Next week, I will return to celebrate 50 years of women at the military academies. 50 years doesn’t seem possible. My service, the opportunity, and military experience changed my life.
I cannot compare one veteran to another or to suggest that service gives any one person a monopoly on character. Every veteran’s path is different. Every branch is different. Every era is different. But I do believe military service often brings experience, discipline, and maturity that shape how a person approaches responsibility long after the uniform is put away.
For me, that influence has lasted a lifetime.
Before I became a veterinarian and practice owner, I graduated in the first class at the Academy to include women and then served in the United States Coast Guard. Like many who have served, I learned early that the mission is never just about me. It is about the people depending on each other, my standards and the calm brought when circumstances are uncertain. Those lessons stay with you.
Military life teaches habits that are not glamorous, but they matter: showing up prepared, paying attention to detail, respecting chain of responsibility, and understanding that small mistakes can have large consequences. It also teaches resilience. You learn to function when conditions are less than ideal, to solve problems without drama, and to keep moving forward when others are counting on you.
Those qualities do not disappear when military service ends. In my case, they carried directly into veterinary medicine.
Veterinary practice is not the military and it should not be romanticized that way. But there are parallels in the mindset required. Animals cannot explain what hurts. Families come in worried, sometimes frightened, and often facing difficult decisions. Emergencies demand quick judgment. Routine care demands consistency. Surgery demands precision. Leadership demands steadiness.
In all of that, maturity matters. Already responsible, I grew up fast.
“Who lives here reveres honor, honors duty.” These words are inlaid in the Quarterdeck floor of Chase Hall at the United States Coast Guard Academy. I think they are tattooed on my soul.
Experience in service deepens a person’s understanding of duty. It teaches how to stay composed under pressure and how to make decisions based on what is needed rather than what is easy. It can also teach humility. In both military life and medicine, no one succeeds alone. You rely on training, teamwork, and trust.
Wow! 50 years of women at the military academies, it doesn’t seem possible. We didn’t think we were pioneers. We were survivors. 50 years marks not only access, but contribution. For five decades, women who entered those institutions have gone on to serve, lead, and prove themselves in demanding environments where competence matters more than slogans. Their presence helped broaden the definition of leadership for generations that followed.
That progress did not happen all at once. Believe me when I say the United States Coast Guard Academy — and I suspect the others — were not ready for us. But with or without bathrooms (finally by January) we came. And we brought persistence, performance, and the willingness to step into systems that were not originally built with them in mind. We did more work than the average men to prove ourselves. We met the standards. We carried the responsibility.
That deserves recognition.
I am grateful to be able to return and celebrate that history. And perhaps to remind them that there wasn’t as much support as they would have liked as they rewrite the history.
I am also mindful that anniversaries are not just about looking back. They are a chance to ask what values are worth carrying forward. For me, the answer is clear: service, accountability, and a willingness to put purpose ahead of ego.
Those values have guided me as a veterinarian and as the owner of Guardian Animal Medical Center. In medicine, people place enormous trust in you. They hand you a beloved animal and ask you to help, sometimes in moments of fear or heartbreak. That trust should never be taken lightly. Military service reinforced for me that trust is earned through competence, honesty, and follow-through.
I have seen over the years that clients respond to that. They may not always use the same words, but they recognize steadiness. They recognize preparation. They recognize when someone takes responsibility seriously.
Sometimes, staff not so much. As a former officer, I expect things to be done. Without drama.
That is one reason I believe military service can be such a strong foundation for life after the uniform. It does not make anyone perfect. It does not make one veteran better than another. But it often shapes people in ways that make them more grounded, more dependable, and more ready to serve their communities in new roles.
As I prepare for this celebration, I feel pride, gratitude, and perspective. Pride in what women at the military academies have accomplished over the past 50 years. Gratitude for the chance to have served. And perspective on how deeply those years of formation can influence the work we do afterward.
When women were admitted to the military academies, it was not simply a symbolic change. It was a practical one. It meant that talented, capable women would have the opportunity to train, lead, and serve at the highest levels of military life. Over the last 50 years, they have done exactly that. They have commanded respect not by asking for special treatment, but by meeting the same demands, carrying the same burdens, and accepting the same responsibilities. That kind of progress matters because it strengthens the institutions themselves. It also sends a message to younger women that leadership, discipline, and service are not limited by tradition or expectation. As I return for this celebration, I think not only about the women who opened those doors, but also about those who walked through them and proved, year after year, that they belonged there. Their example has had effects far beyond the academies. It has shaped professions, communities, and lives, including my own understanding of what service can require and what it can give back.
Service changes people. If we are fortunate, it changes us for the better. Yes, the cost is often high.
For some of us, that means continuing to serve in a different uniform, in a different setting, with a different mission. In my case, that mission became caring for animals and the people who love them. The setting changed. The responsibility did not.
That is why this anniversary matters to me. It is not only a celebration of history. It is a reminder that service leaves a mark, and that mark can continue to benefit our communities for decades.
I am honored to be part of that story.
MJ Wixsom, DVM MS is a best-selling Amazon author who practices at Guardian Animal Medical Center in Kentucky. GuardianAnimal.com She has volunteered at Saipan Cares, learned to dive while in Saipan and is headed back sometime in the future.
