Personal Narrative: Implementing Change Through Military Social Work

Life has a peculiar way of leading you to your passion(maybe change wording). I discovered this passion in an unlikely place: an airfield hangar on a military installation. I was working for a military specific program, providing non-medical counseling to service members and their families. My professional experience up to this point had consisted primarily of working with at-risk youth. I was walking in unchartered territory, but as a military spouse, I had learned to be flexible when it came to finding work. I had been on the job for 4 weeks when I received a call from the base chaplain that a young airman had died by suicide. The chaplain requested my colleagues and I to be present to provide support and resources to anyone who needed it as the news was released that one of their fellow airman had died. As the chaplain and squadron commander released the news, I watched as looks of sadness, panic, shock and disbelief spread among the men and women standing in that airfield hangar. I dutifully did as requested; I made my way through the airfield hangar, talking to the airmen, providing support, listening to stories of their friend who was gone too soon, trying to help them make sense of something that just didn’t make sense. Standing there among these men and
women in that airfield hangar, a sense of purpose awakened in me. I knew in that moment that I would devote my career to working with service members and veterans and the issues affecting them.
Unfortunately, the discovery of my newfound passion to serve military members was put to the test two more times. During my time on this assignment on the same military installation, two other service members died by suicide and the same scenario mentioned above played out. These unfortunate and tragic events prompted me to begin seriously questioning what must be done to better support the men and women of our armed forces and the unique stressors they face. There are some alarming statistics regarding service members and veterans and the state of their mental health. insert some statistics on military mental health, suicide rates in the military, VA )
It’s no secret that seeking mental health treatment in the military is often seen as a sign of weakness.

The opportunity to implement effectual change through military social work exists on the micro, mezzo and macro levels.
At the micro level, implementing change involves ensuring those tasked with providing effective mental health services to military members and veterans are doing so from a culturally informed, sensitive and responsive manner (cite apa article about lack of requirement etc etc)

Cite article about military social work
Evidenced based empowerment program for veterans---

Earning an MSW degree will help me achieve my short and long-term professional goals. An MSW degree is the gold standard when it comes to working in the government and military mental health
sectors.