Balancing Act- Navigating Work and Life in the Military

Send us Fan MailIn this conversation, Lieutenant Colonel Puleali'i discusses the importance of work-life balance in the military and shares strategies for prioritizing and balancing military responsibilities with personal life. She emphasizes the need for a supportive work environment and highlights the role of open communication in maintaining healthy relationships. She also discusses the challenges of gender roles in the military and offers advice for promoting work-life balance as a leader. Additionally, she encourages individuals to seek help and support for mental health and shares resources available in the military for promoting self-care. In this conversation, Sheena Puleali'i and Brittinie Wick discuss various aspects of work-life balance, particularly in the military. They address gender stereotypes and bias, the importance of knowing when to push through challenges, being self-aware and asking for help, recommended books and podcasts, involving family in military career decisions, focusing on the positives of relocation, creating work-life balance, using a calendar for productivity, and the ROTC program.Lieutenant Colonel Sheena M. Puleali’i is the Commander, Air Force Reserve Officer Training Corps Detachment 432, University of Southern Mississippi, Hattiesburg, Mississippi. She is responsible for recruiting, educating, and developing officer candidates through college campus programs based on Air Force requirements, and commissioning those that successfully meet all educational and program parameters.Lieutenant Colonel Puleali’i was commissioned in 2005 through the Air Force Reserve Officer Training Corps upon graduating from Saint Louis University with a degree in Russian Studies.Lt Col Puleali’i has served in a variety of positions throughout her career. At the squadron level, she was sent to Kadena Airbase, Japan and served as the Director of Intelligence at the 909th Air Refueling Squadron.  Remaining at Kadena, she served at the Group level as the Deputy Chief of Intelligence Plans and Exercises and provided intelligence support to the Combat Air Force’s largest fighter wing in the Pacific. At the Wing level, she assumed duties as the 33d Fighter Wing’s Executive Officer at Eglin Air Force Base, Florida and was later charged with standing up Wing Intelligence support for the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter. Notable Intelligence, Surveillance, and Reconnaissance assignments include: the 11th Intelligence Squadron at Hurlburt Field, Florida, where she concurrently served as a Flight Commander and Mission Operations Commander; the Combined Joint Special Operations Task Force-Arabian Peninsula, where she served as the J2 Collection Manager; and the 607th Air and Space Operations Center at Osan Airbase, Korea, where she served as the Intelligence, Surveillance, and Reconnaissance Operations Team Chief. In 2015, she assumed the duties of Detachment Commander in one of the National Air and Space Intelligence’s Center’s most selectively-manned units. She also served at the Pentagon as the Executive Officer to the Assistant Deputy Chief of Staff, Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance and also as a National Security Fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies in Washington, District of Columbia. Prior to her current position, she served as the Deputy Chief for Air Combat Command’s Intelligence Systems and Capabilities Division.FB:  https://www.facebook.com/sheena.pulealii Support the showSUBSCRIBE and SHARE!Women Serve Too Merch (10% of Profits Benefits Female Veterans): https://www.etsy.com/shop/WomenServeToo