Hannah Donigan is a veteran of the Coast Guard who earned a Bachelor of Arts degree from Columbia University after her enlistment. Hannah primarily writes personal essays detailing her experiences as a young woman in the military, often exploring themes of identity, gender, freedom, and mental health.

Gretchen Rockwell is a queer poet who can frequently be found writing about gender, science, space, and unusual connections. Xe is the author of the chapbooks body in motion (perhappened press) and Lexicon of Future Selves (VA Press) and two microchapbooks; xer work has appeared in AGNI, Cotton Xenomorph, Whale Road Review, Palette Poetry, and elsewhere. Xe currently works at the US Naval Academy as a civilian employee. Find xer at www.gretchenrockwell.com or on Twitter/Instagram at @daft_rockwell.

Sam Casey is a Military Instructor in the English Department at the United States Naval Academy. She enjoys sailing, playing rugby, and reading poetry. She has been published under pen-name Porter Jenkins with The Minison Project: Sonnet Collection vol 4 and Wrong Turn Lit. Her Poetry Collection, Erotic Trauma, was published with the Naked Cat in October of 2023.

Kate Nystrom: It's difficult to write about myself and not have the whole thing be about the Army. I'm in year ten of active duty service and am currently working as an instructor at an Air Force base, though I am Army and not Air Force. I have a young daughter, and my husband is a disabled veteran. We watch movies and dance a lot as a family, and enjoy travel. I speak multiple languages and am trying to get better at martial arts and self defense, but I especially love exercise in general. I'm from Virginia, my husband is from Oregon and our daughter will have to choose for herself how she wants to answer "Where are you from?" but we at least can agree that she was born in Hawai'i. There's a lot more that I want to do with the military, and with life, and part of my choosing to submit this is taking the advice of more senior women and putting time into doing something for the sake of doing it.

Sonja Berry is currently enrolled in a UCLA writing certificate program, aspiring to pursue a writing career upon completion of 26 years of service to the US Air Force.  Her work has been awarded Honorable Mention in the Inspirational/Spiritual category of the 90th Annual Writer’s Digest Writing Competition and recent first publication of a CNF essay in Sunflowers at Midnight literary magazine. Poems published in Raw Literary Magazine and Tap into Poetry, and one forthcoming in Whimsical Press.

Twitter Handle: @SonjaRBerry1

Elisabeth Auld is a 24-year Air Force veteran who served in Japan, Korea, Germany and Iraq. After writing hundreds of reports and award nominations for her Airmen, Elisabeth is trying her hand at conventional fiction and blogging. Gals In Blue (https://www.galsinblue.com) is where she muses about a myriad of topics, from pop culture to military issues to her family’s latest adventures. These star her favorite people: her husband Greg, their kids, Emma and Michael, and their pups, Layla and Griffin.

Tammy B. Tsonis Tammy B. Tsonis is the author of the novella, Lost Among the Tide, as well as several published short stories and poems. She is the mother of two boys and two cats, and has been a military spouse for over 10 years. She has had the privilege to be part of the Naval community in several East Coast areas, including Virginia Beach, DC, and Rhode Island, and a shore tour in Nebraska. Before her husband retired from the Navy after 20 years of service, she had the opportunity to develop friendships with many other military spouses who she know calls friends. In her spare time she enjoys photography, travel, hiking, and the occasional crochet project.

Jeniffer G. H. Cox: I graduated from Wheaton College in Norton, MA with a B.A. in English Literature and Political Science and went on to law school at the University of Denver. During college and law school I served in the Army Reserves as a paralegal where I met my husband, Brian. We have two amazing sons, Sam and Ben. Later I became a Judge Advocate. I deployed twice to Afghanistan. This poem was written in 2018 during my second deployment.  I currently serve at Fort Eustis, VA.

Katie Melynn is a USNA graduate, Navy Veteran, and current freelance writer, with publications in People, The Spruce, as well as numerous regional print magazines. She was a 2021 Author Fellow at the Martha's Vineyard Institute of Creative Writing and a 2022 Writer-in-Residence at the Weymouth Center for the Arts & Humanities. She currently teaches Creative Writing as part of the Apex Arts magnet program in Anne Arundel County, Maryland.

Capt Nichole K. Timmreck, U.S. Air Force, a JAG officer, has served on active duty for four and half years with assignments in Colorado at the United States Air Force Academy and North Carolina. She currently works as a Victims’ Counsel at Seymour Johnson AFB and Pope AAF. She has also been an Army spouse for over 10 years, following her husband from Germany to Hawaii, where she attended law school, to Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, and Fort Bragg, North Carolina. Nichole has held the title of official family photographer and historian for the last decade and specializes in landscapes and family vacations. While writing and photography have been personal hobbies since she was a child, she hopes to share more of her creativity thanks to platforms like Hallaren.