26JJ-CPM_Working-Skeleton-Layout_20260406-NT - Flipbook - Page 30
By: Carrigan Brady
S
he learned to read a room before she learned
to read the tide. Years of service will do that —
sharpen you into someone who is always scanning,
always prepared, always useful. The military gave
her structure the way the shoreline gives the sea its
edge: a clear line between what is ordered and what
is wild. But eventually, even the most disciplined
soldier has to learn to live in the open water.
For many women veterans, that crossing — from
uniform to civilian life — is one of the most disorienting journeys they’ll ever make. Two-thirds of
women veterans report having trouble transitioning out of the military, with their largest challenges
including navigating VA programs, finding employment, managing financial stress, and becoming
socialized to civilian culture. The numbers are sobering. In 2024, the overall veteran unemployment
rate was 3.0%, with women veterans experiencing
a slightly higher rate of 3.5% compared to 2.9% for
male veterans. And yet the data alone can’t capture
what it actually feels like — that particular silence
when no one is giving orders anymore, and you realize the next command has to come from yourself.
The Gulf Coast, for some
women, has become an
answer to that silence.
30 | COASTALPOLITAN
