The Best Advice I Can Give About Surviving MST (MSTy’s Story | Part 3)
MSTy, an anonymous Marine Corps veteran, shares the second stage of struggles with mental health, learning about MST, and developing a tool to help survivors come forward and establish patterns of predatory behavior. This episode demonstrates the power of only one person saying, “No more!” and rallying more to stand with them against military sexual trauma and the military’s diligence in sweeping cases under the rug. Read the full story and access helpful resources.
How MSTy found peace in learning and embracing the positive relationships in her life after MST — her words of wisdom and advice for you.
In the final part of her story, MSTy’s insights about how trauma shaped her daily life over time—and how choosing joy every day, gratitude for close relationships and love, and continuously being inspired by books serve as inspiration for listeners and viewers.
Accountability Through Reported Patterns of Predatory Behavior
Parts 1 and 2 of MSTy’s story grimly reminded us of the harshest realities of MST. The pain and confusion of being in a new environment after being traumatized by people who seemed trustworthy and the harassment that followed. Sadly, that part was identical to every story shared on the podcast. Through the pain and beginning to heal, MSTy was able to create a digital crime map of MST, to begin the arduous process of unmasking hidden predators throughout our military’s history. She found a way for survivors to process and give a name and space to their pain even if they weren’t able to speak it aloud.
In Part 3 of her story, MSTy shares the quieter, more reflective side of surviving military sexual trauma: the everyday and long-term battles of healing, the ways she found comfort, and the choices she continues to make—every single day—to stay grounded and whole.
I don’t know who needs to hear this but…
We dive into the things most survivors don’t always talk about out loud: the long-term physical toll of trauma, how hard it is to “just be present” for the people you love, and the guilt that comes with realizing how much of your life has been lived in survival mode. MSTy talks about the books, the dogs, the positive memes—yes, even the ones that start with “I don’t know who needs to hear this…”—that kept her going when there weren’t any other tools.
This part of her story is not about the worst of what happened. It’s about the slow, stubborn, defiant act of healing anyway.
The People Who Stayed
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As she reflects on the decades she spent “winging it” before finding solace and education in therapy, books, and online communities, MSTy describes how her life improved because of the people who helped her see herself differently: a best friend in the military, a civilian coworker who never got tired of listening, and a husband who tells her, “I ain’t scared,” every time she worries she’s too much.
In the face of a culture that told her to be silent, their love was a was a mirror and a soft place to reaffirm herself when times got difficult to manage.
Make Time for Healing Today
This episode closes with the kind of wisdom you can only get from someone who’s lived through the long haul of unresolved trauma. MSTy shares the physical effects—tight muscles, inflammation, cognitive struggles—and the regret of waiting so long to start healing and how it impacted her relationships and bonds with her children.
Whether you’re just beginning or decades into this journey, her voice reminds us that healing can start at any moment—and you don’t have to be alone when it does.
“Make time for it today.” - MSTy
Click here to explore more survivor stories
MSTy’s final chapter isn’t about how the story ends—it’s about how survivors live through the in-between. She’s not here to be inspirational or dramatic. She’s here to be real. Her honesty about everyday coping tools and the physical price of trauma is a gift, especially for those who are just now starting to name their pain.
She wants listeners to know: you are not broken. And you’re not too late.
Links From This Episode:
This episode contains a few references to news articles and books that are listed below:
Join our mailing list to learn about upcoming episodes, new resources, and daily support.
Episode Trigger Warning Index
This episode contains references to the following topics. Please use this guide to skip if needed:
(00:14 - 00:31) On-screen details of MST markers
(01:26 - 01:33) Mentions of mental health conditions like dissociation and panic attacks
(11:25 - 14:22) Discussion of long-term physical toll, regrets about not being emotionally present
Takeaways from This Conversation
Every marker matters in the healing journey.
Books and pets can be powerful coping mechanisms.
Gratitude and positivity are essential for mental health.
Finding supportive communities is crucial for healing.
It's important to prioritize emotional wellness.
Trauma can have long-lasting physical and cognitive effects.
Starting the healing journey is possible with available resources.
Support from loved ones can make a significant difference.
Sharing experiences can help others feel seen and heard.
Your voice can drive change and accountability.
Reflection Journal Prompt
What did MSTy’s voice help you realize about your own?
Spend a few minutes after listening to reflect or journal. What did you feel during this episode? What are you still thinking about? What systems need to change — and what part could you play in that change?
Join the Conversation & Amplify Survivors
Want to talk through your experience? Or support someone else in theirs?
Join our private Facebook group: The Advocates of MST
Don’t forget. This conversation matters. And MSTy showed immense courage by telling her story. Please help us make sure her voice travels further: Leaving a written review on Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts helps elevate the visibility of the show for more survivors suffering in isolation and pain. A simple review can change another person’s life forever.
Leave a review on Apple Podcasts
Need Support?
Although this podcast is a great resource, it does not and should not replace care from a medical professional. If you’re in crisis or need someone to talk to:
Call the Veterans Crisis Line — 988, then press 1
Or go to the nearest emergency room.
You are not alone. We believe you. You matter.
The final part in MSTy’s three part series goes live Tuesday April 15, 2025.
If Victims Were Afraid Then, Predators Should Worry Now (MSTy’s Story | Part 2)
MSTy, an anonymous Marine Corps veteran, shares the second stage of struggles with mental health, learning about MST, and developing a tool to help survivors come forward and establish patterns of predatory behavior. This episode demonstrates the power of only one person saying, “No more!” and rallying more to stand with them against military sexual trauma and the military’s diligence in sweeping cases under the rug. Read the full story and access helpful resources.
How MSTy designed a new tool that helps survivors track abuse, expose patterns, and take back their power — one marker at a time.
Survivors can take their power back with this map — and that includes you.
Accountability Through Reported Patterns of Predatory Behavior
MSTy didn’t set out to become the creator of an innovative and accurate way to hold the perpetrators of Military Sexual Trauma accountable. Like many survivors, she was mostly trying to get through the aftermath of her encounters with avoidance and unhealthy coping until she found education and therapy. Survivors can especially understand wanting to only seek peace after having their lives disturbed so violently and abruptly, often without support for many years until that became unbearable as well.
In learning about complex PTSD and dissociation as a coping skill, she understood that silence and pretending her traumatic events hadn’t happened wouldn’t make the events magically disappear. It didn’t make it easier, because her trauma appeared in her life in other ways when she least expected or wanted it to.
In Part 2, MSTy shares what happened after her assaults — the disorientation, the dissociation, and the dark spiral that followed. But this time, she’s guiding listeners along her path to healing and discovering a brilliant method to help more survivors speak up. She’s sharing her way, possibly your way, of fighting back against this toxic cultural issue in our military.
MSTy introduces a powerful data driven crime map, born from her own story: a digital map that plots MST incidents across the world — Every marker represents a survivor. Every marker is a story that someone felt they had to keep quiet. Until now.
Finally Understanding She Wasn’t Alone
After MSTy’s terrifying and confusing assaults and harassment, she began documenting what happened — first in her diary, then in her mind, and eventually in a way that others could connect with too.
She speaks about living in a fog of dissociation, turning to alcohol, and losing trust in everything and everyone around her — including herself. But slowly, over time, something shifted. She courageously chose to go back to serving, in the Air Force after September 11th. This new direction with better peers, more opportunities to be the servicemember she knew she could be, and to be able to guide younger Airmen was a source of peace and redemption. A second chance. And upon retiring from both military and civilian work, she turned her focus to healing from MST. The more she learned about MST, the more she realized how common this was — and how often it was expertly covered up, completely ignored, or viciously downplayed.
That’s when the idea for the MST Map found its way.
Using Patterns to Isolate Predators
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The MST Map isn’t just about stories — it’s about patterns. As MSTy began collecting survivor submissions, she saw its potential. Imagine if we could isolate the similarities: the same bases, the same patterns. Different people. Different years. But the same violence.
Consider this. As an example, let’s say a certain recruiter was stationed in an area for 4 years and there are numerous cases of MST reported on the map in that specific time period, and the person was described the same way by all victims… by process of elimination, this map makes it possible to finally validate a victim’s pain.
She and Rachelle discuss how documenting these stories can visually give survivors a sense of power and justice. Most markers are anonymous, while others contain comments of what happened in more detail. But all of them say the same thing: This is real. And it’s everywhere.
The more markers, the better the opportunity to zero in on the people that caused so much pain but managed to slip by, protected by their leadership often to the serious detriment to the lives destroyed in their wake.
Demonstrating the Magnitude of MST
MSTy opens up about how watching the shock toward and spread of Vanessa Guillén’s story pushed her into action. She talks about the exhaustion of fighting the VA disability claim system while still wrestling your own shame. The pain of being invalidated online. The rage of watching predators get promoted or thriving while survivors are barely staying alive each day.
And the hope that something like the map might finally turn anecdote into evidence. Patterns into pain. Well-kept secrets into cleansing truth.
“This map isn’t just data. It’s how we get change, accountability.” - MSTy
Every marker is a defining moment that someone chose to speak up.
By the end of the episode, MSTy reflects on what it means to keep going — to build something for others even when the process hurts. She and Rachelle talk about accountability, prevention, and the fact that every survivor who shares their story makes it a little harder for systems to pretend they don’t know.
This isn’t just a tool. This is a reason for perpetrators to finally begin to feel the same fear that every survivor has felt daily since their lives were changed forever.
Links From This Episode:
This episode contains a few references to news articles and books that are listed below:
Join our mailing list to learn about upcoming episodes, new resources, and daily support.
Episode Trigger Warning Index
This episode contains references to the following topics. Please use this guide to skip if needed:
12:54 - Mention of Vanessa Guillén
13:06 - Mentions of dissociation/mental health struggle
13:22 - Compensation and Pay Exam
13:45 - Mentions of Complex PTSD/mental health struggle
15:10 - Explanation of MST Map Website
15:31 - All types of SA named
15:50 - Mention of MST victims of recruiters
16:22 - Marine Corps recruiter predator news article
16:41 - Army ROTC LT COL predator news article discussed
17:16 - 17: 45 - Unreported cases of MST
17:49 - 18:29 - Markers displayed on the map of incidents
20:02 - 22:08 Trolls invalidating MST on social media
22:24 - 22:36 - Feelings of shame, isolation, and paranoia
23:11 - 24:47 - Describes how MST occurs around the world and in different situations illustrated by map markers can identify perpetrators over time
Takeaways from This Conversation
Creating a map for MST allows survivors to share their stories anonymously and still establish patterns of predatory behavior.
Personal healing often involves confronting past traumas.
Predators often look for naive, trusting individuals with weak boundaries.
Dissociation can be a coping mechanism for trauma survivors.
Data mapping can help identify patterns of abuse and accountability.
Survivors often feel isolated for years due to shame and stigma.
Accountability is crucial for creating change in the military.
Reflection Journal Prompt
What would accountability look like if survivors led the conversation?
Spend a few minutes after listening to reflect or journal. What did you feel during this episode? What are you still thinking about? What systems need to change — and what part could you play in that change?
Join the Conversation & Amplify Survivors
Want to talk through your experience? Or support someone else in theirs?
Join our private Facebook group: The Advocates of MST
Don’t forget. This conversation matters. And MSTy showed immense courage by telling her story. Please help us make sure her voice travels further: Leaving a written review on Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts helps elevate the visibility of the show for more survivors suffering in isolation and pain. A simple review can change another person’s life forever.
Leave a review on Apple Podcasts
Need Support?
Although this podcast is a great resource, it does not and should not replace care from a medical professional. If you’re in crisis or need someone to talk to:
Call the Veterans Crisis Line — 988, then press 1
Or go to the nearest emergency room.
You are not alone. We believe you. You matter.
The final part in MSTy’s three part series goes live Tuesday April 15, 2025.
BIG VOICE MST | Podcast News Update - March 14
Stay informed on MST-related news, survivor stories, and resources. This week's updates cover new legislation, global MST stories, and recovery from PTSD.
Howdy Madvocates,
A quick reminder that the final part of Brian’s episode is streaming now wherever you get your podcasts and YouTube. I highly recommend to watch or listen if you are struggling while trying to advocate for yourself in health care or trying to get your discharge changed, because this episode has the lessons that Brian has learned from fighting for justice for two decades and what his healthy coping strategies are, . If you have trouble with falling asleep because of anxiety or PTSD, this is the episode for you.
Now on to The BIG VOICE.
Let’s get into the latest Military Sexual Trauma-related news, new MST legislation that affects the MST community, and resources designed to support survivors and advocates like you. I urge practicing self-care while browsing some of these stories, there are trigger warnings for content that may be upsetting. There are also positive stories of recovery and MST survivor resources as well, I didn’t want this to be “doom and gloom’ as if change is not possible.
Change is possible, especially if we stay informed and stay vigilant.
As you know, this problem is not a rare occurrence—there’s a global MST crisis that demands accountability, justice, and care for survivors. The stories from around the world showcase this problem, but it’s a small snowflake on an otherwise huge iceberg of pain, shame, and anger this issue causes. And it’s never one person affected by an assault or harassment. Entire communities feel the ripple effects of this issue, even if they don’t realize it.
Whether you’re here to stay informed, take action, or find resources for yourself or a loved one, this is your space to connect, learn, and advocate for change. Need support? Come find our group on Facebook: The Advocates of MST. We’re here to listen, share, uplift, and create an environment of acceptance without gender restrictions.
If you or someone you know is struggling with MST-related PTSD, depression, or suicidal thoughts, please know that help is available. The Veterans Crisis Line is open 24/7—dial 988 and press 1 for confidential support.
New Jersey bill looks to give easier access to mental health drugs
WPIX-TV (U.S. MST related-legislation)
By Jim Vasil
TRENTON, N.J. (PIX11) — When Krystal Cordero came home from an operation enduring freedom, PTSD followed her along with Military Sexual Trauma, or MST.
“They truly don’t set you up for the violence that you see, the aftermath, the feeling of loneliness, the feeling when you transition out that you no longer have somebody to really talk to,” said Cordero, an Army veteran of Totowa. “I unfortunately had an officer who tried to take advantage of me. He did not succeed but nonetheless, I had to suffer the assault.”
For years after coming home, she endured what many veterans have experienced: having to jump through hoops to get the prescription meds to treat their condition — hoops like step therapy or needing prior authorization.
“It’s almost like you’re dangling a treat in front of them and you’re saying, ‘almost there,’ but not there yet,” said Cordero. “We’re tired of chasing things. We need to be heard.”
Next week in Trenton, lawmakers will discuss a bill that will make it easier for patients with serious mental illnesses like PTSD, schizophrenia, bipolar disorders, and others to get the medicine they need – by requiring prescription drug coverage without prior authorization, or step therapy, a method of having patients try a less expensive drug first.
Read the article here: https://pix11.com/news/local-news/new-jersey/new-jersey-bill-looks-to-give-easier-access-to-mental-health-drugs/
Impending Legislation Senate Veterans Affairs Committee
Veterans of Foreign Wars (U.S. MST -related legislation)
Statement by Pat Murray
Draft legislation, Servicemembers and Veterans Empowerment and Support Act
The VFW supports this legislation, particularly its overarching theme of enhanced training for claim processors and reviewers that emphasizes accuracy, completeness, and improved communications throughout the disability claims process. This aspect of the bill is especially compelling by seeking to increase the proficiency of claims processors in recognizing nuanced non-military sources of evidence, eliciting vital information without retraumatizing the survivor, and in correctly processing claims involving military sexual trauma (MST). The annual focused reviews should validate (or refute) the effectiveness of the training. Emphasizing their importance, these reviews will continue until claim processors for MST-related claims achieve a 95 percent accuracy rate for five consecutive years. Additionally, the VFW concurs with VA’s aggressive outreach campaign pertaining to various facets of MST reporting and claim adjudication. However, we doubt VA’s ability to achieve its laudable goal of providing MST claims information to disenrolled service academy students from the last 80 years unless Congress substantially resources VA for this purpose. Lastly, the VFW concurs with VA’s updated definition of MST that includes trauma involving online or other technological communications
See the draft legislation here: https://www.vfw.org/advocacy/national-legislative-service/congressional-testimony/2025/3/pending-legislation-svac
Defence Force sexual assault prevention team's future uncertain
Radio New Zealand (New Zealand MST News)
By Rachel Helyer Donaldson
The Defence Force insists it remains committed to preventing harmful sexual behaviour in its ranks, despite putting its entire Sexual Assault Prevention Response Advisor (SAPRA) team on notice.
It is understood that the team, who were brought in as part of an action plan to eliminate inappropriate sexual behaviour, were told last week that they could be made redundant, following a consultation period.
An NZDF spokesperson confirmed the Defence Force would be starting a consultation process with staff and unions on "proposals for change across its civilian workforce" from Thursday, 20 March.
Read the article here: https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/national/544938/defence-force-sexual-assault-prevention-team-s-future-uncertain
Trump, Hollywood, and How We Fail Latinas in the Military
LatinaMedia.co
By Denise Zubizarreta (U.S. MST News)
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As a Navy veteran, I know firsthand what it’s like to serve in a system that doesn’t always see you, protect you, or uplift you. I’ve seen how Latinas in the military have to work twice as hard to get half the recognition. So when I saw that Trump fired Admiral Linda Fagan, the first woman to ever lead a branch of the U.S. military, I knew exactly what that meant.
This wasn’t just a political move. This was a message. And if we don’t take that message seriously, we’re in trouble.
The U.S. military has never been an easy place for women, especially Latinas. We’ve been here since World War II, shoved into support roles, denied leadership opportunities, and left out of the history books. The military loves to use our labor – but when it comes to promotions, recognition, or safety? We’re an afterthought.
We know the stats: Latinas are overrepresented in lower ranks and underrepresented in leadership. We’re more likely to face sexual harassment and discrimination (unfortunately, they removed the study on the DOD website delineating this!). We’re less likely to be promoted compared to our white male counterparts. And now? With federal DEI programs being gutted, the little progress we’ve made is about to disappear.
Read the article here: https://latinamedia.co/latinas-in-the-military/
One veteran’s path to healing from trauma
Department of Veterans Affairs - Audacy (U.S. MST News)
Army veteran Candace Decker describes herself as “being in a very dark place” before she connected with Pacific Islands VA.
She had experienced military sexual trauma while she was active duty and even after she left the Army, she continued to have night terrors and other issues.
At first, she didn’t think VA had programs that she would find helpful.
“I connected with the iVET Post Traumatic Stress Disorder Program first. They helped me to connect with other programs that could get me help that I needed,” she said.
When Decker first connected with the VA, she had terrible problems with her digestive tract from eating things that she didn’t realize were causing inflammation and from taking pills for pain. With the help of VA doctors, she was able to change her diet. She was also able to discover triggers for her headaches.
Read the article: https://www.audacy.com/connectingvets/get-help/mental-health/one-veterans-path-to-healing-from-trauma
PGA Tour player Billy Horschel visits with Panama City Beach veteran and service dog
PanamaCity News Herald (U.S. MST News)
By DeonTay Smith
On Wednesday, eight-time PGA Tour winner Billy Horschel surprised a Panama City Beach Air Force veteran, Joey Pate, and his K9s For Warriors service dog, Roscoe, at The Players Championship in Ponte Vedra Beach.
Horschel and the Horschel Family Foundation are helping K9s For Warriors raise awareness of veterans suffering from PTSD, traumatic brain injury and/or military sexual trauma.
According to a press release, the Horschel Family Foundation sponsored Roscoe’s service dog training in 2024, and the pair graduated from K9s For Warriors in November.
On average, 20 veterans a day take their own lives. K9s for Warriors is determined to end veteran suicide by providing trained service dogs to veterans.
Pate and Roscoe have been paired for nearly five months.
Read the article here: https://www.newsherald.com/story/news/local/2025/03/13/panama-city-beach-florida-veteran-helped-by-pga-tours-billy-horschel/82372724007/
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Sen. Moran Urges GAO to Investigate Ways to Support VA Employees Responsible for Processing Military Sexual Trauma Claims
U.S. Senate Committee on Veterans Affairs (U.S. MST-related legislation)
WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Jerry Moran (R-Kan.) – chairman of the Senate Committee on Veterans’ Affairs – called on the Government Accountability Office (GAO) to investigate how the Department of Veterans Affairs can better train and support employees responsible for processing disability compensation claims for veterans who have experienced military sexual trauma (MST).
To improve the timeliness of processing MST claims, the Veterans Benefits Administration (VBA) initially created specialized teams of employees in each VBA regional office. However, in 2022, VA consolidated all MST claims processing to the regional office in San Juan, Puerto Rico, while dedicating “surge sites” at other regional offices, as needed, to meet increased workload demands for MST claims.
Recent committee oversight has identified concerns regarding insufficient training and a lack of support for the VBA employees in San Juan and the surge sites – many of whom are veterans themselves – responsible for processing MST claims.
Read the press release: https://www.veterans.senate.gov/2025/3/sen-moran-urges-gao-to-investigate-ways-to-support-va-employees-responsible-for-processing-military-sexual-trauma-claims
Keep Marching Forward: The ongoing battle for women veterans
The Big Smoke (Australia MST News)
By Llani “LJ” Kennealy
Last Saturday was International Women’s Day—a day which consistently reminds us that progress is not inevitable. It is fought for, step by step, voice by voice.
The theme for 2025, Keep Marching Forward, especially resonated deeply for women veterans, who continue to push for equity, respect, and systemic change in the wake of the Royal Commission into Defence and Veteran Suicide.
The commission has exposed long-standing cultural and structural barriers that have disproportionately affected women in service. Now, more than ever, we must ensure that this results in meaningful reform, not just rhetoric. The fight for women veterans’ rights is ongoing, and it is one for which we must continue to march forward in unison.
The findings of the Royal Commission have once again exposed deeply-rooted issues, including gender-based discrimination, alarming levels of sexual trauma, and lack of career progression. These systemic challenges (including holding to account perpetrators of unacceptable behaviour) have contributed to poor mental health outcomes for many women in Defence.
Read the article here: https://thebigsmoke.com.au/2025/03/14/keep-marching-forward-the-ongoing-battle-for-women-veterans/
More sexual abuse complaints filed against Coast Guard, service now faces $290M in claims
Stars & Stripes (U.S. MST News)
By Gary Warner
🔔 (trigger warning, graphic details of assaults in article)🔔
Seven more former U.S. Coast Guard cadets filed claims that they were victims of sexual abuse at the service’s academy, the latest round of complaints tied to the Fouled Anchor scandal.
The Coast Guard now faces $290 million in claims from the sexual assault scandal at its academy in New London, Conn. The administrative complaints were filed Thursday under the Federal Tort Claims Act, the first legal step in initiating a civil lawsuit against the federal government.
The new filings bring the total to 29 cadets and prospective cadets who have filed complaints, according to Christine Dunn, an attorney with the Washington, D.C., law firm Sanford Heisler Sharp McKnight, which is representing the cadets.
The legal complaints follow a year of scrutiny for the U.S. Coast Guard Academy that began with the revelation that the service concealed a report that found academy officials had routinely mishandled reports of sexual assault among cadets. The report, known as Operation Fouled Anchor, was the result of a six-year internal review of 102 reports of sexual assault and harassment cases at the academy between 1990 and 2006.
Read the article here: https://www.stripes.com/branches/coast_guard/2025-03-13/coast-guard-sexual-assault-fouled-anchor-17131851.html
Army women reveal abuse as former minister admits 'colossal failure'
SkyNews (U.K. MST News)
By Becky Johnson, social affairs correspondent, Rebecca Spencer, specialist producer
Warning: This article contains material some readers may find distressing
Jane* served in the British Army for almost 20 years. It was a career she loved and excelled in, rising through the ranks. But then, she says, it ended when a colleague r*ped her.
She breaks down as she recalls the night out, almost six years ago.
Jane reported the attack to the Royal Military Police but days later was called into a meeting with officers in her chain of command and accused of flirting with men and drinking too much. Later, she discovered messages they had exchanged calling her a whore.
The military police investigated, but the case never made it to court martial, where military trials are heard - she was told there was an unrealistic chance of conviction.
Her case formed part of a legal process to try to force the previous government to transfer rape investigations in the armed forces to civilian courts, but the change was voted down in parliament.
Now, a high-profile former defence minister, and veteran, who failed to back the move has admitted he got it wrong.
Read the article here: https://news.sky.com/story/army-women-reveal-abuse-as-former-minister-admits-colossal-failure-13325673
Fort Cavazos warrant officer charged with sexual assault of a child, domestic abuse
Killeen Daily Herald (U.S. MST News)
By Brent Johnson
🔔 (trigger warning, graphic details in article’s
description of charge sheet and victims’ injuries)🔔
A soldier assigned to Fort Cavazos was arraigned in a post courtroom last week on charges of physically abusing his wife and children, sexually assaulting a child, disobeying a lawful order by a superior officer and obstruction of justice.
Warrant Officer 1 Jonathan Mateo, an officer with 1st Cavalry Division, is accused of a string of offenses against family members dating back to mid-2018, according to a redacted charge sheet released by the Army Office of Special Trial Counsel. The alleged incidents took place both at Fort Cavazos and Fort Huachaca, a small Army post in southern Arizona.
Read the article here: https://kdhnews.com/military/fort-cavazos-warrant-officer-charged-with-sexual-assault-of-a-child-domestic-abuse/article_4d68253a-0071-11f0-ad76-8f5124c7dbd0.html
Rachelle’s Take: Personally, I’m elated to see the legislation out there to improve the quailty of life for veterans who have been through so much turmoil trying to navigate lief after MST. There is hope and beauty in knowing that many of us are out here, fighting and advocating for complete strangers, because we are bonded by service and the pain caused by it.
How can we advocate for these changes together?
Leave a comment below with your ideas!
Yes, these stories are difficult to read, but MST survivors know that it’s even more painful to live in then re-live for the rest of our lives. MST is a crisis that affects service members and veterans across the globe, and the best way to demand change is by refusing to stay silent and call for accountability. Too many have been forced to endure their pain in isolation and shame.
Survivors deserve justice, accountability, and relentless support—not just in the United States, but worldwide.
Also, before we go, I wanted to share that we have a new playlist on YouTube! It’s called “The MSTea” because I’ll be spilling the tea with breakdowns of previous high visibility MST scandals, analysis of current legislation and yes, even politics, because they affect us. If you’re not subscribed to our YouTube channel, click here. Why I’m excited about this: As a Public Affairs officer, I never got to be snarky or sarcastic and point out the obvious hypocrisy of many actions taken that were supposedly supposed to support our military or veteran community. Now, the gloves are off.
MSTy, an anonymous Marine Corps veteran, shares the second stage of struggles with mental health, learning about MST, and developing a tool to help survivors come forward and establish patterns of predatory behavior. This episode demonstrates the power of only one person saying, “No more!” and rallying more to stand with them against military sexual trauma and the military’s diligence in sweeping cases under the rug. Read the full story and access helpful resources.