Beyond Her Military Service: Identity, Transition and Challenges of Women Veterans
Thursday, November 12, 2026
11:30AM - 1:00PM PST
Join retired U.S. Marine Corps Jessica Bradley, Ed.D. as she explores the service and culture of women in the military by providing insights on women veteran identity and transition challenges and barriers,
Location: Online
Continuing Education: 1.5 (Applied through NASW Oregon)
Cost: Free to RVP Volunteers and partnering clinics who are listed in our directory and who have an active MOU with RVP. We also welcome our OR/WA Vet Center and VA staff to join for free. All other community providers, please pay $29 (or apply to become a RVP volunteer provider).
Who Should Attend:
This training is open to all RVP Volunteer Providers, social workers, mental health counselors, and community providers.
What You Will Learn:
In this presentation LtCol Bradley explores the distinct military service experience and multidimensional identity of women veterans across generations of military service, to include the challenges as they transition out of the military and back into civilian lives.
Sharing her own decades of military experience, along with her doctoral research, she illuminates the experiences of women in the military, their invisibility as military veterans and barriers to accessing resources and benefits within the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA).
While women have answered the call to serve their country since 1775, their military service and experience often goes unrecognized due to long standing systemic cultural barriers, policies, and lack of education and awareness. Increased understanding on the complexities of these challenges is necessary to ensure that women who served are provided equitable care, and access to earned benefits and transition services to meet their specific generation of needs as military veterans.
Learning Objectives:
- Understand the identity, culture and military experience of women veterans and the systemic barriers that disproportionately impact their transition to civilian life.
- Identify specific challenges women veterans encounter, across multiple generations of service, in accessing VA benefits, healthcare and services.
- Increased awareness and understanding of the multidimensional facets of women veterans and the resources and services that exist to support them.
CE Faculty
LtCol Jessica Bradley, U. S. Marine Corps (Ret.), Ed.D. retired from the Marine Corps in 2013 after serving 22 ½ years in both the enlisted reserve ranks and as an active-duty officer. Her military career includes assignments overseas with 1st Marine Aircraft Wing, a combat deployment in 2003 in support of Operation Enduring Freedom and Operation Iraqi Freedom, assignments with 3rd Marine Logistics Group G-4 Staff, to include initial implementation and training for DoD’s Sexual Assault Response and Prevention Program (SAPR) and later serving as the Combat Logistics 3 Regiment’s Executive Officer.
Her statewide assignments include time on the east and west coast, with II Marine Expeditionary Forces, Marine Corps University and Marine Corps Wounded Warrior Regiment, where she helped develop service level transition programs for wounded, ill, and injured Marines and Sailors, and their families transitioning from active duty. She later served in several policy roles, to include the Secretary of Defense’s joint task force on the review of laws and policies that restricted the assignment of women serving in the military.
Jessica is a native Oregonian. She holds a Bachelor’s of Science Degree in Philosophy from Oregon State University, with a minor in Naval Science through NROTC, a Masters Degree in Business Administration, and a Doctorate in Education Leadership from George Fox University. She received her commission as a Second Lieutenant in the Marine Corps after completing Officer Candidate School in 1993. In June 1990, while in college, she enlisted in the Marine Corps Reserves and completed Marine Corps Basic Training in Parris Island, S.C., reaching the enlisted rank of Corporal.
Jessica served as the statewide Women Veterans Coordinator for the Oregon Department of Veterans’ Affairs from 2021 to 2026. She has three amazing children, a daughter who is a Portland State University currently pursuing a Master’s Degree at OSU in K-12 School Counseling and married to a U.S. Navy sailor, a son attending Clackamas Community College in Computer Science and math, and a 13-year-old son, who is an old soul and aviation enthusiast, serves in the Civil Air Patrol, plays in his jazz band and enjoys soccer and basketball. Jessica loves her family time, watching her kids play sports, going for walks, reading, kayaking, and any opportunity to enjoy time on the coast or alongside a river.
Want to attend our trainings for free? Become an RVP Volunteer and gain access to free CE trainings and other great benefits!
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Contact: Jennifer Keeling, RVP Director of Retention and Recruitment .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
503-954-2259
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