Yes. I would say that when I released from service I did so for several reasons. They weren't going to post my husband and me together. I had a good job opportunity on the outside. There were a number of reasons for my releasing.
Despite women being treated differently, and overtly so, I still got out with an overwhelming sense that I'm super proud that I served, and I will tell you that still, to this day, but then you get into the Veterans Affairs cycle that just takes years and years. I had two documented accidents, and they're asking me all these ridiculous questions all the time. I keep going back: “No, no, no, we need a statement from an orthopaedic surgeon.” You have three of them; why do you need another one...? What are we doing here?
I had self-efficacy in the health system, and I kept getting calls from my former patients in the military who were beside themselves, just crying and saying, “I don't know how to deal with this system. I don't know what to do.” These were people who had served in long and distinguished careers, illustrious careers, and were basically thrown by the wayside.
I will say that I think things got somewhat better when Walt Natynczyk was in as the deputy minister, because he got it, but I agree with my colleague, Brigitte, that still a lot of the people working there are not female veterans. They're male veterans, and women's service is still seen as less. It still is. Nobody questions my husband about how he was a veteran, but they'll say to me, “Oh, were you really a veteran?”