AVOW Magazine Winter 2021/2022 : simplebooklet.com

6Winter 2021/2022 • www.AVOWMagazine.comChristina Wilkinson - USAFPUBLISHER Sheila L. Holmes - USAFEDITOR-IN-CHIEFSPECIAL ADVISORSGenevieve Chase - USA / American Women VeteransLindsay Church - USN / Minority Veterans of AmericaCassie Gabelt - USN / Minority Veterans of AmericaTracie Rosado - USA / WoVeNVR Small - USN / Women Veterans Enterprise CenterMelissa Washington - USN / Women Veterans AllianceAT-LARGEDanielle Johnson - USMCPat White - USMCCONTRIBUTORSWritersCREATIVE TEAMSabreDesign.com / IG: @TheRealSabreDesign / FB: @SabreDesignART DIRECTION/DESIGN/LAYOUTchris@sabredesign.comAVOW Magazine Social MediaO: 209-841-8866 (Sabre Design)E: contact@AVOWMagazine.comAVOWMagazine.comCopyright © 2022 by AVOW Magazine. All rights reserved. The name AVOW™ and the AVOW logo are trademarks of AVOW Magazine © 2019, 2020, 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 magazine for women veterans, by women veterans, and for the people who love them.Sheila L. HolmesChristina WilkinsonBrittany NelsonDr. Ruth MooreAnnette WhittenbergerVR SmallStephanie Baker-JonesLourdes TiglaoElisabeth LitvinMaria Mia SalazarTerri SouderPhotographyFacebook.com/AVOWMagazine | Instagram.com/avow_magazine | Twitter.com/AVOWMagazineU.S. Dept. of the ArmyMajor Nathaniel GarciaStuart CohenChristina WilkinsonDavid VivesStephanie Baker-JonesBrandyn WilkinsonSheila L. HolmesMaria Mia Salazar

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8Winter 2021/2022 • www.AVOWMagazine.comBorn and raised in the Philippines, I immigrated to the United States as a child who couldn’t speak the language. When we nally settled in Indiana, the ex-tremely dierent climate and culture was a shock. I had never experienced snow in my life! e rst time I saw a snowfall, I was so ex-cited I ran out in freezing temperatures to taste it for the rst time. Disappointment overcame me when I realized, “is is just like freezer ice.” Don’t ask why I know that.For me, the transition experience and journey started as a child. Doubts of my in-telligence and capability began when I found communication to be my rst barrier, often wondering, “Am I smart enough to navigate the American school system?” Fortunately, I also learned early on that accepting help from teachers and developing friendships would be-come my lifeline to early success. Growing up in an Asian family, like many others, one is expected to become a lawyer, physician, or a nurse. My family had high ex-pectations that I would become a lawyer, but by the time I was in my second year in college, I’d become impatient. “ere must be more to life than being a lawyer in Indiana.” I had larger aspirations to have a career where I wanted to make a positive impact in the world. I narrowed it down to the Peace Corps and the military, which eventually led me to enlist in the U.S. Air Force. I met with a recruiter who told me I should enlist as “Open Contract.” You’re probably already either laughing or groaning with that sentence. However, I conducted my own research and knew I had the option to choose one of seven career elds based on my ASVAB. My rst ve choices were all in computers and systems, and my 6th choice was as a Cardio-pulmonary Specialist because it had a long name, and having studied Latin, it sounded interesting. My recruiter called to let me know I’ve been accepted into the Cardiopulmonary Specialist Program, and that was the rst step of my adventure into military medicine. For me, medicine is one of the noblest EVERYONE HAS A STORYWE CAN LEARN FROM EVERY EXPERIENCEEvery individual has a story. Each is a story worth telling…worth knowing. Each person’s story contributes to the tapestry that makes this nation unique…special. My story is but one of the threads interwoven to create the beautiful fabric that is America.BY LOURDES TIGLAO, DIRECTOR / CENTER FOR WOMEN VETERANS – DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS AFFAIRS

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9Facebook.com/AVOWMagazine • Winter 2021/2022professions in the world. To save and preserve life- this mandate is why I fell in love with my work and mission. I was assigned into a specialized medical evacuation team, Critical Care Air Transport Team (CCATT) within my rst tour where we conducted multiple global air evacuations. One of my early deployments was to Af-ghanistan, where one situation singlehanded-ly steeled my resolve to pursue medicine as a career. An Afghan seriously injured by a land mine was brought to us because his village knew they could not care for him. Within the military community in the eld, the tensions were still taut from 9/11, so there was some erce hesitation allowing the patient inside. Our physician convinced leadership to allow us to care for him and we were able to save him. is was a turning point in my life with an epiphany. e enemy was not a person, not a tribe or a group—the enemy was this injury that was trying to take this human life. Right then I knew I wanted to become a physician—to save all lives. I knew there was risk of death in joining the military, but that didn’t become crystal clear until I was facing my deployment to Afghani-stan in 2001. If I was going to face death while on duty, I wanted to be a citizen of the country I was ghting for; so before my deployment in 2001, I applied for my citizenship. When I returned home, I had a letter from the Im-migration and Naturalization Service (INS) that informed me that since I missed my inter-view with the Department of Justice (DOJ), I would need to reapply for my citizenship. I was upset… more than upset. I was livid. I tried calling but was only able to get the standard, “is is our policy” answer, so I drove over an hour to the INS oce and asked to speak to someone in charge. “Have I not done enough to become a citizen of this county?” I needed someone with authority to hear why I didn’t appear at my interview, and when I met him, I explained that if they were will-ing, I would come take their place at INS and they could take mine on deployment in Af-ghanistan so that I could make my appoint-ment. Two weeks later I was being sworn in as a citizen of the United States of America. As women, especially as women veterans, we need to speak up for what is just and right. Often, many overlook our contributions or dismiss them. It’s even worse when we dismiss ourselves to the point of invisibility. YOU are NOT INVISIBLE. I SEE you. I HEAR you. Our time is now. We have to be more com-fortable putting our foot down for what we believe is right. We have a voice, and we must use it. After transitioning out of the military, I battled with another question to myself. “Have I done enough to be considered a Deployment in the southern islands in the Philippines (country where I was born and still spoke the language uently) in 2002. Combined with a special forces unit when a typhoon hit and ravaged a nearby school. The CCATT team and Philippine counterparts came together to get replacement school supplies and delivered it to the school. Multiple photos taken during a Critical Care Air Transport (CCATT) Medical Evacuation mission at different times. Some were while in Asia, the others were while in Afghanistan or another area of responsibility (AOR). (CONTINUED ON NEXT PAGE)

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10Winter 2021/2022 • www.AVOWMagazine.comveteran? I didn’t retire like my colleagues, I served almost a dozen years, but I wasn’t at the “tip of the spear.” I hear questions and stories like this from women veterans, and to all of you, I say: “YES, you are a veteran. YES, you did enough.” Title 38 of the Code of Federal Regulations denes a veteran as “a person who served in the active military, naval, or air service and who was discharged or released under conditions other than dishonorable.” Nothing in those regulations say if you didn’t retire, didn’t serve during war times, only served 4 years of duty disqualies you from being a veteran.is is why the Center for Women Vet-erans exists. We want women who served to know they are veterans and we want them to apply for their earned VA benets and services. My military career instilled in me “Core Values” that have molded me into the woman I am today. I also know these core values are what got me to where I am today: integrity, service before self, and excellence in all we do. In my current role, as the Executive Di-rector, VA Center for Women Veterans, I’m the primary advisor to the Secretary of Vet-erans Aairs (VA) on Department policies, programs, and legislation that aect women veterans. In the Center we monitor and co-ordinate VA’s administration of health care, benets, services, and programs for women veterans; serving as an advocate for cultural transformation (both within VA and in the general public) in recognizing the service and contributions of women Veterans and service-members and raising awareness of the respon-sibility to treat women Veterans with dignity and respect. I am so honored and humbled to serve in this position at the VA—and to be able to tell all of you about resources at the VA, particularly those we have specically for women veterans.Shown above with a crutch in Okinawa with the 18th MDOS.

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11Facebook.com/AVOWMagazine • Winter 2021/2022DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS AFFAIRSCenter for Women VeteransThe Center for Women Veterans’ (CWV) mission is to monitor and coordinate VA’s administration of health care, benets, services, and programs for women veterans. We serve as an advocate for cultural transformation and to raise awareness of the responsibility to treat women veterans with dignity and respect to #BringWomenVeteransHome2VAAside from CWV there are many resources for women veterans, one of them is the Women Veterans Call Center: The Call Center links women veterans to information, and it also makes direct referrals to Women Vet-eran Program Managers located at every VA medical center. The Women Veteran Program Manager helps the woman veteran coordinate services. All the representatives at the Women Veterans Call Center are women, and many are veterans themselves. I pre-fer to talk, but if you prefer to text or chat you can do that too, the number is 1-855-829-6636. The link to chat will be at the end of this.Women Veteran Program Manag-ers, there is a woman Veteran Program Manager at each VA Medical Center worldwide. Call your local VA and ask to talk to them.I know that sometimes, we need a little more support, and here at VA, we have other resources to tap into to get it. The Veterans Crisis Line where you can connect with a caring, qualied re-sponder with the Department of Veterans Affairs. Many of them are veterans them-selves—they’re here to serve you 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Call 1-800-273-8255 and Press 1 or go to VeteransCrisisLine.net/Chat to get support anonymously. A text message can also be sent to 838255 to connect to a VA responder. These resources can be used even if a veteran is not registered with VA or enrolled in VA health care. This call is condential and available to all veterans, all service members, Na-tional Guard and Reserve Soldiers and their family members and friends.VA has also developed gender-spe-cic tools that support women veterans from prevention through mental health crises. Among VA’s suicide prevention resources for women veterans is a wom-en-specic page linked from the Veter-ans Crisis Line titled “Connecting with Women Veterans to Identify Signs of Stress” as well as an early intervention tool that can be used by veterans, family members, friends, advocates, and others titled, “Start the Conversation “Start the Conversation: Talking to a Woman Vet-eran When You’re Concerned.” You can also navigate the site to nd resources in your area.Today, we are fortunate to have technology. There is an abundance of online support and apps. VA has apps to download on your phone, tablet, or computer. Go to your apps store and search “VA Mobile.” There are apps specically for women veterans such as Carring4WomenVeterans. I use the Mindfulness Coach app when I am feel-ing overwhelmed. I encourage you to go check these out, try them out, share them with other veterans.Let’s not forget about our commu-nities, families, friends and churches tap into every resource. Vet Centers are community-based counseling centers that provide a wide range of social and psychological services, including professional readjustment counseling. Find your local Vet Center by calling 1-877-WAR-VETS (927-8387) or visit https://www.vetcenter.va.gov/. Even though COVID is still a threat, many re-sources have COVID safety precautions in place. There are online women vet-eran groups, events, and roundtables. We do not know every resource out there, but we are here to help you nd the help you need. Again, for emergency help, please call the crisis line at 1-800-273-8255 and press 1 or dial 911. Women veterans NOT using your earned VA benets and services, we would love to hear from you. Please take our survey, it takes ve minutes and is anonymous. https://survey.voice.va.gov/?cwv-women-veteransThinking back to my ten-year-old self who couldn’t speak the language and would run outside in freezing win-ter to taste snow for the rst time, I’m in awe of where I stand today. All the hurdles, and what some might deem insurmountable obstacles, were part of my journey to today. I’m grateful that there were so many people who guided and mentored me to reach this current path I’m walking.Back then, I didn’t understand why I was facing those struggles, but each hurdle I surmounted added a building block that makes me who I am today. The journey I took is not for everyone, and we all have our own roads we must walk.Just know the path you take—whether you follow a well-trodden path or create one of your own—it is your journey so claim it and own it. Take the bold path. Be heard. Your story is worth retelling because you are worth it. Thank you for your service to our country. #VAWomenVetsHOW TO REACH USBY MAILDepartment of Veterans AffairsCenter for Women Veterans (00W)810 Vermont Ave NWWashington, DC 20420BY PHONEOffice: 202-461-6193Fax: 202-273-7092BY COMPUTERWebsite: www.va.gov/womenvetSocial Media: @VAWomenVets on Facebook & Twitter#BringWomenVeteransHome2VAThe safest and fastest way to contact VA about your concerns is by logging into https://ask.va.gov/.

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12Winter 2021/2022 • www.AVOWMagazine.comWomen Veterans Alliance (WVA) - UnConference 2021 – 8-10 Oct, Las Vegas, NevadaI thought I would make it to Friday's opening ceremony in plenty of time – I should have known better with air travel, weather, and well -life. As I stood in the taxi line looking at my watch, the opening ceremony was more than halfway over. I started to question why I even came. I did not know anyone. I was coming all the way from South Carolina. I was still trying to gure out my veteran path. It did not take long to realize why I came.By the time I checked in and got to my room, there was still time to make it to Fri-day’s mix and mingle. Advertised as “Dress as Someone Famous,” I chose to dress as my not-at-all-famous self but added some ex-tra mascara and sparkly eyeshadow for the special occasion. I saw excited and happy groups of women come in together. As I ob-served the groups for a bit, I felt an unspo-ken sisterhood even though I did not know any of these women. I ended up spending some time with an amazing group of la-dies who welcomed me into their circle. I thought, “is is exactly why I came, and now I know people.” e UnConference ran from Friday through Sunday. Saturday was jam-packed with amazing sessions – both large groups and small groups. Phyllis J. Wilson, Presi-dent of the Women in Military Service for America Memorial Foundation, started o the morning with a fantastic overview of the Military Women’s Memorial and all they do. She explained that the memorial, located just outside the gates of Arlington National Cemetery, is the only historical repository documenting all military women’s service. Opened in 1997, the mission of the Mili-tary Women’s Memorial is to honor and tell BY ELISABETH LITVINWHAT HAPPENSIN VEGASSHOULDN’T ALWAYS STAY IN VEGASWhat I learned at my rst Women Veterans Alliance UnConference(CONTINUED ON PAGE 14)

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14Winter 2021/2022 • www.AVOWMagazine.comthe stories of women, past and present, who serve our nation. Women service members and veterans can register and tell their story of service at womensmemorial.org.One of the great things about the Un-Conference is that you can pick topics of interest to you for the breakout sessions. Speakers for each breakout were exceptional-ly accomplished and humbly candid in shar-ing their stories. From veterans tax benets, to starting your own business, to building condence and leadership style – there was something for everyone. I felt awed, excited, and empowered by what my sister veterans shared.In addition to the speakers, there were opportunities for pampering with hair, makeup, and nails. One of the obvious fa-vorite pampering venues of the UnConfer-ence was the styling boutique sponsored by Air Force veteran Danielle Marshall’s company: Styled to Profession. Although I did not take part in the boutique, it was so amazing to see women leaving the boutique with giant smiles, huge bags of clothes, and glowing new condence. I did take advan-tage of getting a professional headshot. It was much improved over any of my sele attempts. ere was also wine tasting, paint-ing, and a dance class. Numerous vendors lined the main room, and it was humbling to know they were there to support us, women veterans.Saturday culminated in the Melis-sa Washington Small Business Awards Semi-Formal Dinner. It was so empowering to see everyone dressed up and condent. Learning about the businesses that previous-ly won was inspiring. It was heartwarming to see Siobhan Cunningham’s giant smile that matched the giant check she accepted for $3,500.00.I was up early Sunday morning to y back home, barely 48 hours after arriving. It was to-tally worth it. Here are the two main things I learned and why what happens in Vegas should not always stay in Vegas:If you are an entrepreneur, you need to be a member of Women Veterans Alliance (WVA).I met many women who owned their own businesses or were starting their own business. If you check out the WVA website at https://www.womenveteransalliance.org, you will see many opportunities for webi-nars on business development as well com-pilations of references great to see in one place, including a Women Veteran Owned Business Directory.IF YOU ARE A WOMAN VETERAN, YOU OWE IT TO YOURSELF TO JOIN WVA.Based in California, WVA has lev-eraged technology to expand their reach and assistance across the country. They are truly transforming the way our community networks. The next WVA conference will be in 2023, back in Las Vegas. I will defi-nitely go again. This time, I will al-ready have friends there (and bring some!). This time I will know my path as a veteran. This time I will give my-self extra time to make sure I do not miss a minute of the UnConference.

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15Facebook.com/AVOWMagazine • Winter 2021/2022As a participant in putting on national conferences with the San Diego Black Nurses Association, I learned a thing or two about what it takes to put on a great conference, and Melissa Washington -USN CEO & Founder, Women Veterans Alliance (WVA)– very obviously has a great conference team. This was my rst time attending the Women Veterans Alliance UnConference, and I did so as a representative of Women Veterans ROCK! as the West Coast Outreach Liaison. Women Veterans ROCK! (www.WomenVetsROCK.org) is dedicated to building a culturally competent, transformational vision of equality for America’s women veterans, military women, and military families.The fun began approximately one week before the conference when I received my package of goodies in the mail. As this would be my rst outing since the 2020 pandemic, this touch went a long way to increase my already high state of excitement. My pack-age held my conference information, conference t-shirt, lanyard with all of my designation rib-bons (member/soldier), and name tag with my home state of Oregon. is name tag had a QR code on it that would identify me and verify my attendance at the various events oered.Checking in was a breeze, I’m guessing in part because of the QR Code. I was asked for my vaccination card which I produced (from the Oregon VA); and after scanning it, I was cleared for the entire conference. We were asked to wear our masks unless we were active-ly eating or drinking.After checking in, nding a table, and get-ting comfortable, I began the awesome activity of networking with the many service organiza-tions that were in attendance oering support and empowerment to women veterans. We re-ceived a copy of the AVOW Magazine with a nice bag, and there were samples of sunscreen on the table. Washington welcomed all of the participants and set the tone for the confer-ence. e magazine had the conference agenda displayed, and I enjoyed the opening session speaker Katherine Miller, USA, Director, Ne-vada Department of Veterans Services. Miller, a Veteran of over 30 years, was only the rst of an entire conference of exceptional speakers who shared pearls of wisdom.at evening was the rst night of frivoli-ty: a scheduled ‘Mix & Mingle’ in the Havana room at the Tropicana hotel/Las Vegas where the theme was ‘Dress as someone famous’. Melissa teased us with a challenge saying that we would not be able to recognize her because of her fab-ulous costume. I personally took an easy famous person as I chose one of three singers that wear their hair in locs. I settled on Tracy Chapman of Fast Car fame and wore slacks, t-shirt, and jack-et with my red Nike tennis shoes. Melissa didn’t disappoint in her very authentic looking Mother eresa costume. She wasn’t hard to identify be-cause we could still see her kind smiling eyes and WHAT A GREAT CONFERENCE!BY STEPHANIE BAKER-JONES(CONTINUED ON NEXT PAGE)

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16Winter 2021/2022 • www.AVOWMagazine.comface. It was a great time of eating (Southwestern menu) and fellowship -dancing in costume, pic-tures, and rae gifts. e local DJ was excellent, and one of the attendees had her uncle who was a retired MSgt take a bow so that we could ac-knowledge him for his service. Melissa and her team took a comprehensive approach to the conference mornings by pro-viding an opportunity to go on a morning walk from 6:30 a.m. – 7:30 a.m. Women veterans are very diligent about maintaining their tness for themselves and this activity was a denite treat. Breakfast, info desk, and store access be-gan at 7:45 a.m. in one of the many dedicated conference rooms. e info desk and store were available all day until 5:00 p.m. e exhibitor marketplace –many of the oerings were creat-ed and for sale by women veterans– was accessi-ble from 8:00 a.m. – 3:00 p.m.e conference was a mix of fabulous topics. e oerings were provided with three dierent topics at the same time, so you had to choose wisely. I attended How to Get on a Commission or Board, by Zoe Dunning USN, and Women in Media Panel, that included Babee Garcia, Amanda Human, Lila Holley, and Ashley Ar-nold. Both of these sessions were amazing and I have already begun incurring benets from the time with these women veterans.Lunch was another opportunity to meet with fellow women veterans. Having served my years traveling to duty stations alone, I made it a point during gatherings of this type to pick a dierent group and table location for every meal oered. After choosing my chicken salad and taking my seat, I began to laugh and talk with the others at my table. One of my ta-blemates asked me if I enjoyed painting, which I do, but had not chosen as one of my uncon-ference activities. After meeting Lila Holley at the media panel, I purchased her book Cam-ouaged Sisters – Revealing Struggles of the Black Woman’s Military Experience, and had her au-tograph it for me, which she did with a heart-felt request for me to stay in touch. I hope she knows that I will do just that.Melissa stated at the outset that the main reason for gathering was to relax our brains and pamper ourselves. I had chosen wine tasting as the only indulgence, but because of the kindness of my tribe I was gifted a spot in the painting class which was so much fun. After the painting, I relaxed until the wine tasting we experienced from a professional sommelier who gave us very pertinent information on the dierent types of wines and answered many questions until the end of class. Many of the attendees left to go to their rooms to prepare for the semi-formal din-ner event to present the small business awards to the various women veterans who were honorees, but some of us stayed back to ensure the wine that was left did not go to waste (LOL).e dinner event, like every other aspect of the 2021 UnConference, was a class act. e décor and the meal with dessert were delicious. e speakers and award recipients were inspir-ing, enthusiastic, and furthered the narrative of women veterans supporting and empower-ing women veterans. I was sad knowing the next morning would be the completion of this time that -for me- was the recharging of my need to connect with my sisters-in-arms.Top Row (left to right): Enjoying the private icebreaker event in a suite at the Tropicana Hotel. Lots of fun dancing and many folks showed up in costume. Bottom Row (left to right): Enjoying dressing up to dance on Friday night. Some of our service animals working for the weekend.

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17Facebook.com/AVOWMagazine • Winter 2021/202217Breakfast on Sunday morning was happy and pleasant, albeit a little subdued. We knew that we didn’t have to go home, but we would soon have to get out of there. Our sadness was mitigated by participating in creation –using arts and crafts- of Veterans Day cards for Nevada veterans choosing from dierent categories: women veterans, male veterans, and remaining spouses of deceased vet-erans. e surprising gift, for me anyway, was the clothing giveaway. Melissa had said all along to make sure to bring luggage that had room, or extra luggage, because when you attended one of her events you always went home with way more than you arrived with. Since this was my rst WVA event, I had no idea what to expect. e reality was that at breakfast while we were creating for our fellow veterans to let them know that we were thinking of them on Veterans Day 2021, the venders had displayed all of the remaining clothes that had not been disbursed during the clothing boutiques, and we were all invited to look to see if there were things that we would like to have. Let’s just say I lled up the backpack that I received from the Wounded Warrior Project!Melissa Washington and her team put on a stellar event for 2021. She informed the group that she is skipping one year (to do other good works) and will return to Las Vegas in 2023. She oered a fantastic discount for those that were able to take advantage of it. Whether you were able to secure the discounted tuition for the 2023 event, or you pay the full event tuition, my sin-cere advice is, “Don’t miss it!” I won’t.To Preserve The Freedom &Prosperity We & Our Families Fought & Sacrificed To Defend.JOIN OUR ARMYVisit CV4A.org to learn more!SMSTEPHANIE BAKER-JONES MAJ USAR (RET)West Coast Outreach Liaison – Women VeteransROCK! – www.WomenVetsROCK.orgTop Row (clockwise): Melissa Washington, Founder of Women Veterans Alliance and Michelle Terry. Lisa Diggs with Christina Wilkinson, publisher of AVOW Magazine. Taking time on Sunday morning to create cards to give to veterans.

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19Facebook.com/AVOWMagazine • Winter 2021/2022I started writing as a form of therapy because I knew that I was not ready to talk about how I was real-ly feeling. I was ashamed, embarrassed and the stig-ma of mental health was enough to put me into a deep and dark hole. Once I started communicating with others who felt lost after transition, I knew then that I was in fact not alone. I decided to bring awareness to the topic of mental health from my view as a mother, dual military family, and military spouse. is is when A Wild Ride Called Life turned into a global and now international movement. We share our stories of life after service or even af-ter a major shift in our lives. I knew that I wanted and needed to do more, so I created the Podcast titled “e Truths We Hide”. I wanted to do more than just be a guest on other platforms. I wanted to bring people from all over the world together to show that we are not alone no matter what we have gone through. I wanted to create a legacy, a movement, and a community and won’t stop until I do. I wished that I would have a mentor who would have asked me if I was ok. I wished that I would have had a mentor who would have provided a safe space for me to talk about the hard things. Wild Ride Called Life –Truths We Hide PodcastBY ANNETTE WHITTENBERGERHow did I get here?.....(CONTINUED ON NEXT PAGE)

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20Winter 2021/2022 • www.AVOWMagazine.comACCOLADESAfter retiring from the Army, I started an online, service-based business that focuses primarily on learning to live with our mental health challenges, instead of suffering from them. I used writing as part of my self-healing journey which then turned into a blog called A Wild Ride Called Life. Since creating the blog, I have become an international speaker spotlighted as far as Singapore sharing my story and helping othersndpeaceintheirlivesagain.Iamalso the host and producer of a podcast called The Truths We Hide. The Truths We Hide podcast was rated 13 of 25 as top veteran podcast for 2020.Iwrotemyrstbookandhaveco-authored3otherbooks,allfocusingonndingpeace in our life's journey after overcoming obstacles and trauma. Three quarters of my family now reside in Texas. My husband has been give the opportunity to take the responsibility of commanding a brigade-sized element at Fort Leonard Wood, MO while the rest of us wait for him in Texas. My daughter graduated College on 11 Dec 2021 with a BS in Criminal Justice. My son is attending community college for a degree in Automotive Technology. I wish I would have used my voice sooner. I never want anyone else to mask their struggles with toxic substances or fall into a deep depression like I did. is is why I created my blog and chose to share the deepest parts of myself in order to be free and set others free. To live with post-trau-matic stress disorder (PTSD), anxiety, and de-pression is lonely. We are often afraid of what others may think. We don’t want to risk losing everything we have worked so hard for, so we just say, “I’m ne,” and “I’ve got this.” I decided to take my experiences and turn them into a business of giving back and help-ing as many people as possible. rough my speaking, writing, and pod-casting, my mission is to utilize all platforms possible, and so far it has worked. I will contin-ue my work to end the stigma of mental health, start the conversation, and stop suicide.

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23Facebook.com/AVOWMagazine • Winter 2021/2022Third Prize $5kFounded in 2017 the Veteran Women’s Enterprise Center (VWEC) is a na-tional initiative based on research and recommendations from the National Wom-en’s Business Council, the Interagency Task Force on Veterans Small Business Develop-ment, and the Advisory Committee on Vet-erans Business Aairs, Women’s Committee related to programs for women veteran en-trepreneurs. In 2019, the VWEC enhanced its messaging and mission statement to not just help but to empower entrepreneur women associated with the military inclu-sive of (primarily) veterans but also active duty, reservists, and military spouses to scale for success. In 2021, the VWEC reinvested nearly $100k directly back into their client businesses through grants and pitch prizes—turning dreams into realities.e VWEC is our nation’s rst and only state-of-the-art, brick-and-mortar facility dedicated to providing in-depth, female ex-clusive, application-based co-working, with substantive, outcomes-oriented business (CONTINUED ON NEXT PAGE)In 2021, the VWEC reinvested nearly $100k directly back into their client businesses through grants and pitch prizes— turning dreams into realities.First Prize $20K Second Prize $10kKELLIE MUMPHREY, a Navy veteran and founder and CEO of Garland-based MilkSpace, was the big winner.DEBRA MOORE, founder and owner of Mama Moore’s Gourmet Popcorn won second place.CARRIE ROEGER, co-owner of the Semper Fi Bar and Grille in Woodstock, Georgia, won third place.4BUSINESSRECOVERY2021 Pitch Platform Winners

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24Winter 2021/2022 • www.AVOWMagazine.comsupport services. VWEC programs oer critical technical assistance through tailored training and customized coaching to create an entre-preneurial ecosystem that continually nurtures businesses with ongoing access to nancial and social capital. Since its inception, the VWEC has engaged over 2,500 entrepreneur women associated with the military, and taking their program virtually has allowed them to engage clients across 23 states.In accordance with the VWEC mission, a strategic alliance was established with the Homeless Veteran Services of Dallas (HVSD), that manages the Veteran Transition and Re-source Center (VTRC) facility owned by the Veteran Administration (VA). is alliance re-sulted in the VWEC securing 2,700-square-foot to renovate the facility into their rural model that includes 16 modern executive co-working units, a conference center that seats 50 audito-rium style, and a café lounge for ongoing net-working designed to create a safe, collaborative environment for entrepreneur women associ-ated with the military to grow their businesses and achieve the VWEC vision for women veter-an entrepreneurs of becoming our nation’s lead-ing employers and revenue generators. The VWEC is proud to be a leader in innovative best practices, and will continually work to upgrade their programming to produce the best outcomes for their client, because as VR often reminds us, “They’re not just building businesses, they are transforming lives!” Projected to relaunch this year is the VWEC Business Growth & Access to Capital (BGAC) Load Fund to ensure their clients have access to additional capital resources.

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25Facebook.com/AVOWMagazine • Winter 2021/2022A VISIONARY LEADER, Small is fea-tured in Dallas Innovates 2020: The Future 50 North Texans To Watch, and she has lived up to that acknowledg-ment by becoming the Small Business Administration’s Dallas/Fort Worth District 2020 Veteran Small Business Advocate of the Year with an invitation to be a Women’s Veteran Rocks, national Women Veterans 2030 Commissioner. Folks continued to watch as she kicked off 2021 as a Department of Veteran Affairs (VA), Center for Women Veterans (CWV), 2021 Trailblazer “Women Veterans Leading the Way.” In August, she was selected as a Dallas Business Journal 2021 Women in Business Honoree, showcased in the Dallas Morning News Honoring Our Veterans 2021 Veterans Day Special Pullout Edition, and will have a full-page featured in the soon to be published 2022 Marquis Who’s Who in America®. With a mas-ter’s in human services from Lincoln Univer-sity, Small has focused her career efforts on organization-al/community development issues continu-ally leading the implementation of impactful, inno-vative projects. As the Founder/CEO for the Veteran Women’s Enterprise Center (VWEC), Small continues a his-tory of success, consistently striving to drive social and economic change across our nation as an active member of Small Business for America’s Future, Women Veteran Business Coalition, as well as the 30th Congressional District Veteran and Texas Woman’s University (TWU) Center for Women Entrepre-neurs Advisory Committees. Small is a fellow of Southern Methodist University (SMU) Hunt Institute for Engineering and Humanity—Inclusive Economy, Dallas Public Voices, and the Bush Institute Stand-to-Veteran Leadership Program, continually seeking opportunities to share her expertise serving women and our nation’s small business communities.Small has led the development of a series of VWEC signature programs setting the standard for effective engagement. Launching in 2020: the Next Level Business Transformation (NLBT) Cohort, basically a business resiliency accelerator, is the rst Cohort with a combination of critical technical assistance and grant funding exclusively for entrepreneur women associated with military, emulated by multi-million dollar academic and lending institutions to serve this population.VR Small and Texas Representative Neave’s State Proclamation for Women Veteran’s Day. MEET VR SMALLFounder & Executive Director of the VWEC

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27Facebook.com/AVOWMagazine • Winter 2021/2022After high school, Maria obtained her degree in Paralegal Studies and worked for a Criminal Law attorney when 9/11 happened. Like most young Americans, a surge of patriotism in-spired many to enlist in the Armed Forces; they were furious and wanted to serve their country against the war-on-terrorism. Maria said that day triggered something in her, “ We left our country because of terrorism. I am here in this country, and it is happening again. But I felt I was old enough to protect my family and my new home.” So Maria enlisted in the United States Marine Corps.Upon her honorable discharge from the Marine Corps in 2011, Maria met her then-partner and moved to New York City. After their twins were born in 2013, Ma-ria decided to go back to school and major in Art erapy. at’s when, as Maria de-scribes, her life overwhelmingly shifted. e discovery of ceramic clay became her goal, her purpose, and her everything.She admits she never had a connection with a medium before. Working with this specic composition is very demanding and physical. Within the rst few minutes of be-ing introduced to Ceramic 101, Maria said she found herself in a ow. e smell and eort in pressing her hands against the ce-ramic clay had a therapeutic benet. Some Ceramists would agree this artistic therapeu-tic process has helped individuals with treat-ing disabilities of various disorders.As each sculpture takes on an artistic form, Maria had to go back and face every feeling, every emotion she had. It helped her unravel her mind. Maria states, “When you experience MARIA MIA SALAZAR WAS BORN IN PERU, SOUTH AMERICA. HER FAMILY CAME TO THE UNITED STATES WHEN SHE WAS TWELVE AFTER ESCAPING THE PERILS OF WAR AND INTERNAL CONFLICT THAT PLAGUED THEIR COUNTRY FOR YEARS. MARIA EXPRESSES THAT THEY HAD TO COME; IT WAS A MATTER OF LIFE OR DEATH. ONCE IN THE STATES, HER FAMILY SETTLED IN BRIDGEWATER, NEW JERSEY, OVERCOMING THE BARRIERS TO ECONOMIC SELF-SUFFICIENCY AND SECURITY MOST IMMIGRANTS EXPERIENCE.(CONTINUED ON NEXT PAGE)

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28Winter 2021/2022 • www.AVOWMagazine.coma traumatic event, it encodes in your mind dier-ently. Your survivor instincts kick in, and you for-get about stu. It is not until you revisit the trau-matic event that memories start coming back.” Maria was experiencing conditions triggered by events in her personal life. She remembered her deployment to Iraq in 2003 while serving in the Marine Corps and her experiences when her family escaped the violence in her native country.Maria may have experienced conditions associated with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). PTSD is a mental health problem that some people develop after experiencing or wit-nessing a life-threatening event, like combat, a natural disaster, a car accident, or sexual assault. In a June 2019 article from U.S. News, between 11 and 20% of service members who served in operations Iraqi Freedom and Enduring Free-dom have PTSD in a given year. Even chil-dren who experience early childhood traumas are more likely to develop long-lasting mental health problems in adulthood, such as complex PTSD. e National Center for PTSD reports 3% to 15% of girls and 1% to 6% of boys who develop PTSD have experienced some trauma. Recovering from trauma can often remain di-cult and slow, but several therapeutic approach-es are eective in treatment.Maria thought about all the surrounding diculties and characteristics of PTSD, includ-ing her own rst-hand experiences. Moreover, she decided to write her college thesis aboute erapeutic Benets of Working with Clay with Veterans Who Suered from PTSD. As a side component of her premise, Maria did a solo exhibit of a chronological biography of her life in sculptures. As each sculpture was being born and sculpted, Maria had to go back and face every feeling and emotion she had. She recalls how every traumatic event had shaped her life. It helped her unravel her mind; out of which, Maria had this creative idea of wanting to share this opportunity with other veterans. She recognized there is something innately healing about working with ceramic clay. Eventually, Maria established a non-prot organization called Claymore Vets, or playfully known as the C4 mission.As founder and CEO of Claymore Vets, Maria’s mission was to cultivate a creative and connective community of veteran artists. She believes that we all have the potential for post-traumatic growth and creativity as a ve-hicle. All of us are capable of innovation by design -be it writing, singing, cooking, or any-thing. What better way of tapping into this creativity than working with ceramic clay? With full-and-part-time volunteers, the orga-nization encompasses this sense of community and belonging. Claymore Vets ceramic pro-

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29Facebook.com/AVOWMagazine • Winter 2021/2022gram is crucial in the reassimilation process and understanding the disconnection veterans face when reentering the civilian sector.Maria was very fortunate for the support of her college professor who opened the doors of Long Island University Post in Nassau County to the or-ganization and veterans at the start of the program. Maria was pleased the organization started here in Nassau County, Long Island in New York. Nassau County was not proactive enough in serving the veteran community. Maria believed an energet-ic non-prot veterans’ program was an exact t. ere was a need for a creative outlet.Claymore Vets haa dierent classes covering modalities like oil, acrylic painting, and com-ing soon: printmaking; but the central medium is ceramics, and it is suitable for both men and women veterans. Maria expresses witnessing how dierently these veterans approach using ceramic clay. She explains that the men are a little hesi-tant to do art therapy at rst. ey tend to make excuses like, ‘I do not know how to work with clay or hold a brush, ’ and tend to have a bias about art-making altogether. But ceramic is very incompetent and non-emasculating. Once they start the program, they do not feel threatened anymore. Perhaps they like playing with mud and getting dirty hypothetically.Women veterans are way more welcoming to ceramic clay, and they are ready. ey are more receptive and more open-minded. Once, Maria had a women-veterans-only event where the par-ticipants read poetry while sculpting at a salt cave spa. It was very conrmative. ey felt at ease to open up. In addition to gaining therapeutic ben-ets from the salt cave and sculpting, the women felt a sense of togetherness. In Maria’s opinion, being a woman veteran in a male-dominated en-vironment, a woman always has to be physically and emotionally stronger. You don’t want to be seen as sensitive; but being with other women, on the other hand, allows one to get in touch with their feminine energy. Maria said it was very empowering. e women veterans also had the shared experience of motherhood as they’d had kids in the military. Maria states women are bet-ter, innately, at tri-building. She aectionately calls them her mud sisters.Claymore Vets is exclusively recreational. ey do not oer any clinical work or assess-ments for veterans who may be suering from PTSD. ey do not do treatment plans or case-work. But with that said, as a community, the conversation organically evolves around the process of making the sculptured pieces. Vet-erans are encouraged in open communications about what inspired them to make this particu-lar pottery art by which veterans are retraining themselves by reprogramming their brains to be comfortable in talking about anything. Military basic training is structured where en-listed learn not to talk, speak up, or express their feelings. One is to follow orders. Maria says the opposite happens at Claymore Vets. Just the act of talking about your creation changes the para-digm. Veterans are free to talk about what they are experiencing while creating art, but she tries not to have her veterans get re-triggered. When Maria nds a conversation has taken a whole as-pect of someone re-injuring or re-triggering him or herself, she redirects the conversation back to ceramic making. Even though the program gives veterans an open forum to express themselves, one must know the boundaries; otherwise, you are now talking about clinical therapy. at is not Claymore Vets' goal.Claymore Vets usually accommodates up to forty participants at any given time. e Veterans can return as often as they like. e program runs anywhere between six to twelve weeks. As Maria states, this allows for a sweet spot to form, where the Veterans activity bond gets activated. She models her workshops after a book called,e Artist Wayby JuliaCameron.Here, Julia Camer-on composes a guideline of how to stimulate your artistic love. is way, the workshop gives them an in depth connection to the medium. Veterans are then more receptive to pushing outside the box while building their skill level. ey get more comfortable with ceramic clay day by day. You see their condence rising and becoming more daring with the things they are sculpting.Most of the veterans take their pieces home. Maria plans to implement silent art auctions to promote the veterans who are serious about making this a career. A portion of the proceeds will go back to Claymore Vets. Recycling donat-ed home goods like a mirror or table supports some of the organization’s funding. e veterans give the goods an artistic look and place them up for sale. ere are a lot of veterans who are cre-ative with wood making or glass blowing. It is an additional creative outlet the program can oer them. Maria is hopeful to rent a permanent space to open a gallery and store where veteran art can be displayed and sold. Other times, she uses her own money to buy what is needed when outside funding is not available.e COVID pandemic, unfortunately, caused Claymore Vets to close in 2020. Maria describes how the university was a vital partner because they oered them the studio and ma-terials for free. It was like a rug having pulled from under their feet. Maria has since relocat-ed to Northern New Jersey and plans to re-establish the organization in Somersville near her home. She nds it more convenient and accessible to public transportation, and New Jersey commuter service has special services for seniors and persons with disabilities.In the meantime, Maria is building a part-nership with another nonprot organization in nearby Branchford, N.J. sharing structural re-sources until then. She also is in the process of ling for 501c3 status. Claymore Vets is back and up and running again. e organization had a dance-a-thon fundraiser on July 25, 2021, to raise funds and promote wellness. On November 6, 2021, Claymore Vets collaborated with Front-line Arts and Bridgewater Commons in present-ing a veteran art exhibition calledrough eir Eyes. You can contact Claymore Vets at info@claymorevets.org. Anyone interested in donating to the organization can access aDonatebutton located on their website claymorevest.org. Any amount can help them meet their mission in Cultivating a Creative and Connective Commu-nity for Veterans. Our amazing team of regulars and part-time volunteers are committed to helping others. We take our convictions and turn them into action. Think you would be a good fit? Get in touch for more information!https://claymorevets.org/

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31Facebook.com/AVOWMagazine • Winter 2021/2022A Women Veterans Dayby Terri L. Souder, US Army MP Corps veteranThey have a day for that, he said ...it's in November and it's called Veterans Day,But he never servedWe don't distinguish between male and female here, he said ...if you served you're a veteran,But he only saw women in oce and medical jobs when he was in uniformShe puts on her veteran hat to go shopping with her veteran spouse and they are stopped by a random stranger …her partner is thanked for his service while she is ignored,But she is supposed to 'soldier on'She parks in a spot designated for veterans …with a lift on the back of the car that clearly says “VETERAN,”But she is told she shouldn't park there unless her spouse is actually in the carShe goes to the club for a service meeting …and is approached by the district president of the auxiliary, Because in a Veteran Service Organization, if you're a woman you must be a spouseShe goes to the VA to check in for an appointment …and the person at the desk never looks up, as they say “How can I help you, Sir?”Because if you're there for treatment, you must be a manShe goes to Arlington for an event at the Military Women's Memorial …and sees a sign in the bathroom stall stating that,Unlike all the other memorials, it isn't part of the National Parks Service and is funded by donationsShe periodically wonders why she ever put a uniform on …to defend the Constitution or the United States,Against all enemies, foreign and domesticShe tries to remember why she raised her hand …swore an oath and signed a blank check to the country, To include giving her life, if necessaryThen it happens, it FINALLY happens …while being interviewed for the historical archives at the MWM,The man on the other side of the camera says “your story matters”TERRI SOUDER US Army MP Corps. 1987-1989BCT/AIT at Ft. McClellan, AL and was stationed in Aschaffenburg, Germany.Souder struggled with PTSD for 2+ decades and is an MST survivor. She’s had four failed marriages, three children (none lived with her beyond 2 yrs.) and she has been homeless several times. Souder is now a homeowner since 2019.Artishertherapy!Shelovesphotography,crafting,calligraphy,creatingwithglass(ameworkingandglassblowing),writing, and has participated several years in the Clothesline Project.SheiscurrentlyapeerleaderwithWoVeN,anartistwithUnitingUs(withvephotosondisplayinArlington,VAandTakomaPark, MD), American Legion and AL Rider member (organizer of June 12, 2022 Women Veterans’ Day event, Horseheads, NY).ARE YOU A WOMAN VETERAN WHO HAS A POEM OR SHORT STORY YOU’VE WRITTEN AND WOULD LIKE TO HAVE IT CONSIDERED FOR PUBLICATION? EMAIL US TODAY AT CONTACT@AVOWMAGAZINE.COM

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34Winter 2021/2022 • www.AVOWMagazine.comMy husband, Phillip Lipyanic, and I ride motorcycles. Before we married, he’d become involved in DJing our local Philadelphia Ride for Kids (RFK); and of course, I joined in on the ride in 2016, using my USAF Still Photographer skills, to capture the event on site. e next year, I attended the event with my camera, and rushed on my motorcycle ahead of the group in to capture the riders with kids in their side-cars coming through the scenic Van Sandt Covered Bridge in New Hope, Pennsylvania. When Phillip took on the ‘Task Force Ride Leader’ position in 2017 for the rst year, I helped, but my heart wasn’t in it. I had my own projects. Over time, management, and lo-cation changes, the event had dwindled down to $23,000 -and with mounting pre-event ex-penses, it was slated by Pediatric Brain Tumor Foundation (PBTF) to be cancelled. Neither of us knew until we were uninvited to the year-ly volunteer convention. We convinced the Foundation to give us another year and send us both to training as a team. I could not understand why this was so important to my husband, why he had tears in his eyes upon leaving the volunteer con-vention; how was I going to nd time to add yet another project to my schedule in order to help? What if we (read: I) failed? He ex-plained that he’d already lost two uncles (one whom I met only one day while we were still dating), an aunt, and his father lives with a brain tumor. In that moment, I remembered attending a community engagement speech by Shaun King, activist and journalist, where he shared the following challenge to anyone who feels despondent in eecting positive change in their community: You should ght for two ghts; the one for something you feel deeply passionate that is personal to ght for, and the second should be something that is not your ght. Fight for someone else's cause if you want others to ght for yours. ~Shaun Kinge next year, we doubled our eorts as Co-Task Force Ride Managers and raised over $41,000 -an increase of donations that pro-pelled us to become the 2019 Top Revenue Growth across the nation (there were approxi-mately 25 dierent Ride for Kids Events across the United States)! With PBTF’s training and teamwork, we saved our ride.en, the 2020 pandemic struck. Out of an abundance of caution, PBTF could not risk having an in-person motorcycle ride -with or Service Dog “Chief” along with Jeep “Squatch” owner Matt “Hutty” Hutt who is a First Responder and owner of Hutty’s Beard Balm as well as administrator for Evolution Jeep Alliance, a non-prot doing community char-ity work including Recovery for a Cause, betting Project Sanctuary coming up in May of 2022 and local mo-torcyclist attendees posing next to the 9/11 Tribute Trike (created by Aurthur Johnson) and owned by Howard & Kathleen Johnson who escort Nik Sheats, a brain tumor Warrrior and Trustee of the Events to End Pediatric Tumors charity.

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35Facebook.com/AVOWMagazine • Winter 2021/2022(CONTINUED ON NEXT PAGE)without compromised immune systems chil-dren riding in sidecars and participating in person at the event. PBTF reorganized their Ride for Kids event and went virtual. As much as we appreciated their eorts and understood the need to reorganize, we were crushed.OUR VOLUNTEER TEAM MADE THE DIFFICULT DECISION TO FORM OUR OWN FOUNDATION FOR TWO REASONS: 1. We are motorcycle riders first, and anyone in the motorcycling family knows how generous riders are. We are always looking for a ride and donating money, toys, pet food, coats, flags, etc. We enjoy being on the bikes (not virtual) to participate. 2. Anyone who knows a woman veteran in the workforce knows that while we can take orders, we are often well trained to take charge and project manage. It’s something that any veteran learns how to do in nearly any industry. You are ex-pected to self manage; to nd ways to adapt and overcome obstacles; and to create a team environment. We used the pandemic down-time to cre-ate our Charter, Bylaws, Board of Directors, and to le our paperwork with the State of Pennsylvania to become a nonprot limited liability company, and I found myself the Ex-ecutive Director of Events to End Pediatric Tumors. Our goal is to engage the public in events created to raise publicity for and edu-cation about Pediatric Brain Tumors and to manage events to fundraise for Tumor Or-ganizations that assist children and families aected by brain tumors.Nearly everyone on our team has been af-fected by a loved one with a brain tumor. My husband has lost two uncles and an aunt; his father lives with a brain tumor; the prior presi-dent of our Indian Motorcycle Riders Chapter 2003 passed from a brain tumor. We have fam-ilies who have lost loved ones and families who have children still ghting their battles with this disease while attending school, working, and volunteering. While our ride is focused on children with brain tumors, we’ve also expand-ed to welcome all adult survivors and families as well; after all, the research to help children will inevitably help us all. WE ELICITED THE HELP OF OUR MILI-TARY AND FIRST RESPONDER FAMILIES: Brown & Lynch American Legion Post 9, where I am a Legionnaire and my husband and our Logistics person, Mike Sheat of Logis-tics are members of the Sons of the American Legion (we are also all members of the post’s We used the pandemic down-time to create our Charter, Bylaws, Board of Directors, and to le our paperwork with the State of Pennsylvania...

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36Winter 2021/2022 • www.AVOWMagazine.comAmerican Legion Riders), and several of our volunteers are members of the Auxiliary. e Legion stepped up for the community and donated the grounds, cooked some food, and helped with our tricky-tray. e local Palmer, Pennsylvania, re depart-ment set up their giant ag to make our event extra special.Our community attended as child and adult survivors we refer to as Warriors, ven-dors, a news channel, local DJs oering their services, even a local celebrity 9/11 Tribute Trike. We had so many people stepped up to help make our event a success.I hesitated to write an article in our own magazine about my nonprot organization, and I’ve often wondered why. I am so proud of the accomplishments of other women veterans I read about amongst our pages; the more I read about women veterans, the more I see how tru-ly resourceful we are. We volunteer, see a need, and we progress to ll it. We all too often decline any accolade or pride in our accomplishments. I think that needs to change. As excited as I am to see other women veteran’s volunteering and nonprots, I am as hopeful that some of my own experience is useful to others. Lessons LearnedI’ve learned to delegate to our Foundation’s president -my husband- instead of feeling like I must accomplish everything on my own. If I need something, I ask; and in particular I have been looking to the women veteran community to ll requests, such as our logos (thanks fellow The Events to End Pediatric Tumors Volunteer Team: Bob & Melanie (Treasurer) Chappell; George & Lori McInerney (DJs); Phillip -President and Sons of the American Legion member, and Linda, & Valerie Lipyanic; Barb (Warrior Families Liaison and Brown & Lynch Auxiliary member), Mike (VP & Logistics and Sons of the American Legion member), Alysa & Nik (Trustee and Warrior) Sheats; Conni Eckhart -Warrior; Fay Young -Brown & Lynch Auxiliary and Legion Rider member and vendor coordinator; Carl Leiby (Webmaster); Eddy Kramer (family survivior); Danielle Shuster -Warrior and Trustee; Savvy Hope Yudt -Warrior; Tyler Whitmore -Warrior; and Darien “DJ” Hoeing sitting on the yellow Indian Warrior mascot bike. Also pictured is the red Indian Scout owned by L. John Belle, Former President of the Rollin’ Fast Indian Motorcycle Riders Chapter 2003 who lost his battle with a brain tumor in early 2020.

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37Facebook.com/AVOWMagazine • Winter 2021/2022Airman, Christina Wilkinson and Sabre Design)! When I rst started learning about other women veterans around ve years ago, I felt the commu-nity was very large and I’d been too long stand-ing just outside of it; more recently, I’ve seen how interconnected we truly are as I see some of the same names involved in multiple projects. Asking for help is very new for me -even with our own women veterans magazine, but I’ve learned to remember it’s not always your ght or my ght -both struggles are ours. I may be the Executive Director project managing our events -ensuring all the dots connect and hound-ing folks for paperwork and names to send out thank you letters to, but he is also nding women veterans at his workplace whose voices need to be uplifted in our magazine and sending them our way -ensuring they know they are not alone. As women with military backgrounds, I’ve found that while we do value the team, we are often solo overachievers ourselves, and we are also our harshest critics. My biggest challenge has been learning to advocate for my viewpoints -even with those I love who are supportive of our cause. My second biggest challenge is to just let people try on their own to succeed; I am not responsible for everything, but I can be grateful for someone else’s vision to come to fruition and cheer on their accomplishments. THE 2021 YEAR SAW US HOLD TWO COMMUNITY EVENTS: • Quoits for Kids tournament where a local rehouse raised over $4,000 for our cause! • Tires Against Tumors motorcy-cle ride -see a video of our event here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zmn4R_oiUgs&t=7s — created by Alex Sosa Productions We raised over $23,000 and after startup costs, hiring an attorney to be sure all our pa-perwork is aligned, and an accountant to au-dit, we expect to donate $5,000 to the Pediat-ric Brain Tumor Foundation. In 2022, we expect to add our Concerts for Kids community event and a golng event: Tee o Against Brain Tumors (p.s. Christina, we need another logo!). Our 2022 goal is to double our donation AND lower our operating costs. My favorite piece of advice: You don’t have to limit yourself to one project that is all or nothing; know your own best contribution; and learn to say no when you need to; in this way, you can eect positive change in multiple circles. For those of you who read our rst edition of AVOW Magazine, here is your Editor-In-Chief, stepped up to President of Sirens MC NYC, along with Dr. Juanita “Poet” Kirton -a USA Veteran who has had her poetry featured in AVOW Magazine, along with Sirens Pledges, Susan Lazor and Kristin O’Reilly.

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39Facebook.com/AVOWMagazine • Winter 2021/2022Happy New Year! 2022 brings many exciting new changes and a new focus for AVOW’s Complementary and Integrative Health series! This year, I am going to focus on my military sisters and veterans being able to take charge of their health.However, I also need to share a little bit of housekeeping for the upcom-ing changes! You will see a shift in articles, as both Dr. Matthews and I have entered the huge world of “empty-nesting.” With our kids being grown, we have rede-ned our practices and this brings some ex-citing new ways for each of us to work with our patients. Dr. Matthews has embraced the nomadic lifestyle and is now touring the country with his beautiful wife Laura, and this means he is practicing through telemedicine! Likewise, I have moved my practice to a part-time focus of three days per week, as I have now assumed the reigns as the Chief Medical Ocer for 5Strands Aordable Testing. Both of us are continuing our work with functional medicine, however, Dr. Matthews will not be cowriting as much, as he is also working with Vibrant Labs. I will continue to work as AVOW Mag-azine’s complementary medicine authority. I will also introduce my new team at 5Strands to provide a seamless (and very aordable way) for women veterans to learn about, ex-plore, and implement functional nutrition into their lives. So, as my readers can see – change is not always bad; BIG and WON-DERFUL CHANGES have come to the readers of AVOW Magazine, and they will benet everyone involved!RENEW 22Health. Vitality. Joy. Ambition. Hope. ese are all buzzwords that describe the New Year; but for the purpose of our feature arti-cle, they are also the key words that describe our women veterans in their youth, as we went into active duty. We were young, strong, full of energy, ex-cited, and healthy as we entered bootcamp or basic training; but in this experience, we ate that ne military chow laden with additives, preservatives, gluten, sugars, and llers. It was our diet, and wow, those carbs were great! We became carbohydrate and glucose addicted – but we didn’t know it, because we metabolized them so quickly.In the course of our physical health, we stressed our bodies through various vaccines and intense training; pushing ourselves to meet demanding physical training standards. We focused on unit readiness, because our evaluations depended on our tness. Some of us also became mothers and had the additional complications of post-partum care.Finally, although we didn’t know it, we also changed our neurochemistry by always being “jacked” or “amped” with the multiple stress-es of military culture. Supervisors, coworkers, deadlines, command structure, multiple du-ties, trauma, MST… these were only a few of the challenges that taught us resiliency. And then we began to develop seemingly unrelated symptoms; but when put together in hindsight gave us a very clear message that we didn’t understand in our youth.We were tired…so we overloaded on caf-feine and sugars to stay alert.We gained weight, so we used diet products, diuretics, stimulants (ephedrine) and emetic agents to lose it. We also worked out incessantly.We developed aches and pains from inju-ries to knees, ankles, necks, hips, backs, and shoulders, and we pushed through them all so we wouldn’t be seen as weak.We developed headaches from muscle ten-sion, environmental factors, and poor diets as we came down o the emotional and physical highs, so we learned how to escape into alco-hol, drugs, and the party scene.We were moody or irritable as we dealt with our monthly cycles, stress, and declining health so we continued to self-medicate.And despite our rank and successes, we didn’t know how to x ourselves or our bod-ies. So we did what the medics, corpsman, and docs told us to do; we took ibuprofen, drank lots of water, exercised, and changed our socks. en that magical moment happened… the moment where we crossed over from being active duty to becoming veterans. We survived and were now FREE to do what we wanted. We could sleep in but quickly realized that we were up all night. We ate what we wanted and quickly gained weight. And then when we tried to get help, we were labeled with mental illnesses and diagnosed with physical diseases or autoimmune disorders: post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), depression, borderline per-sonality disorder, bipolar disorder, general anxi-ety, chronic fatigue, bromyalgia, and multiple sclerosis are but a few.WE ALSO DEVELOPED CONDITIONS WITHOUT NAMES THAT LATER BECAME SERVICE CONNECTED:cancer, diabetes, degenerative disc disease, arthritis, cardiac issues to include high blood (CONTINUED ON NEXT PAGE)

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Winter 2021/2022 • www.AVOWMagazine.compressure and high cholesterol, breathing disor-ders, and chemical sensitivities are a few more of these.Our physicians gave us pain medications and psych medications, and we were taught not to question their diagnosis, even if we didn’t agree, because they were the experts. And then they gave us more pills to counteract the side eects of the prescriptions we were taking to treat all of our symptoms. is is the quality of life that many of us still live with, and we are frustrated with all of our limitations. We want a new kind of medicine that treats our persons, not our symptoms. We know that we are not crazy… and deep down, we KNOW that there are things that can help us. We see some of our sisters get better and we want to know what they are doing; and so, let Dr. Ruth introduce Functional Medicine!Functional Medicine (Nutrition)Functional medicine is one of the latest terms in complementary and integrative medicines. It is NOT a new science, rather it is a resurgence of holistic health through nutrition. It is the understanding of how our diets and micronu-trients aect our bodies and brains; and most physicians (including Veterans Administration (VA) providers) are not trained in this eld.According to the Institute for Functional Medicine, functional medicine is “a systems bi-ology–based approach that focuses on identify-ing and addressing the root cause of disease.” It’s a bit of a wordy description that means a con-dition can be caused by many things, or many things can cause a condition. In traditional allopathic medicine, a physician is trained to treat only the symptoms of a condition; where-by functional medicine specialists are trained to consider the eects of an individual’s genes, environment, and lifestyle to address possible roots or causes of diseases, rather than suppress the symptoms.Of all the VA facilities in the country, it is extremely rare to nd providers who can address functional medicine through gut and brain-based health. Instead, these facilities hire nutri-tionists, dieticians, and social workers who look at our weight, measure our blood pressure and cholesterol, and tell us that the keys to getting 5StrandsAffordableTestingisaleaderintheBioresonanceeld with an international market in Europe, Asia, and the United States. People choose 5Strands tests because they are geared to provide answers and empower people to take charge of their health. They have a large internet presence on Amazon, as well as a facility in Lawrenceville, Georgia, and they ship tests globally. Their products include a Deluxe test that is a combination of an environmental test, a food test, a nutritional test, and a metals and minerals test. Their standard test package includes the environmental test, food test, and nutritional test. They also offer nutritional and food test bundles, a unique pet food intolerance test, and a blue-green algae test which screens for the blue green pathogen in standing water.Readers can visit their site at http://www.5strands.com and purchase tests at a special 10% discount with the AVOW10 discount code.ABOUT 5STRANDS AFFORDABLE TESTING5Strands is a woman-owned business, founded by Lisa Blaurock in 2018. Over the years her team has grown, but the mission has always remained the same. The roots of the business started on the ground exhibiting at Gluten Free Tradeshows. The 5Strands health assessment is for both people and pets. 40

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41Facebook.com/AVOWMagazine • Winter 2021/2022healthy are to eat less, exercise more, drink a lot of water, and get a lot of sleep. Does this sound familiar? e only thing that they do not tell us to do are to change our socks…Taking Back Our ControlFunctional Medicine allows us to take back control of our health! We live with so many symptoms of stress-related illnesses, but the real causes of our health challenges originate with our food choices. Adrenal fatigue, leaky gut syndrome, chronic pain, type II diabetes, systemic in-ammation, neurotransmitter imbalances, and a wide range of autoimmune disorders; and up until now, we had to spend thousands of dollars in money we didn’t have to get the real answers from specialists outside of the VA healthcare system. ankfully, this is no longer our only option. With the rise of independent labo-ratories and a greater understanding of em-pirically-based, complementary health mo-dalities, we can now use hair, blood, urine, and saliva samples to determine our body’s needs; to include mineral and micronutrient deciencies, neurotransmitter imbalances, food intolerances, and true allergies. is is our power. We can use our results to change our diets, reduce our dependence on psy-chopharmaceuticals and pain medications, lose weight, and possibly control/reduce our symptoms or even eliminate these condi-tions over time! Essentially, we can be our own best provider, once we learn what our bodies and minds need. Understanding Our Testing OptionsWe have many dierent options for func-tional testing, and each has its benets and limitations to helping us on our wellness jour-ney. We will focus on four dierent testing op-tions to help AVOW readers make informed choices. Hair Analysis for Functional Nutritionis form of functional medicine testing is based on electromagnetic measurements of en-ergy that our bodies produce. Our hair strands hold this energy pattern for a short time, so it makes sense and is the MOST cost eective way to change our diets.e easiest way to describe this form of testing is that a machine measures the energy patterns that are imprinted in our hair strands, by using a wide electromagnetic light spec-trum. Once a pattern (frequency) is recorded, the data is uploaded to a computer which will then compare it to individual patterns found in multiple foods, micronutrients, minerals, and environmental items that we are exposed to on a daily basis. When the light patterns blend, they are said to be resonant and these create data-points for items that our bodies can tolerate. When the patterns repel each other, then they are said to be disharmonic or nonresonant, and the rate of repellence is measured to de-termine the level of intolerance (mild, mod-erate, or severe).is test is highly accurate and Dr. Ruth feels it is the most user friendly, because the results can then be used to create truly individ-ualized elimination diets. After the elimination process, users can then make lifestyle changes and gradually add foods back in to develop new and healthier ways to eat. e advantage of this test is that when multiple datapoints are studied by trained providers, gut and brain-based health can be improved and monitored by the user. is test does not screen for allergies, however, skilled providers can look at groups of datapoints and determine that certain sensitivities can exist and recommend specic allergy tests if a user does have a potential for reactions in their life-style choices.(CONTINUED ON NEXT PAGE)nutslearningfolic acidage-relatedbrain foodsemotionsEPAbrain fogmind exercises

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Winter 2021/2022 • www.AVOWMagazine.comDr. Ruth Moore is a Fellow with the Complementary Medical Association and is a national health advocate and consultant. In her practice, she is an Integrative Health practitioner and cognitive behaviorist who is able to see the broad picture, help her clients identify goals, and translate these into actionable and attainable objectives. She has a background in cognitive neuroscience and behaviorism, spiritual psychology, and holistic kinesiology, and she specializes in stress reduction and balancing the autonomic nervous system. Dr. Moore’s education was launched in military service schools, including Georgia Military College. From there, she completed her undergraduate work at Excelsior College and then specialized in Behaviorism at National University. Her doctoral training was at Esoteric Theological Seminary where she earned a Theological Doctorate in Spiritual Psychology, thensheachievedherPost-DoctoralCerticatein Integrative Medicine from Saybrook University. She is now a Ph.D. candidate in Psychoneuroimmunology (Mind-Body Medicine) also at Saybrook University.Dr. Ruth was Awarded the Voice for Change Award at the Truth and Justice Summit in Washington, DC and she was featured in the documentary ‘Make the Connection; Veteran Recovery and Empowerment.’ She has also been a featured guest expert on the television show ‘Inside Edition.’ Dr. Moore has spoken at the University of North Carolina, the SheWINS International Summit, presented at the Washington,D.C.’sMayor’sofceonVeteran’sAffairs, and has spoken as an expert on the subjects of Functional Medicine / Neuroscience and Integrative Medicine. In addition, Dr. Ruth Moore is also the founder ofINTERNITY.ThisnonprotorganizationhasaMEET DOCTOR RUTH MOORE AND COOPERImmunoglobulin (IG) Testingis allopathic testing process carries a mod-erate cost and is done with blood samples. Dried blood samples are reconstituted with reagents in a laboratory, and then they are analyzed for var-ious protein contents in the user’s blood. ese proteins are then tested with multiple food items that are known to cause reactions. e type of test is also highly accurate as it measures for food-based immunologic sen-sitivities. Similar to hair strand testing, IG testing can also yield levels of reactivity which is good for the consumer. IG testing can also yield false positives if cross-reactions are pres-ent or if a person reacts to a protein that is not known or identied in the sample. Skin Prick Allergen TestingIn this allopathic test, a patch or area of skin is cleansed and then microdoses of pro-teins from common allergens are poked light-ly through the skin’s top layers. If a histamine response occurs, it is measured for the size of reaction on the localized surface area and the patient is monitored for levels of reactivity, i.e. a systemic response that can cause breathing problems and other severe reactions.is test is moderately expensive, is not ac-curate, and can yield hit or miss approaches, as allergens like shellsh and peanuts are un-predictable. A user can have no reaction or a full- blown systemic reaction each and every time an exposure occurs.DNA TestingPerhaps the most expensive of integrative tests ($12,000 to $20,000), DNA testing is a related, but dierent level of testing that com-pares the specic protein chains of a person’s DNA to health conditions that are inherited through one or both parents. It is not specif-ic to foods, but it can be helpful to identify health conditions (high or low COMT, meth-ylation, or the MTHFR gene issues) that can be treated eectively through diet and lifestyle modications. Although allopathic providers can do this testing through blood samples, many complementary providers are also able to do this from saliva samples at a far reduced cost (approximately $1500 - $2400). Bioresonance and 5StrandsBioresonance testing is perhaps the easiest, fastest, and most aordable way for veterans The Columbus State University baseball team nished runner up in 2018 at the DII College World Series. Austin had several of his teammates take the 5Strands functional health assessment. “Our bodies are all unique. So why should 30 athletes follow the same training & recovery protocol?” 42

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Facebook.com/AVOWMagazine • Winter 2021/202243to enter the world of functional medicine and health empowerment. In an earlier edition of AVOW Magazine, Dr. Ruth detailed her strug-gle with getting access to appropriate nutri-tional testing and qualied care. e amount of time she waited, and the lack of care nearly took her life. She and Dr. Matthews used her case history to engage in several tests to deter-mine what was the matter with her and why the VA hadn’t been able to help her. She started with IG tests ($1400.00) and learned what foods she was sensitive to, then made the recommended dietary changes. With-in a few days her body started to feel better, and she lost nearly 10 pounds in a month; but then she became very ill. In an eort to get more in-formation, Dr. Ruth then did a 5Strands test ($194.00) and found many food intolerances, that when grouped together, indicated there was something happening at the genetic level. She started the 5Strands elimination diet and her condition improved dramatically. To date, she has lost over 100 pounds, maintained her teen-age weight, and her headaches have diminished tremendously. When she compared the IG and 5Strands tests, she noted that they were nearly compatible and the 5Strands test was 93% to 95% accurate to the blood testing. She was so impressed with this testing that she began to do consultations for 5Strands and was brought onto the team in October 2021.In her role at 5Strands, Dr. Ruth teaches the science of bioresonance and hair testing, trains and recruits new providers, and does consultations for 5Strands customers who have similarly complex health challenges. It is not an overstatement to say that the 5Strands test results saved her life, when conventional testing through the VA failed to recognize her conditions for over 10 years.Dr. Ruth truly understands the frustra-tion that many of her military sisters feel, and knows the challenges that they face when they try to advocate for their health needs with the VA. She highly recommends the 5Strands testing process because it allows the veterans to face their health demons, de-velop logical and “do-able” plans on how to start their wellness journey, and how to as-sume control for their health and wellness choices. She feels that given the wide vari-ety of environmental exposures, food expe-riences, and health challenges that female veterans have, they would benet from the multiple overlapping data points in either the deluxe or standard packages. mission to advocate for, assist, educate, and empower veterans as they adapt to and overcome barriers that arise from their disabilities. This work has led to the formation of the Ruth Moore Act, the creation of a provision in the 2016 National Defense Authorization Act, changes in Title 38 of the Federal Registry, and both direct and indirect services to over 1.2 million veterans who havereceivedover6millioninbackbenetsand 7.8 billion dollars in future healthcare services.Dr.Ruthhasjustnishedherrstbook,BuildingResiliency: 32 Days to a Better You. In this work book, she teaches resiliency through private coaching to her readers; and can help them learn new skills through multiple Dr. Ruth Truths. It is also available on Amazon in both a printed and kindle version.CONTINUED FROM PAGE 42In a time of complex health challenges and national healthcare inequity, 5Strands was created to empower people with personal health knowledge and accountability for their health decisions. We believe health starts with our food choices and can be affected by environmental and physical stressors. In essence, 5Strands acts as a road map for those who have tried traditional testing methods and diets, and not achieved the desired outcome.Dr. Ruth Moore’s book “Building Resiliency: 32 Days To A Better You!” is now available on Amazon.com

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44Winter 2021/2022 • www.AVOWMagazine.comJOINT BASE SAN ANTONIO-FORT SAM HOUSTON (Nov. 18, 2021)Sgt. Jenna Burkert fought her way to a third-place victory in the women’s 55kg freestyle weight class at the 2021 Wrestling World Championships in Oslo, Norway, Oct. 10.Burkert, a Rocky Point, New York, na-tive, is a soldier-athlete in the Army’s World Class Athlete Program. After falling short to a spot on the 2020 Summer Olympic team, Burkert came back to win a bronze at Worlds.“is medal has been a long time in the making, and I look forward to the journey ahead into the 2024 Olympic year with our program,” said Burkert, a seven-time National team member.Burkert was the Olympic alternate in the women’s 57kg freestyle weight class for the 2020 Summer Games. She had to cut weight and compete in the 55kg weight class at Worlds because the 57kg weight class slot for America was already taken by the Summer Olympic medalist that Burkert lost to in the trials. Burkert, a unit supply specialist, said that her medal would not have been possible without the support of the Army and WCAP. “I am so grateful to have the opportu-nity to bring home this World bronze medal back to the U.S. Army,” said Burkert, a three-time Junior World team member.WCAP wrestling coach Sgt. 1st Class Jer-maine Hodges, said that Burkert deserves this title because of her dedication and love for the sport. “She has committed countless hours to get-ting in the room and grinding,” said Hodges.Before mak-ing it to Worlds, Burkert en-dured a tough year. Right be-fore the Olym-pic trials her mother passed away.“Going into the rst match, there was a lot of weight on her shoulders,” said Hodges. “She didn’t realize all she needed to do was go out there and wrestle.”(CONTINUED ON NEXT PAGE 46)Army WrestlerWins FirstWorld Championship MedalBY BRITTANY NELSON, U.S. ARMY INSTALLATION MANAGEMENT COMMAND Some things that happen in life put you over the edge to be a dierent athlete.

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46Winter 2021/2022 • www.AVOWMagazine.comHodges said that the “Jenna he knew” showed up to wrestle in her second and third matches.“She was a totally dierent beast in the last matches,” said Hodges. “Some things that happen in life put you over the edge to be a dierent athlete.”e next big competition the wrestlers are training for is the Bill Farrell International tournament in New York, in April 2022. is tournament qualies them for the 2022 Pan American Championships.All WCAP Soldier-athletes, who compete in summer sports, are training for the next Summer Olympic Games in Paris, France, July 26-Aug. 11, 2024. Winter sport soldier-athletes are gearing up for the Winter Olympic Games in Beijing, China, Feb. 4-20, 2022.TO LEARN MORE ABOUT WCAP: visit www.armywcap.com LINKS:• Army MWR www.armymwr.com• WCAP www.armywcap.com Department of Defense News• https://www.defense.gov/News ABOUT THE U.S. ARMY INSTALLATION MANAGEMENT COMMAND:We are “the Army's home.” Army installations require the same types of programs and ser-vices found in any small city. IMCOM man-ages the day-to-day operations of our Army communities such as emergency response teams, housing, utilities and maintenance, parks and recreation and childcare. Our pro-fessional workforce strives to deliver on the commitment to honor the sacrice and ser-vice of military families, while enabling read-iness for a self-reliant and globally-responsive all-volunteer U.S. Army.TO LEARN MORE, VISIT:www.army.mil/imcom or www.imcom.army.mil Flag (on page 45) and fancy medal (above): Sgt. Jenna Burkert, a World Class Athlete Program Soldier-athlete, fought her way to a third-place victory in the women’s 55kg freestyle weight class at the 2021 Wrestling World Championships in Oslo, Norway, Oct. 10. PHOTO BY MAJ. NATHANIEL GARCIA

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47Facebook.com/AVOWMagazine • Winter 2021/2022BRITTANY NELSON, PAOBrittany Nelson is a public affairs specialist for the U.S. Army at Fort Sam Houston. She works as an Army civilian for the Installation Management Command headquarters (IMCOM). Nelson handles a slew of projects to include: Coverage (photo, social media, and journalistic) of IMCOM programs such as; BOSS, the World Class Athlete Program, Gold Star Families, Army Esports, and more.She recently attended the 2020 Summer Olympic Games in Tokyo, Japan, to provide coverage of the Army Soldier-athletes competing in the Games. Many of her article have been featured on the front page of Army.mil as well as the Department of Defense’s website.Nelson attended UIW and has a bachelors & masters in communication arts with a concentration in convergent media. Some of her work can be viewed at: -Face of Defense: Swimming Toward Gold https://www.defense.gov/Explore/Features/Story/Article/2570850/face-of-defense-swimming-toward-gold/ -2020 Summer Olympic Photos: Soldier-athletes https://www.ickr.com/photos/familymwr/collections/72157719804422252/ -ArmymarksmanbringshomeOlympicgold,rstmedalfor U.S. Armed Forces https://www.army.mil/article/248825 -U.S. Army IMCOM command video https://www.dvidshub.net/video/768599/us-army-imcom-command-video Medals: L to R: Sgt. 1st Class Jermaine Hodges, wrestling coach, with Sgt. Jenna Burkert, World Class Athlete Program Soldier-athlete, and Bruce Robinson, coach, after Jenna won third place at the 2021 Wrestling World Championships in Oslo, Norway. COURTESY PHOTO

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