Indomitable Spirit; The Joy of Rebuilding a Life’s Purpose!
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Former Army medic Chris Swift has shared several podcasts with us. You will find his experiences leading up to this Friday August 12 episode on the podcast episode page of our webpage.Today we continue Chris’ transition experiences after his 55 month deployment in Iraq and Afghanistan serving as a combat medic. After years of punishing and unexpected reactions resulting in alcoholism, legal problems and other issues Chris acknowledged and sought out help for these reactions. Now participating in several veteran projects as a veteran or peer mentor Chris has found his life purpose as an official Veteran Peer Counselor in the VA Healthcare System. In this episode Chris shares the joy in life he has earned with indomitable spirit and courageous dedication to resolving the
experiences of transition!
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DISCLAIMER: The information and content shared in each episode of the Stigma Free Vet Zone are for informational purposes only. The Stigma Free Vet Zone hosts, Mike Orban and Bob Bach are not, nor claim to be, medical doctors, psychologists, or psychiatrists and should not be held responsible for any claims, medical advice, or therapy/treatment recommendations mentioned on this podcast. Any advice mentioned or shared by Mike Orban and Bob Bach or their guests is strictly for purposes of bringing awareness to the veteran community and the services available. Please speak with a medical professional before taking any advice or starting any therapy or treatment discussed or shared on this podcast.
Nancy Smith-Watson is an actor, a trauma informed somatic bodyworker and co-founder/director of Feast of Crispian (FoC). Ms. Smith-Watson has a BA in Drama from the University of Washington and did her professional training at Circle in the Square professional conservatory in New York City. While working as a professional actor, Ms. Smith-Watson also trained in massage and somatic bodywork therapies. She has 30 years experience as a Hakomi Bodyworker, and is trained in Integrative Somatics. Ms. Smith-Watson taught the Introduction to Somatics at Big Sky Somatic Institute, in Helena, MT, 1997 – 2004. In 2013, she received director training from Shakespeare & Co. and returned home to Milwaukee to launch Feast of Crispian – Shakespeare with Veterans. FoC has created workshops, classes and full theatrical productions with veterans, inside and outside of the VA in Milwaukee, for over a decade, and has collaborated with many other veteran’s organizations and theatrical institutions in the Milwaukee community.
Jennifer Pankowski grew up in Milwaukee. She proudly served in the Wisconsin Army National Guard from 1992-1998, and was named Soldier of the Year for her battalion in 1994.
The Capt. John D. Mason Program aims to save lives by utilizing Veteran peers that go into the community and locate Veterans in need engaging them in VA health services, and other community resources, to live a healthy, productive life.
In this segment of the Stigma Free Vet Zone, Vietnam veteran Joe Campbell reflects on his family’s experience during his active duty and beyond. We hear how Joe’s family grappled with the fear associated with not knowing where he was, what danger he might be facing, and if and when they might receive word that Joe had been killed.
With great pride and patriotism Erin Schraufnagel joined the United States Marines Corps after the 9/11 attack in New York City in 2001. Twelve years later, Staff Sergeant Schraufnagel left the military life behind her. She shares her expectations for deployments to Iraq, a marriage strained between deployments, the unexpected enemies in her own ranks, rage, depression, alcohol and the horrifying near-death accident of her two-year-old daughter — which only added to the trauma. The inner strength that made Erin a Marine would now surface again, taking responsibility for life she brought love back to her family.
Arianna Cirincione is from La Crosse, WI, born and raised until leaving home at the age of 18 to join the Air Force. Arianna served on Active Duty as a Security Forces member from 2005 until 2018, until she was medically retired. Arianna began her career at Spangdahlem, Germany, followed by RAF Lakenheath, Fort Leonard Wood, MO and finished her career back up at Spangdahlem. Arianna deployed to Afghanistan in 2006 where she performed duties as a detainee operations cell guard. Arianna was also deployed to Al Udeid AB Qatar where she was a DBIDS operator. While deployed she sustained injuries sending her garrison where she began working as a military police investigator. Following her medical retirement, Arianna returned back to the La Crosse area where she began graduate school in Mental Health Counseling with a focus in working with individuals with addictions and is scheduled to graduate in December. Arianna aspires to continue working with veterans and military following graduation and also runs the Tactical Recovery Group, a recovery program for veterans and their family members. Arianna has been married to her husband Dominic since 2006 and they have one son together named Harrison.
I have had two parallel career tracks: one in public radio, the other as a government/military worker or civilian contractor. In radio I prepared and hosted music shifts and news shifts, interviewed arts, science, and political figures, written scripts and web posts, and engineered live broadcasts. For the US government, I spent 4 years as an Army linguist, three years in the Foreign Service, and 2 years as a civilian contractor for the US Army in the Balkans.