA Pleasant Activities Tip Sheet.www.prevention.va.gov/docs/PleasantActivitiesTipSheet.pdfLink to VA Whole Health services and resources. www.va.gov/wholehealth/Link to VA Women’s Healthcare.www.womenshealth.va.govLink to Veterans Crisis Line. www.veteranscrisisline.netLearn about Stress: Causes and Effects and Keys to Managing Stresswww.veteranshealthlibrary.va.gov/Search/142,85163_VACoping with Loneliness.*www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/in-love-and-war/202003/10-ideas-coping-loneliness-during-social-distancingEmotional Well-Being and Coping During COVID-19.*psychiatry.ucsf.edu/copingre-sources/covid19USEFUL RESOURCES: EXPLORE TO LEARN MORE: The Intimate Partner Violence Assistance Program and Holiday Stress.www.blogs.va.gov/VAn-tage/69735/intimate-partner-vio-lence-assistance-program-holi-day-stress/Debunking Myths: DV and the Holidays.* breakthesilencedv.org/debunking-myths-dv-and-the-holidays/7 Relationship Problems That Always Surface Around the Holidays.*www.huffpost.com/entry/relationship-problems-hol-idays_n_5c056f31e4b0cd-916faebb11Safety Planning for the Holidays.*www.thehotline.org/2015/12/04/safety-planning-for-the-holidays/Use Holidays to Boost Your Relationship, Not Stress It Out.* www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/joyful-parenting/201612/use-holidays-boost-your-relationship-not-stress-it-outThe Hidden Crisis of Domestic Violence over the Holidays.*www.vice.com/en/article/wn-w3xm/the-hidden-crisis-of-do-mestic-violence-over-the-holidaysHoliday Stress: 6 Keys for Reducing Couples Tension and Distress.*www.apeacefullifecounseling.com/couples-holiday-stress/How to Cope with Holiday Family Gatherings and the Coronavirus Pandemic.*health.clevelandclinic.org/how-to-cope-with-holiday-fami-ly-gatherings-and-the-coronavi-rus-pandemic/Stress, Depression and the Holidays: Tips for Coping.*www.mayoclinic.org/healthy-life-style/stress-management/in-depth/stress/art-20047544* Links with an asterisk (*) next to them will take you outside VA websites. VA is not responsible for the content of the linked site. This link does not constitute endorsement of the non-VA website or its sponsor.

AVOW Magazine Winter 2020/2021

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