What if the hardest part isn’t leaving the uniform behind but figuring out who you were meant to be all along?
Jackie Frederick spent over twenty years as an Air Force air battle manager, rising fast, earning respect, and outpacing almost every man she served with. When the COVID vaccine mandate collided with her convictions, she walked away one step shy of O-6, trading the flight suit for homeschooling four kids, caring for her husband with MS, and rebuilding her identity from the inside out.
The day she realized trying to be one of the guys was costing her everything
How she found power in embracing her role as a mother and nurturer
The loneliness of being unseen as a female veteran
Why walking away from rank and retirement was the only choice she could live with
What it really means to lead at home when nobody’s saluting anymore
⏱ Timestamps:
00:00 Intro
01:30 Growing up between Ohio and North Carolina
05:00 Becoming faster than the guys at OTS
10:15 When femininity turned into her secret weapon
17:50 The true cost of being a peer in a man’s world
24:10 How the vaccine mandate forced her hand
33:00 Building a new mission rooted in faith and family
42:40 The fight to be seen as a veteran
50:20 Teaching her kids leadership, the Air Force couldn’t
LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/jaclynfrederick
My name is Adam Peters, and I’m here to unf*ck the transition.
