Field Note 002: What It Means to Be Army — And Why I Still Serve

By Tamika Saxx, Founder | RISING HerWay: The Women Rising Project

June 14, 2025

250th U.S. Army Birthday

Because some battles don’t end with discharge papers.

I still remember the first time I laced up those boots. Not just for training. Not just for a photo opportunity. But for war. For real life. For something bigger than myself.

Joining the Army was not just a decision — it was a declaration. Of resilience. Of defiance. Of purpose. And as we celebrate the 250th birthday of the United States Army this June 14, 2025, I am not just reflecting on history — I am reclaiming my own.

Because here is the thing: Just because we take off the uniform does not mean the mission ends.

What It Really Means to Be Army:

Being Army means learning to adapt in chaos. It means knowing how to build sisterhood out of strangers. It means surviving things you never thought you would make it through — and carrying the weight of what you did.

But for women like us, it also means navigating a system that has not always seen us.

According to the U.S. Army Office of Diversity and Leadership, as of 2024, only 18 percent of the active-duty Army is female — and women veterans are the fastest-growing segment of the veteran population, projected to double by 2040.

And yet, we are also twice as likely to die by suicide compared to our civilian sisters — and still less likely to access VA mental health care due to military sexual trauma, stigma, or feeling invisible in a system built for men.

That is how and why, RISING HerWay: The Women Rising Project was born — not as a celebration of service alone, but as a reclamation of what happens after the service ends.

From Formation to Healing: Why I Still Serve

I do not carry an M4 anymore. I carry stories. I carry trauma. I carry healing. I carry her — every woman who felt unseen in the ranks, every daughter of a veteran who never received the support she needed, every spouse who stood alone while her partner deployed again and again.

And now, I lead not from a formation, but from a foundation. RISING HerWay: The Women Rising Project, is my second mission — and my most important one.

We are here to build a new kind of battalion. One forged in truth, trauma, tenderness, and tenacity.

We call it sisterhood. We call it SISTERHOOD Ops. We call it R.I.S.I.N.G.

Why We Rise: The Research Behind the Mission

• One in three women veterans report experiencing military sexual trauma (MST) during their service — yet fewer than half receive appropriate VA follow-up care.

• Women veterans are more than twice as likely as male veterans to experience post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) related to interpersonal trauma.

• A 2024 RAND study found that women veterans report higher levels of loneliness and isolation compared to all other demographic groups in the military community.

• Despite these challenges, when women veterans do access trauma-informed care and peer-based support, outcomes dramatically improve — with reductions in PTSD symptoms, depression, and suicidal ideation.

So no, I may not be in uniform anymore — but I am still in the fight. And I know I am not alone.

This Army Birthday, Here Is What I Celebrate

I celebrate the women who wore the uniform, the ones who hid their pain, and the ones who are finally finding the courage to heal.

I celebrate the army veterans and service members in my family, my battle buddies — all women who served, suffered, and stood tall anyway. I celebrate you.

Because your service mattered. And your healing still does.

RISING HerWay is not just my next chapter — it is our formation.

This Army Birthday, we do not just say “Hooah.” We say: Not therapy. Not a checkbox. A new kind of mission.

And the mission is HER.

Explore our membership options. Join a Sisterhood Ops event. Or simply show up for yourself. Because you did not come this far to heal alone.