It’s our honor to support the brave women who serve in the armed forces through the curation of resources, development of blog posts, and production of webinars and podcasts celebrating women in the military.

On this page you’ll find content showing a more integrated military service that supports women service members throughout their military journeys.

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 WEBINARS

We’ve developed webinars to address different issues that women in the military face. Each is free to attend, archived, and offer continuing education credit and a certificate of completion.

Women in the Military: Special Contributions and Unique Challenges

This webinar discusses the contributions women have made to the military as well as some of the challenges they face.
Continuing Education (CE) credit  and a Certificate of Completion are available.

Warrior Wellness: Mental Health and Women in the U.S. Military

Women play a pivotal role in military operations, and their experiences and responses may differ from their male counterparts. This webinar looks at how mental health manifests differently for women, in particular women in the military.

Upcoming Webinars

• • Diversity of Women in the Military | TBD
  •  Military Sexual Trauma | TBD
  •  LGBTQ | TBD
  • Dual Military Couples | TBD

More information  available soon!

  BLOG POSTS

We’ve written blog posts to address different issues that women in the military face.

• Supporting Women Who Serve
  More women are serving in the military and breaking ground.  What do we know about women who serve? What benefits and challenges do they experience? How can Military Family Service Providers (MFSPs) support women service members?
  
• The Battles They Fought: A Brief History of Women in the U.S. Military
  Today, approximately 2.5 million women serve in the U.S. Armed Forces. Women continue to make their mark and show their determination as they volunteer to serve in the U.S. military.
• Unique Challenges Faced by the Powerful Women Who Serve in the United States Military
  Three unique challenges faced by women in the military today are highlighted in this blog post.  After each challenge is a section introducing the concern by providing current research as it pertains to Servicewomen today.
• Five Take-Aways from Warrior Wellness: Mental Health and Women in the US Military
  Dr. Karen Shirer takes us through the take-aways from the second webinar in the Women in the Military Series, Warrior Wellness: Mental Health and Women in the Military
• Supporting the Unique Mental Health Needs of Military Women   Servicewomen are deploying, engaging extensively & actively in combat operations. As a result of the increase in combat experience, military women are more likely to experience heightened mental health risks.
• Ensuring a Successful Transition from Military to Civilian Life for Women Veterans
  Several unique strategies have been found to better support women veterans as they transition from military to civilian life. This blog post lists several you might add to your professional toolbox.

 PODCASTS

Join us as we speak with experts on topics, provide strategies that you can apply to your work and discuss issues that are important to people.

• Fighting for their Right to Fight: Women in the U.S. Military
  In this episode, Rosemary Neidel-Greenlee reveals specific stories that were discussed with her in the interviews she conducted with Servicewomen from each war year (World War I to the Wars in Iraq and Afghanistan).
• Dual-Military Couples and Women in the Military: Balancing Career & Family
  In this episode, Dr. David Smith shares promising strategies and resources for military family service professionals in support of dual-military families as well as women in the military.
• Lending a Hand to Women Veterans as They Transition from Military to Civilian Life
  In this episode the listener will hear how “hurdles” motivated Dr. Kate Hendricks Thomas to research and then educate others about the importance of mental fitness and performance.

  ONLINE ENGAGEMENT

On this page you’ll find engagement opportunities to have conversations with military service providers, and to support your growth and learning around the topic of women in the military.

 EXTERNAL RESOURCES

Women In the Military Resources:  A PDF with all of the resources for the Women in the Military: Special Contributions and Unique Challenges webinar.

Defense Advisory Committee on Women in the Services (DACOWITS) Annual Reports 2003 – 2020. Retrieved from https://dacowits.defense.gov/Reports-Meetings.

Southwell, K. H. & MacDermid Wadsworth, S. M. (2016). The many faces of military families: Unique features of the lives of female service members. Military medicine, 181(suppl_1), 7079.

Warrior Wellness Resources: A PDF with all of the resources for the Warrior Wellness: Mental Health and Women in the U.S. Military webinar  (second in the Women in the Military Series)

Department of Defense, Office of the Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Military Community and Family Policy. (n.d.). 2018 Demographics profile of the military community.

Taylor, S. (2018). Knowledge of Mental Health Disorders and Resources by Military Personnel.

Infographic – Women in the Military: The Military to Civilian Life Transition, February 2021

 

 

 

American women have served in the military since the Revolutionary War, and approximately 2.5 million women serve in the U.S. Armed Forces today.

 

The MFLN Family Transitions Concentration Area provides education and resources for professionals working with military families to build resilience and navigate life cycle transitions. Additional professional development opportunities and resources are available from our MFLN Family Transitions page at militaryfamilieslearningnetwork.org/family-transitions.