Somewhere between coming home from the military and trying to “adjust” to the civilian world, many of us realize—we never stopped surviving.

We may have taken off the uniform, but we didn’t leave the sense of urgency behind. We may have put down the bottle, but the need to stay in control, stay bus...

When you think of a veteran struggling with alcohol use, what image comes to mind?

For most people, it’s not a Black woman.

Black women veterans often navigate a unique intersection of challenges—bearing the weight of military service, societal expectations, and the journey toward sobriety. While ...

For years, I wore two uniforms—the one the military issued me and the one I stitched together in silence. I wore a smile when I was unraveling and reached for the bottle when I needed something to soothe my invisible pain. It wasn’t just the missions or the role as an air traffic controller that wor...

I’ll never forget that Monday in July 2007.

I got up, starched and pressed my uniform… and realized I had nowhere to go.

I wasn’t in the military anymore — but there I was, still moving like I was. I had signed my discharge papers. I had even told friends and family I was out.

Just days earlier, ...

There’s a moment—silent but seismic—when the boots come off for the last time. The uniform is folded, the structure dissolves, and suddenly, you’re left with space. But that space doesn’t always feel like freedom. It can feel like loss. That’s the part no one talks about. The moment where your exter...

Serving in the U.S. Navy allowed me to have and learn from a plethora of lived experiences. Two of the most influential were camaraderie and unspoken relatability.

The same can be said for the experiences felt in the recovery community. Though I’ve chosen this path for over a decade, it was only tw...