PTSD - MY REALITY STORY

By Jennifer Farney, M.A., BSN, RN

I joined the Army for that sense of adventure and camaraderie when I was only 20 years old. My combat medic training led me to San Antonio, Texas. I thrived in the military, loved running, and made new friends but soon realized my Cadre Sergeants were abusing their power and authority and created a life of hell for myself and others. 

Sexual harassment was rampant and noticed by several NCO’S who had joined the training for Special Forces. Things were so bad that they filed an IG complaint which led to a large investigation of the entire Charlie Company. I just wanted to get out of there and even passed on an opportunity for additional training to get to my permanent duty station. 

When I and other females would arrive to a new duty station the mantra was ‘new meat has arrived’ and I felt disgusted and at times sorry I had joined what I thought was something very special that had core values such as loyalty, duty, respect, honor, and integrity. Instead, I often experienced humiliation, sexual harassment, and fear of retaliation. 

I have great memories as well such as serving on the Honor Guard Burial Team as the flag folder, meeting my husband and serving in Germany where our daughter was born. She developed complex medical problems, and I had to return to the US while my husband deployed to Desert Storm. 

Eleven years passed when out of nowhere I developed symptoms that made me feel like I was suffocating, my heart and mind were racing, and I experienced auditory triggers. I thought ‘where did all this come from.’ The symptoms kept coming and I kept running from them. I became angry and irritable and finally my husband said, ‘something is wrong.’ I knew something was wrong I just didn’t know what. I swore to never take medication, but I was becoming this monster that I hated. I was ashamed. I saw my PCP and he immediately prescribed Effexor for panic attacks associated with PTSD. 

Medication is often necessary to settle the nervous system so one can think, process, and heal. I realized that the military sexual trauma and our daughter’s medical condition created the storm within my nervous system. But, it has taken years for me to learn to develop healthy coping and train my brain to settle when it is triggered. 

It is hard but I am not alone and my faith in Jesus has brought me freedom and joy. I still struggle and I have multiple triggers but there is light in the tunnel, and you do not have to navigate this on your own.

Currently, I offer peer support, Veteran advocacy, and care coordination for female Veterans who have PTSD/MST. 

I am part of a legislative team going to DC in November 2026 to introduce a potential bill for gold standard accountability, reporting, and tracking system for all military branches relating to sexual trauma. I am also proud of my time serving in the Army and being a spouse of a retired Army Veteran.