#MilitaryMonday “Keeping It In”

**I would like to say a special thank you to Blue Star Families, and Colonel Anthony Henderson, United States Marine Corp. 

Last week I had the pleasure of attending the Blue Star Family, Military Lifestyle Survey Release.  If you have never been or heard of it I definitely urge you to go and check it out here.  See if what is important to you was important to other military families.  If you aren’t military, reading this survey might give you insight into the military life.  The invisible divide between military and civilian worlds was something of special note on the survey.  There was a fairly high number of those surveyed that felt, while civilians as a whole are supportive of the troops, they don’t understand them.  Its pretty hard to understand something that you don’t live, but how does that feeling affect our lives…that, I guess, is something to think about.


I could go on and on about all the things that were talked about that day.  It was so much information, insight, thoughts and feelings that I wish I could ramble on for pages.  But who wants to read that.   There was one particular thing, that stuck out to me that day.  It came in the form of Colonel Anthony M. Henderson, USMC, Special Assistant to the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.  I honestly wasn’t quite sure what to expect.  I’ve never seen him before (although I heard some rumblings in the crowd) and most of my experience with Marines in high authority has been, well, basically terrifying (insert nervous laughter here).  

He touched briefly on the subject of PTS/TBI/Suicide, which was in the top five concerns among military families today.  Twenty-three percent of service members surveyed, and 24% of spouses surveyed, reported PTS symptoms regardless of diagnosis.  Nineteen perecent of service members said they had actually been diagnosed.  From those number, 57% reported that treatement was not saught out, which issues of “confidentiality/career concerns” being the main reason for that.  When broached about these numbers Colonel Henderson spoke of a culture of keeping it in.  We are a nation that has been at war for over a decade and we weren’t ready, and still aren’t ready, for what that means.  The culture of the military is a “keeping it in” culture, he said.  Steps are being taken, but we won’t likely see the results for years to come.  It didn’t become this way overnight, and it won’t change over night either.  My husband had been able to attend that day.  That struck a chord with him.  He 1000% agreed with that statement. When something is so wrong – PTS, high suicide rates and the like – we want to find a way to fix it instantly.  It just doesn’t work that way.  It really sucks, but its true.  


So how can we help?  Educate yourselves.  Know the signs and know what to do about it.  Its really difficult to force a spouse to get help, especially when they don’t want to, for whatever reason.  I have to say that after having used Military OneSource, and helping friends use it, it is completely confidential.  Nothing ever got back to anyone that we/they didn’t want it to.  You are referred to civilian doctors, for free, who only have your typical reporting duties.  Even a baby step in the right direction is a step.  But no one can do it on their own, no matter what their uniform looks like, no matter what their rank is.  Those in positions of authority that only encourage and feed this culture of “keeping it in” are doing a great disservice to their country and to the men and women who wear the uniform.  You have to start somewhere.  Find friends who are real.  Surround yourself with support of all kinds.  Find “battle buddies” who are there for you.  Don’t be afraid to get help, as a service member or a spouse.  

Together we can help change the culture of “keeping it in”.  

**all statistics stated above can be found in their entirity in the Blue Star Families Survey.  Visit the above mentioned link, as well ashttp://www.bluestarfam.org for more information
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#Rewind365 – A Year Ago Today….

WELCOME TO REWIND 365!  

 LETS GO DOWN MEMORY LANE!
Every Thursday come join us in ‘Rewind 365’!
It can be something you posted on your blog a year ago, a memory, a photo or even a video taken  a year ago!
This is what was going on with me a year ago:
So What Happened With You A Year Ago Today?Join in and “Rewind 365” days and tell us what you were up to A Year Ago Today!
It’s all simple:
1.Your hosts: Mommy Only Has Two Hands, and Rheanna from Cammo Style Love (We will read your posts) 2. Tweet3. Create a Post with a picture, a memory, or even a previous blog post from 1 year ago, make sure you include our button so we have more people joining every week. (You can put this in your side bar if you don’t want to put it in your post.

4. Link your post up on the linky below so we can all check it out. 5. And the most important thing:

HAVE FUN!

  So, the hubby has my laptop…so I was forced to scour my facebook page to discover what I might have been doing a year ago today….

 My guess, based on all the pics was that we may have ventured out to the National Marine Corp Museum!

   

 

If you are ever in the Northern VA/DC area I highly recommend you get out and visit it.  They did an absolutely marvelous job putting it together, both inside and out.  The kids were entertained, my husband was in heaven, plus there’s all these adorable (fresh out of boot camp) Marines on special duty there.  They are pretty cute.

 What were you doing a year ago today?
Make sure to come back every Thursday and Link UP!

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Mil-Spouse Appreciation Day!!

Well, here I am, a day late with my mil-spouse appreciation day post. This has been an amazing week for me and my mind has been swimming with thoughts and ideas for me and my blog, and my readers. One thing I am very excited about is an upcoming series about the military life. There are so many spouses, experiencing different things, in different situations, from different backgrounds and living different lives. But, and that’s an important BUT…..we can all learn from each other. Even if we aren’t going through a specific situation we can still learn from them. I feel like the military life is like perpetual school. I know that every day I’m learning something new. I’m seeing other ways to cope. My kids help me learn. They help me learn to be a better woman, mother and wife! I’m stronger because I know I can be. I hope to bring some amazing stories to you. Stories from some amazing fellow mil-spouses that are strong and beautiful women, along with bringing you my own story.

So to all the strong women out there, Military spouses, girlfriends an fiancé, thank you so much for your example, for your inspiration and encouragement. Stay tuned for a new story every week.

Now just a little tidbit about me

I’m an Air Force Wife, technically Air Guard, but we are full time…ridiculously hard to explain most of the time…….

We have three beautiful children and have been together for 13 years!

I love to read when I can, watch black and white movies, spend time with the huzzy when I can. Watch my crazy children grow, watch the news, read the news, learn as much as possible about the amazing history of our country! We are now living in the DC metro area and Im in absolute heaven! If you aren’t already a follower I hope you come by when you can.

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