When Brigadier General Rebecca “Becky” Halstead (Retired U.S. Army General Officer) entered a room, she was used to listening, making decisions, and taking charge.

It would be great if she could listen, make a decision, take charge, and just give the order for chiropractic care to be extended here and abroad for all military personnel and their families — but we know it isn’t quite that easy.

As a spokesperson for the Foundation for Chiropractic Progress (www.yes2chiropractic.org), a not-for-profit organization dedicated to increasing public awareness of the benefits of chiropractic, Halstead knows “this is an effort that will take all of us working together and I am willing to help lead the effort.”

As she appears before audiences, she communicates her passion about her highly positive experience with chiropractic care over a protracted period of time and her wholehearted support for extending chiropractic care at all military facilities — to include all Veterans Administration hospitals in the United States and abroad.

Not only is she making a difference, she is also motivating and inspiring chiropractors and consumers alike to make a difference. “My passion and motivation in life has been to make a difference for others,” she says.

“In a war zone, the average soldier and marine on the ground is carrying between 70 to 125 pounds of arms and equipment,” Halstead says. “In addition to foot patrols in austere conditions, they also are often sitting or lying in cramped quarters in a military vehicle or in a security position on a base perimeter.

“When they do sleep, it is generally not restful sleep or for many hours. This physical stress places a lot of strain on the musculoskeletal structure of a combat warrior’s body, not to mention the emotional stress of living day-in and day-out with the possibility of intense and deadly battle.

“Treating this kind of physical and emotional stress is the sweet spot of chiropractic care. However, chiropractic care is not available at most military treatment facilities, and it is not available in the combat zone where it is needed most. Our military has some of the best and brightest medical doctors well schooled and educated in dispensing drugs to help mask the pain, both physical and emotional.

“In my opinion, however, we need the talent of chiropractors well schooled and educated in dealing with musculoskeletal ailments and physical related stress to prevent, reduce, or even eliminate these types of ailments, rather than mask the problems.”

Halstead emphasizes she is not in any way wanting fewer physicians at military facilities here and abroad. She is promoting, however, the need for chiropractic care to complement the care provided by medical doctors.

“A holistic approach to wellness is not a new concept to the military. We have trained on the principles of physical, emotional, mental, and spiritual fitness for a very long time. Like many things in life, though, we often fall short on practicing this sense of balance.

“We need our medical doctors, but we need chiropractic care, too. Our military men and women, and their families, have earned and richly deserve chiropractic care be available to them to support our principles of fitness, wellness, and readiness.”

Kent S. Greenawalt, president of the Foundation for Chiropractic Progress and CEO and president of Foot Levelers Inc., agrees. “General Halstead’s career is an example of outstanding, excellent service to our nation. Those in the military, who serve all of us, protecting our security and our liberty, also deserve availability of outstanding, excellent chiropractic care. Anything less is being less than grateful for their sacrifices.”

Halstead’s service

“I grew up in upstate New York, about four hours from the U.S. Military Academy at West Point. I had not been exposed to the Academy or the army while growing up. In 1976, my mom read in the newspaper about the Academies opening their doors to women, and she thought the description of the women they were seeking — good high school grades, athletic ability, and a moral approach to life — sounded just like me. I refer to my mom as the Renaissance woman because not many moms were pushing their daughters in the direction of the military in those days,” says Halstead.

Receiving a Congressional appointment, she entered the Academy in 1977 — the second year women were admitted. She excelled despite the fact only half of the women to join her class graduated. When she was selected as “Plebe of the Regiment” her first year, a story in [ITAL]Stars & Stripes[/ITAL] noted she looked at her certificate and it read, “he, him, and his.…”

Halstead graduated from West Point in 1981 as a Second Lieutenant in the U.S. Army Ordnance Corps with a Bachelor of Science in Engineering. She later earned a Master of Science in National Resource Strategy (Advanced Manufacturing) from the Industrial College of the Armed Forces, National Defense University, and a Master of Science in Advanced Military Studies (Visionary Leadership) from the Army Command and General Staff College.

In 2004, numerous residents from her hometown traveled to Germany to attend the ceremony of her receiving the Brigadier General star — making history as the first female West Point graduate to be promoted to General Officer.

Although she never planned on a career to lead her to the upper ranks, she succeeded in doing so — but success came at great cost and personal sacrifice, especially with her health.

For a number of years, Halstead has suffered from fibromyalgia syndrome — a disorder classified by chronic widespread pain and a heightened and painful response to physical pressure and exertion.

“Part of my health challenges were my own fault because I put a lot of pressure on myself to excel, and I convinced myself that slowing down was a sign of weakness,” explains Halstead.

“At the same time, the military’s high pace of operations and pressure, especially during a time of war, also placed a tremendous amount of pressure on me. All of our men and women are feeling this pressure. We are trained to be warriors so we convince ourselves that any sign of weakness, physical or mental, makes us less of a warrior.

“We have to reverse this mentality and encourage our men and women to have the courage to share their stories, deal with their health challenges, and give them the tools for becoming stronger without feeling shame or weak.

“The most important resource in our military is the human resource! We must practice preventative measures with our people just like we do with our equipment. We must maintain and sustain our people, and when worn out or broken, fix them, and this can only be done by providing all measures of care to them.”

“Being a runner — and I started running cross country in high school — and given the physical rigors of military life, I often availed myself of chiropractic treatments,” said Halstead. “But, it was after a few years of suffering from fibromyalgia that I really awakened to the full measure of chiropractic care.”

Looking forward

Halstead had resigned herself to living the rest of her life in pain and discomfort.

“The medical physicians’ treatment for fibromyalgia was to put me on medicines that masked the pain. When I read the label of the prescription, it included antidepressants. Anyone who knows me knows I am not a depressed person. I told the doctor I was not depressed and asked him why he placed me on an antidepressant. His response was, ‘You will be (depressed).’ And he was somewhat right, because as I took more and more pain medicine, I became very discouraged.”

Then, Halstead was introduced to Carol Ann Malizia, DC, of Oakland, N.J. Malizia is a current board member of the Foundation for Chiropractic Progress.

“Dr. Malizia changed my whole outlook on dealing with my chronic ailment. She prescribed a comprehensive chiropractic/wellness regimen that today permits me to have many days without pain and most days without taking any medicines.”

Malizia’s treatment for Halstead included hands-on musculoskeletal adjustments, as well as introducing her to natural nutritional supplements, a prescribed nutritional diet, acupuncture and massage