<p> This mixed method study investigated what providers who work with school-age children identify as the continued needs among children of Minnesota National Guard service members who are currently or have been deployed since 9/11. Key informants with National Guard (n=8) and educational affiliations (n=8) participated in semi-structured interviews that helped inform survey content for school social workers (n=105) that completed online surveys. Results from this study demonstrate that needs among children of deployed service members are being addressed on many fronts. Yet in light of the transitions the families of these youth experience, they remain vulnerable and in need of school based support that makes use of relationship support at school and promotes their resilience. Results from this study also reveal that developing further supports&mdash;particularly through clinical, tertiary-level interventions&mdash;within school settings is an ongoing challenge to which school social workers are encouraged to respond. Future research would benefit from a study of clinical school social work interventions for children of deployed service members that are age-appropriate, multi-theoretical in nature, and address mental health needs within school settings.</p>

<p> A qualitative research study utilizing the Delphi research technique was used to explore the integration of leadership, ethics, and organizational culture into the curriculum of a Military Aviation Safety Leader. Despite the existence of safety programs and education, the military services still experience deadly aviation mishaps. There is a dearth of literature that has focused on curricula for Military Aviation Safety Leaders, specifically on whether or not leadership, ethics, and organizational culture should be integrated into safety topics. As a result, there is wide variance in curricula for Military Aviation Safety Leaders across the military services. The problem addressed in the present study is the incomplete understanding of how integration of leadership, ethics, and organizational culture may enhance the unique educational needs of the Military Aviation Safety Leader and the issues that stem from the dearth of research and understanding. The issues that directly stem from the paucity of research and understanding include poor standardization in curricula; curricula that are inadequate to the needs of the Military Aviation Safety Leader; and ultimately, poor safety practice and increased aviation mishaps as a result of non-optimal education for the Military Aviation Safety Leader. A qualitative research method utilizing the Delphi research technique was chosen as the best approach to investigating the research problem. The Delphi technique of probing experts over several rounds of focused questions achieved development of information in the form of expert consensus which in turn yielded relevant information for the literature and school curricula. In turn, future Military Aviation Safety Leaders will benefit from the information generated by the study, elevating their awareness of how ethics, leadership, and organizational culture may enhance safety in the organization. Thirteen Military Aviation Leaders were chosen to participate in the Delphi study. The research revealed that there are positive relationships between ethics, leadership, organizational culture, and safety. The research demonstrated that these topics should be integrated in safety curricula for Military Aviation Safety Leaders. The research examined methods and media for curriculum delivery. Case studies and small group scenario-based discussions ranked as methods of curriculum delivery most preferred by the experts. Resident teaching was preferred over on-line teaching media for curriculum delivery. The expertise and experience of the Delphi panel was a significant strength of the study in its findings which will improve and enhance understanding of the benefits of integrating leadership, ethics, and organizational culture into the curriculum for a Military Aviation Safety Leader.</p>

<p> Passage of the Post-9/11 Veterans Educational Assistance Act of 2008 resulted in a dramatic increase in the number of combat-experienced veterans enrolling in institutions of higher learning. While these student-veterans bring unique perspectives to the classroom, they also face many challenges to their educational pursuits. Few educators are aware of how the effects of trauma or recalling combat experiences might support or hinder adult learning in the cognition, emotion, and social dimensions of learning. This qualitative multiple case study explored how combat experiences supported or hindered learning by graduate-level student-veterans within the content of the curriculum, as an incentive to learn the content of the curriculum, and for facilitating social interactions within the learning environment. Semi-structured interviews described how student-veterans perceived the use of their combat experiences within these three dimensions of learning. Ten purposefully drawn participants from graduate-level student-veteran volunteers attending the U.S. Army Command and General Staff College (CGSC) at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas described a variety of military and educational experiences. Data were analyzed and coded using qualitative data analysis software to reveal themes within the perceptions of the participants and across participant cases. All participants described how their combat experiences supported their learning; eight of 10 described how their combat experiences hindered their learning. Themes supported the theoretical proposition that combat experiences could support student learning through the cognitive, emotional, and social interactions of student-veterans with the curriculum and other students. Participants also described how combat experiences and the military lifestyle could hinder learning in all three dimensions suggesting educators should consider adjusting instructional approaches for some student-veterans. Negative cases to the themes were reported. The study added to an understanding of Illeris' learning theory and the application of contemporary adult education models with graduate-level student-veterans. Recommendations for use of the findings in the classroom were made. Proposals for further research included case studies of student-veterans who have experienced flashbacks during instruction, student-veterans at the graduate and undergraduate level for further comparison, and other traumatized student groups such as law enforcement, medical, and first responders.</p>

<p> The suicide rate among post-9/11 veterans has become a national crisis. At a staggering number of 22 suicides per day, our wounded warriors are in dire need of psychological assistance. Currently, the treatment interventions used in the rehabilitation of veterans suffering from mental health disorders are limited. Furthermore, these therapy options available to veterans are not realizing adequate improvements in the management of their symptoms. </p><p> This business proposal advocates the utilization of psychiatric service dogs as an alternative intervention to help veterans manage their PTSD symptoms. Rescues for Warriors (RFW), a nonprofit 501(c)(3) organization, aims to pair task trained service dogs with veterans in need of a rehabilitative canine companion. Using evidence-based selection tools, RFW rescues dogs from local animal shelters and uses comprehensive techniques to train them to patient-specific symptoms. This service will be free of charge for all veteran participants, and therefore, marketing and funding will be very important aspects of this business. While this plan does acknowledge the potential challenges in opening charitable organizations, RFW is rigorously committed to increase the quality of life of our nation&rsquo;s heroes and rescue dogs alike.</p>

<p> Although Latinos have historically served in the U.S. military, recent increases in the number of Latinas who have been recruited for the military make it imperative to explore how this experience affects their well-being. The purpose of this study was to explore the experiences of Latinas who are serving or have served in the U.S. military, focusing on their identity and gender roles. I utilized a qualitative research design, wherein I interviewed four Latinas currently serving in the U.S. Army. The focus of the study was how Latinas experience their gender identity and gender roles through the perspective of identity theory and social identity theory. It also explored how they negotiate these aspects in a military environment. I used an interpretative phenomenological approach for this study, as this method allowed sufficient flexibility to delve into previously unexplored concepts in this population. Furthermore, I utilized the Marianismo Beliefs Scale (MBS; Castillo, Perez, Castillo, &amp; Ghosheh, 2010) to perform data triangulation and to have a better understanding on how the women&rsquo;s belief structures affect their experience. This research study is significant because it informed a salient gap in the literature regarding Latinas and the military. Furthermore, it will allow mental health practitioners to have a clearer understanding of how Latina military women experience military culture, which can affect treatment decision.</p>

<p>Piracy around the Malay Peninsula during the 19th century was extraordinarily prevalent and resulted in the death and loss of liberty for an untold number of people. This essay examines the connections between the piracy of this era and the political economies of the Straits Settlements and the Malay states in the region. Malays pirates often had the support of local rulers who required the goods and slaves brought back by pirates to reinforce their own political and socio-economic positions. The piratical system supported by the rulers was a component of the overall Malay economic system known as kerajaan economics, which helped maintain the status quo for Malay states. This system came under threat once Great Britain and the Netherlands worked to suppress piracy in the region and helped persuade the Malay elite to phase out state-sanctioned piracy. Some people living in Malaya took advantage of the characteristics of British and Malay political economies to engage in acts of piracy regardless of the policies of the British and Malay governments. This study of piracy enables us to understand better the experiences of people of various backgrounds living in 19th-century Malaya, along with how piracy influenced their worldviews.

<p> Since September 11, 2001, U.S. servicemen and women, having served in Iraq and Afghanistan, are returning home having suffered and survived catastrophic and disabling physical, neurological, psychological, and moral injuries. By every measure, the casualty statistics are staggering. Perhaps even more alarming is the reality that we have yet to see the full extent of the psychological and neurological injury-related complications that will emerge in the months and years to come. War exacts a heavy burden not only on the service member, but their families as well. Divorce affects female troops 3 times that of their male counterparts. During post-deployment health screenings, 12% of troops report substance abuse problems, while only 0.2% are referred for further evaluation and treatment. On any given night in America, about 154,000 veterans are homeless. Nearly half of those homeless have a mental health diagnosis and more than 70% struggle with substance abuse. Unfortunately, and too often, the burdens these servicemen and women carry become too heavy as suicide becomes an exercised option. Between 2004 and 2008, the rate at which active duty army soldiers took their own lives doubled. </p><p> The evidence strongly suggests that significant numbers of recent veterans are not successfully reintegrating back into society by virtue of high incidence rates of suicide, substance abuse, family problems, divorce, unemployment, homelessness, and incarceration. Unfortunately, that reintegration journey is seldom supported by the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) or the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) in any consistent meaningful manner beyond the date that the veteran is discharged from active duty. </p><p> This narrative inquiry explored the community reintegration experiences of ill, injured, and disabled U.S. servicemen and women that served in the global war on terrorism in Iraq and Afghanistan since September 11, 2001. More specifically, the service member&rsquo;s experiences and perspectives around engagement in adventure-based activities, the supportive communities that manifest around those activities, and the role or value of that experience in the reintegration process. Through narrative inquiry, this study gives voice and adds deep contour and rare perspective to this typically isolated, humbly silent, and understudied population, informing greater understanding of the warfighter experience and the elements of their journeys that support successful rehabilitation and reintegration. </p><p> The findings of this study suggest that adventure-based activity and the communities that manifest around those activities played a vital role in the successful rehabilitation and reintegration journey of each of the research participants. Through surfing, rock climbing, and mountaineering, each was able to satisfy needs at all levels of Maslow&rsquo;s hierarchy, facilitating the ability to redefine their sense of identity, reestablish a sense of purpose, and reconnect and reintegrate into a welcoming and supportive community apart from the military. </p><p> Findings from this study also inform policy, practice, and future research that can positively influence and improve the experience of current and future casualties of war. Honoring a commitment made by President Lincoln over 152 years ago and in keeping with the VA&rsquo;s mission, the federal government must fund future research that has the capacity to influence expansion of the VA&rsquo;s current narrow scope of practice. It must also vet and fund community-based programs that demonstrate the ability to positively influence the rehabilitation and reintegration journey. The findings of this study also inform practice in both the community and VA. Educators, clinicians, program providers, volunteers, and donors serving this population now have a more complete image of the veterans&rsquo; experience and the immense value of their contribution to the journey. Future research that includes a multicultural voice, the voice of women, inclusion of other adventure-based activities, and a variety of methodological approaches is imperative if the research community is to play a role in positively influencing the rehabilitation and reintegration journey of veterans that are ill, injured, and disabled.</p>

<p>Mentorship in the workplace is a critical component of leader development that benefits both the individual and organization. While the United States Army&rsquo;s mentorship program takes an informal approach to initiating mentoring connections, active mentorship is an expectation of all leaders. Women in the army remain underrepresented in the senior ranks, creating a situation that may lead to more limited opportunities for the female-to-female interactions that would result in a diverse mentoring experience. This qualitative case study explored the mentoring experiences of a purposive sample of interviews with 10 women officers assigned to Brigade Combat Teams while stationed at Fort Hood, Texas. Results were analyzed using two cycles of inductive coding and pattern-matching techniques. The six themes that emerged provide insight into the conditions and mechanisms that may create more effective professional mentoring relationships for military leaders. </p><p> <i>Key Words</i>: female mentoring, women&rsquo;s mentorship, United States Army officers, U.S. Army officers, leader development, qualitative </p>

<p> Colleges and universities in the United States are enrolling a growing number of veterans returning home from military service. Many of these veterans struggle in their transition from military to collegiate and civilian life. To augment college resources provided to assist veterans in their transition, this study offered and assessed the effects of a curriculum intervention associated with expressive writing activities over the course of a semester and within a classroom setting consisting of veterans. Designed as practitioner action research within a constructivist epistemology, the study took place at a community college in California within a for-credit, college-level English composition course designed for veterans. The study&rsquo;s research question was: <i>What are the perceived effects on the well-being of student veterans who write expressively about their military experiences? </i> The study&rsquo;s findings suggest that student veterans who engage in expressive writing activities within a classroom setting are likely to experience improvement in their self-reported well-being relative to their self-efficacy in terms of college, life in general, social support, their future, and gaining perspective to make meaning of their military experiences as they transition from military to civilian life. Key insights are offered for educators interested in offering expressive writing for veterans on college campuses.</p>

Master of Arts / Department of History / Andrew Orr / Women have been in integral part of history that has been decidedly left out of the picture until the last few decades. As history has been re-casted to include the contributions of women, this work examines the struggles endured by the American women who joined the Women’s Army Auxiliary Corps and/or the Women’s Army Corps during World War II. Using a limited investigation into the newspaper coverage in the New York area and personal comments WAAC/WAC veterans, this report argues that early press coverage of women soldiers belittled and humiliated them, thus discouraging women from enlisting. Over time, coverage became more positive as journalists gradually accepted the importance of women’s contributions to the military. By 1943, coverage was increasingly positive and articles about WACs received more prominent placement in newspapers. This shift occurred at the same time the number of women enlisting grew, suggestion the two are related. It was through the changes in the expected traditional proper place of women to a more realistic acknowledgment of the legitimacy of women’s work in the military that helped lay the platform to more permanent positive changes for women in the workplace, society, and at home.