Sheila Procella joined the Air Force in 1974 to “see the Earth,” she said. She enlisted at the tail end of the Vietnam War, shortly after graduating from high school. Although she never left her home state of Texas during eight years of service, her office job proved to be its own battlefield.
“Some of us actually went to war, some of us had war right here in the states, going to work every day knowing we are going to be harassed,” said Procella, now 62 and living in Plano.
At the time, fewer than 3 percent of service members were women. Procella recalls the daily barrage of sexual comments, gestures and men grabbing her inappropriately. And one of her superiors made it clear that her hopes of moving up the career ladder depended on having sex with him.
“He was kind of discreet about the way he put it, but his one advance and my one acceptance of his advance led to my promotion,” Procella said.
[For more on this story by Anna Casey, go to https://www.dallasnews.com/new...emale-vets-find-help]
Photo: Sheila Procella, now 62 and living in Plano, was diagnosed with military sexual trauma and post-traumatic stress disorder in 2014, nearly three decades after her service. Procella is a veteran of both the U.S. Air Force and the Texas Air National Guard. (Laura Buckman/Kaiser Health)
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