Moral injury isn’t a buzzword or a rebrand of Post Traumatic Stress. It’s what happens when military service members face actions and events that violate their core values, or when the institutions and leaders they trusted fail them. We sit down with Air Force Reserve chaplain and Moral Injury Support Network for Servicewomen (MISNS) board member Lindsay Moser to unpack why women in uniform are uniquely vulnerable to moral injury, how military sexual trauma and institutional betrayal compound the harm, and what real, practical healing looks like when chaplains, clinicians, social workers, and commanders work together.
We walk through concrete distinctions between fear-based PTS and value-based moral injury, highlighting why standard PTS protocols often miss grief, shame, and the profound identity disruption that follows betrayal. Lindsay shares how the Moral Injury Support Network for Service Women—through the Harriet Tubman matching network, free leader guidebooks, continuing education, and research—connects women with tailored support that meets spiritual, psychological, and practical needs. From transfers that remove a member from a harmful command climate to food and utility assistance that stabilizes life, we explore how addressing root causes and basic needs unlocks deeper recovery.
We also tackle under-discussed realities, such as breastfeeding in the military, operational tempo, postpartum fitness standards, and the subtle ways culture can either uphold dignity or intensify distress. Along the way, we discuss creative healing modalities—such as writing, art, and music—that help service women process complex stories when words alone are insufficient. If you’re a leader, provider, or battle buddy, you’ll come away with language to recognize moral injury, steps to build an interdisciplinary web of care, and resources to share immediately.
Explore MISNS resources at msns.org, learn about the Tubman Network, and consider supporting this work for women who’ve borne the weight of service. If this conversation resonates, subscribe, share it with a leader or teammate, and leave a review so more listeners can find it. Your voice helps move this from quiet pain to collective repair.