Author: Michael

My husband was deploying for a year with a MiTT Team (Military Transition Team). He had been assigned to the unit as an Individual Augment. That meant he was picked out of his home unit and temporarily assigned to a new unit. This team worked up for the deployment an hour away from our home. For the three months leading up to the deployment my husband had to drive an hour both ways and often stay overnight for training events. 
I started mentally transitioning to him being gone before he ever left.

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This is Chapter 2 in the Transition Memoir. Catch up here.
If your mom asks you in the hospital room after delivering birth how you are feeling and you refer back to the fact you survived your deployment to Afghanistan and being a mom shouldn’t be a problem, your identity might be wrapped up in your military service. I was weeks away from leaving the military, decision made, path laid, but I was still clinging to my identity of military service. 
I was just a few months out from leaving the military when my first son was born. I left the military before he was four months old.

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When I was diagnosed with cancer last year, there were so many things I wasn’t prepared for. One of them was the amount of questions I would get about my diagnosis, treatment, plans and even my insurance. Here are some of the most frequently asked questions and my responses. Everyone’s journey is different and some people choose to share, some overshare, and some don’t want to discuss it at all. I’m an open book, and I try to educate others as much as I can.

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A former U.S. soldier was sentenced to 30 years in prison for murdering a pregnant, 19-year-old soldier on an American Army base in Germany more than two decades ago, officials said.
The 2001 cold case of Pfc. Amanda Gonzales was put to rest in May when a jury found Shannon L. Wilkerson guilty of second-degree murder.
“Evidence introduced at trial indicated that Wilkerson feared he was the father of Gonzales’ unborn child and that her pregnancy would interfere with his military career and his marriage to another soldier on the base. Wilkerson was a member of the U.S.

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For tankers, naming their tank — and stenciling it on the barrel — is a right of passage, earned by hundreds of hours of training and teamwork. Though traditions vary, in most cases tanker crews have to earn the right to name their tank, a sign that the crew inside has passed every test thrown their way and is ready for combat.
“That’s our home. We live eat, sleep, and work on that vehicle,” said Wes Satoe, a former loader and gunner on an M1 Abrams tank crew.

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A new, award-winning film, “Porcelain War” follows a Ukrainian Special Forces veteran and his wife’s effort to defend their culture and their country. 
Slava Leontyev, a veteran of the Ukrainian Special Forces, brings a unique perspective to the poignant documentary. With a background rooted in military service and a passion for art, Leontyev was inspired to co-direct this film after witnessing the devastating effects of Russia’s invasion on his homeland.

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Welcome to Mid-Afternoon Map, our exclusive members-only newsletter that provides a cartographic perspective on current events, geopolitics, and history from the Caucasus to the Carolinas. Subscribers can look forward to interesting takes on good maps and bad maps, beautiful maps and ugly ones — and bizarre maps whenever possible.

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The Navy has increased medical monitoring and added performance-enhancing drug tests during Navy SEAL training after a candidate died of pneumonia in 2022, according to an Inspector General report. However the report noted a lack of policy driving the Navy’s approach to sleep deprivation during SEAL training.
The report, released this week, reviewed the Navy’s infamously rigorous SEAL training and took a look at policies, staffing, and medical procedures which garnered attention after SEAL-candidate Kyle Mullen who died in February 2022, at the end of Hell Week – a six-day slog of 108.

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