sister publication Journal of Forensic Nursing and by adding a link on IAFNs official web site. Once assembled, this group of nurses could highlight their current primary areas of practice and create forums to discuss their forensic practice specialty. Networking with one’s peers is enhanced by knowing who has shared interests within the group. The ability to partner and mentor each other is as valuable in the military setting as it is in the civilian sector. Clements et al.9 reflect that mentoring should not be left to circumstance, but should rather be purposeful, dynamic, and collaborative. It is a relationship that cannot be fostered and nurtured in isolation. Once organized, the next step is to establish credibility through credentials. All eligible military members of IAFN should seek and establish certification in a forensic specialty area such as SANE, legal nurse consultant, or forensic nurse examiner. In addition to establishing credibility through credentialing and continuing education pursuits, it is equally imperative to establish active membership with one or more professional organization(s) that seek to further the science of forensics, such as IAFN or the American Academy of Forensic Science. Professional memberships offer a network of elite practitioners upon whom to call for consultation and guidance. Additionally, they offer online education and training resources, as well as annual conventions for practitioners to keep abreast of the latest technology and modalities. With a communication network created, credentials in place, and professional memberships established, it then becomes a matter of educating one’s peers and superiors to demonstrate how the military forensic nurse can be used in ways that are not only germane to the civilian sector, but also meet the distinctive demands of the military setting. Although military forensic nursing is very much a “mirror” of its civilian counterpart, there are features unique to military nursing as a whole and to each branch of service. Military families have always faced a number of challenges that make them especially vulnerable to high levels of stress: financial burdens among junior-enlisted personnel, long family separations, frequent moves, and isolation from traditional support systems.10,11 Additionally, there is renewed interest in the issues surrounding post-traumatic stress disorder and the effects of traumatic brain injury and the military veteran. The stress may be as real and difficult for the family MILITARY MEDICINE, Vol. 173, January 2008 43 Standing by to Serve Downloaded from https://academic.oup.com/milmed/article/173/1/42/4557710 by guest on 08 April 2022 members left at home as it is for the member leaving home. Issues of domestic violence among military families are complex and often cross jurisdictional lines. Victims of domestic violence are hesitant to report the abuse because they fear the impact it could have on their spouse’s career.12 The military is not immune to domestic violence, child abuse, shaken baby syndrome, rape, or violence in any form. The global war on terror has been a test of our nation’s resources, military manpower, and public patience. We can assume that stress levels in our military members will increase as well, and the inadequate coping responses of some could exponentially increase the forensic cases involving the military. In 1981, the DoD Directive 6400.1 required all branches of the military to establish a family advocacy program to address child and spouse abuse issues and set out to create a central registry to track the data received. Twenty years later, in March 2001, the Secretary of Defense appointed 24 civilian and military members to the new Defense Task Force on Domestic Violence. This committee was charged with “formulating a long-term, strategic plan to assist the Department of Defense in eliminating domestic violence within the department.” The committee released its final report in March 2003, which contained 200 detailed recommendations on how the DoD could improve its response to domestic violence, and ultimately set forth measures for prevention. The interest from DoD in issues of domestic violence is apparent, and the infusing of forensic nurses into this initiative could be the catalyst to propel the DoD recommendations toward success. POTENTIAL BENEFITS The most important and likely most influential way to further military forensic nursing with the DoD is to show the potential benefits for the military health care system and consequently the government. Most of the forensic evaluations and examinations required by DoD beneficiaries stateside are contracted to civilian agencies, but consider the global commitment of today’s military. Every ship, squadron, platoon, brigade, unit, and base—whether stateside or overseas— deserves to have a forensic professional assigned. By cultivating and maintaining a steady cadre of active duty forensic nurses, the military could utilize these professionals to perform forensic duties as needed to serve their patient population. By recognizing forensic nurses as a subspecialty and creating forensic “teams” of medical professionals, the government could better utilize appropriate manpower to respond to global events. Sekula13 states that “within the health care setting, the forensic nurse enhances patient care management, resulting in improved clinical