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Conference sheds light on struggles of female veterans

Billings Gazette - 3/24/2019

March 24-- Mar. 24--When Colonel Dawn Githens would come to her superiors with complaints about being stereotyped or targeted for being a woman in the Air Force, the answer she usually got back was 'well that's just how it is.' As more women opt to serve in the military, Githens thinks it's important that that mentality changes and resources for women expand.

Githens, who retired from the Air Force in 2018 and is currently the director of the Military and Student Success Center at Montana State University Billings, spoke about the issues facing women in the military during a conference at the Billings Clinic on Saturday. The Neural Injury Center at the University of Montana sponsored the conference, in cooperation with RiverStone Health, Billings Clinic and the Billings Mayor's Challenge team.

Her talk "Women Veterans and Challenges for Families," touched on the added stress and anxiety on female vets, military families and women currently serving in the military, and was part of the larger conference theme of helping veteran families.

During her 24 years of service, Githens was often one of few, if not the only woman on her assignments. Being the only woman confronted her with the realities of being a minority, something she hadn't experienced before.

"You go from growing up when you're 50-50, to going into the workforce and suddenly you're a minority," she said.

In the predominately male field, she saw the Air Force struggle to accommodate women and often disregard the issues they face, both during and after service.

For active military women, that includes harassment and sexual violence, stereotyping, and support services and policies that are male-dominated. Sometimes that means a difficulty finding health services for women, like an OB-GYN.

And active duty women in the military are increasing too, she said. Right now women account for over 16 percent of active duty members and over 20 percent in the Army Guard and Reserves, she said.

Overall the population of veterans has seen a decline, except for women veterans, she said. In Montana there are over 8,500 female veterans according to the U.S. Department of Veteran Affairs. That's about 9 percent of the veteran population.

Female veterans are also the only population of veterans that is projected to grow in the next thirty years. The VA reported in 2017 that the population of women vets is expected to increase at an average rate of about 18,000 women per year for the next 10 years.

But the effect of military service extends beyond members who serve.

"When you do the math that's about 70 percent that is female or family of our total service," Githens said. "Yet a lot of our services and focus really just go on our active duty side even though the entire community is affected."

Spouses of active duty members are often left to pick up the pieces when their partners are deployed.

"The services and help that needs to exist when those units deploy, to help those spouses that are left behind to carry that load for the family, is critical," she said. "That's mental health services, support network services, and medical services."

Githens knows all too well the stress of military service on family members. She has three kids, and her husband is also an Air Force veteran. Families and children of military personnel can be overlooked.

"Oftentimes we forget about those unsung heroes and those ones that are staying at home and keeping the home front running," she said.

For children, the stress of moving often and having a parent leave for long stretches of time can be damaging. And for veterans with post-traumatic stress disorder, their spouses need resources too.

"The members oftentimes got counseling but the family members didn't," she said. "So I had both male and female spouses that were dealing with their husband and wives that had some PTSD, and they themselves were not getting the help they too needed so they could have the tools in their toolbox of what to do or how to deal with it."

Montana has a high veteran population. Over 14 percent of Montana households have a veteran living in them, she said.

"It's important as we think about as a community how we help people in these situations," she said. "We have to help not just the member, but the entire community and the family structure behind it."

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