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Reflections on Operation Recovery

By Maggie Martin

October 7th marked 10 years of the war in Afghanistan. It was this same day last year that a group of Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans launched Operation Recovery, a campaign for service members' right to heal from Military Sexual Trauma (MST), Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), and Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI). Members of Iraq Veterans Against the War (IVAW) have been excited for the chance to organize and fight for their brothers and sisters to get the medical and mental health care they deserve.

Operation Recovery's anti-war angle is becoming more and more apparent. Strong empirical evidence has been collected showing that trauma is affecting at least a third to a half of our fighting forces. Recent studies are also linking multiple deployments, PTSD, and suicide. We've been collecting anecdotal evidence through popular research of service members about the rates of trauma and the effect on units and family life. We know that if we can work to force a standdown of every service member with trauma and every unit that is under strength we can force de-escalation in Afghanistan.

Along with collecting information to prove the need for service members right to heal we have been finding ways to be the kind of healing community that we believe is so important. We've educated ourselves through anti-oppression training, active listening exercises, and talking about the shared values of our community: respect, love, solidarity, creativity, hard work, and accountability — just to name a few. These experiences have been the most valuable to me in many ways. I've been through a transformative experience in IVAW as I have opened my heart and mind to new ideas and new ways of being. Every time I experience myself being transformed I know that this road we are traveling is the road to liberation. Collective liberation.

This Veterans day, IVAW and Operation Recovery will highlight the service of women. There are some things that we know about women in the military: women are in combat, 1 in 3 women in the military are sexually assaulted and sexual assault is an even greater predictor of having PTSD than combat exposure. These are the reasons we are claiming Veterans Day for all veterans including women. As we recognize women's contributions we stand with them to demand the Right to Heal. Operation Recovery is calling for national action to force III Corps Commander, General Campbell, to improve conditions for women soldiers at Fort Hood.

Moving forward we know that we need one thing to confront the military power that continues to waste precious life and keeps our service men and women from healing from the wounds of war. People Power. We are inspired and grateful that as we come up on the one-year mark of our campaign, that we are in a country ready for nonviolent action. Moving into this next year of our campaign we will be able to utilize the information and relational resources we have been cultivating, we will be able to tell the story of Operation Recovery and be amplified through our network of partners. But we aren't there yet, we still have many allies to reach out to, relationships and trust to build, and collaboration to create a common vision. Movement-building takes time and it will continue to be a work in progress as we shift and develop as organizers.

Looking back at 10 years of war it's hard to believe we are already here with years flying by. It's hard to take it, to know that we can fight for so long and still feel like we have no control. But then I remember this year of Operation Recovery, of training, traveling, phone calls, emails, facebook, face-to-face, anything we can get to be working together, to be making things better. We give a lot to this work because we believe that changes in individuals yield changes in society and we see those changes taking place.

As the military eliminates Don't Ask Don't Tell, lowers some of the barriers that kept women sacrificing without recognition, and implements new programs to reduce sexual assault and suicide, we know that we are a part of that change and we will continue to be here pushing for more. I'll leave with a quote that we've shared amongst the campaign. This quote inspires us as we seek transformation in ourselves and in the community around us.

"Once social change begins, it cannot be reversed. You cannot uneducate the person who has learned to read. You cannot humiliate the person who feels pride. You cannot oppress the people who are not afraid anymore. We have seen the future and the future is ours."

— Cesar Chavez

Maggie Martin served as a Sergeant in the US Army Signal Corps. She served two tours in Iraq. Maggie is a field organizer with Iraq Veterans Against the War and does work with Warrior Writers. She is a Graduate Student at Marygrove College in Detroit, Michigan and her blogs have been published in Huffington Post.