ABC6 Honors: Jessica Coulter; A veteran’s story of PTSD from sexual assault

By: Christina Myers

cmyers@abc6.com
 
PROVIDENCE, R.I. – Whether it’s physical or mental, when veterans return home from deployment in a warzone, they’re dealing with a multitude of issues. 
 
One female Air Force veteran had no idea her Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) stemmed from a sexual assault in the military. 
 
Jessica Coulter was a Chaplain’s Assistant while on active duty, where she was deployed all over the Middle East, in Operation: Enduring Freedom. 
 
But she wasn’t on the front lines, and wasn’t wounded in battle, so when she came home she didn’t think she deserved help from places like the United States Department of Veteran Affairs (USDVA). 
 
"We’re so strong when we’re in the military that we just, we want to be strong and then we get out and we don’t ask for help," Jessica told ABC6.
 
Jessica left the military in 2009. 
 
She suddenly found herself struggling to take care of her two kids, her marriage was ending, she couldn’t sleep, had anxiety, and couldn’t hold a job. 
 
"Very shameful, which is how I felt. I felt there was something intensely wrong with me because I had always been a hard worker, you know, I had always kept a job, I’m very proud of my ability to work,” said Jessica.

Her kids motivated her to get help. When she couldn’t put food on the table, a gift card from The Wounded Warriors Project was a welcome gift. However, it ended up being much more than that.
 
At a veteran’s event with the organization, Jessica admitted for the first time, she was raped by a military policeman in her barracks room, her first year in the Air Force. 
 
"I didn’t talk about it, I felt guilty about it, I thought I brought it upon myself," said Jessica.
 
She had been under-age drinking at the time and also liked the man who assaulted her, so she thought she’d be the one to get in trouble. 
 
But she also didn’t think anything would be done about it. 
 
"When you’re in a war, no one has time to hear about your rape. I mean that’s just, it’s paperwork, it’s…the mission comes first," she said.
  
After finally getting help from the Wounded Warriors Project, Jessica now has message of hope for others. 
 
"I made connections with other veterans, other female veterans. And then I slowly started realizing…I’m not the only one," she said.
 
Jessica is now a proud advocate for passing the Military Justice Improvement Act, which would take the decision of whether to move a sexual assault case to trial out of the hands of the chain of command, and instead let an objective military prosecutor decide. 
 
"I think we owe the men and women of our armed forces the confidence to know that they will be, they’ll be heard and they’ll be seen and that they’ll be taken seriously," said Jessica.
 
While the act is held up in Congress, Jessica is using yoga as a way to help herself and other veterans heal, both physically and mentally. 
 
A Department of Defense study finds 75-percent of men and women in uniform who are sexually assaulted, don’t report it because they don’t trust the military justice system. 
 
Jessica urges anyone dealing with these issues to find comfort in art therapy, or through programs like the USDVA and the Wounded Warrior Project. 

Editor’s Note: ABC6 wants to thank the Wounded Warriors Project and Flow Nonfiction for providing video for this story.
 
© WLNE-TV / ABC6  2016