I served as an Air Force psychologist for 25 years. Midway through my career, I had just PCS’d from Massachusetts to Florida in the peak of summer, 24 weeks pregnant. The heat, and stress from serving as a flight chief caused me to go into labor 12 weeks early. My preemie was impossibly small and fighting for his life in a civilian hospital’s NICU. I told myself I couldn’t let the job suffer. I’d work my normal 9-hour day then head for Miami to spend the night in the NICU. To make matters worse, I was told to prepare for deployment. In disbelief I said, “But my baby is still in the NICU.. How can I leave him?” The male MSgt who’d given me the news about deploying, scowled at me and said, “This is why women shouldn’t be in the military.”

That single comment was seismic in it’s impact. In one breath, my dedication, my identity as a service member— all the sacrifices I’d made up to that point had been stripped away, like so much dust off a shelf. It was a moment of searing clarity—proof of how easily women’s experiences are minimized, and how often we are asked to bear impossible burdens.

There were many examples of unfair treatment I personally witnessed during and after my military service; some trivial, some gut-wrenching. They produced in me an unshakable commitment to make sure women’s stories are not silenced or brushed aside. Today, as a retired Air Force, now civilian, psychologist, I specialize in evaluations for women veterans and women in security roles. My work is not just about forms or diagnoses—it’s about advocacy, recognition, and making sure no woman’s service or sacrifice is dismissed.