Battle Scars & Body Wars: A Personal and Professional Journey Shining a Light on Eating Disorders in the Military Paperback – March 1, 2026

Battle Scars & Body Wars breaks through stigma and silence to deliver truth, education, understanding, and hope. Insight that has the power to save lives.The author served in the United States military for twenty years and nearly lost her life more than once. It was not to combat, but to a silent killer few were willing to name.For decades, eating disorders in the ranks have gone unrecognized, misidentified, or quietly dismissed as discipline, motivation, or “doing what it takes to meet standards.” Shaped by stigma and taboo, this silence has allowed a critical and escalating readiness, health, and suicide prevention crisis to remain unnamed, misunderstood, and unaddressed.Until now.Written by retired U.S. Navy Senior Chief Leah Stiles, founder of SEA WAVES, the nation’s first and only organization dedicated exclusively to addressing eating disorders in the military, Battle Scars & Body Wars bridges lived military experience, leadership perspective, clinical insight, and evidence-based research to expose how eating disorders develop, hide, and escalate within military culture.Drawing from two decades of service and the broader experiences of service members and veterans, Stiles reveals how rigid standards, trauma exposure, weight requirements, and relentless performance pressure can quietly fuel disordered eating across all ranks, genders, ages, backgrounds, and body types.This book is not only personal. It is practical.It is designed for those who have struggled in silence, those responsible for leading others, and those tasked with providing care. It transforms lived experience and research into guidance and action that support earlier, more effective, and more compassionate responses at the individual, leadership, clinical, and policy levels.Battle Scars & Body Wars equips:Service members with the language to recognize what they are experiencing, reduce shame, and understand that help, healing, and hope are possible, even when the path forward feels unclear.Military leaders with the awareness to identify risk early, intervene responsibly, lead without unintended harm, and guide service members toward appropriate care.Medical and mental health providers with military specific cultural context often missing from traditional training, strengthening assessment, understanding, and response.Policymakers and decision makers with a clear understanding of how untreated eating disorders affect readiness, retention, operational effectiveness, and lives, and where systemic gaps must be addressed.Each chapter concludes with a thoughtfully curated companion section that moves the reader beyond awareness and toward understanding and action. These sections include highlights, key takeaways, reflective prompts, suggested next steps, trusted organizations, and recommended books and podcasts.At its core, this book calls for a shift in how we talk about eating disorders, mental health, and healing within the military community. It makes clear that silence does not protect people or systems and invites action that strengthens both individual well being and institutional responsibility.Battle Scars & Body Wars is not just a story. It is a roadmap toward recognition, prevention, leadership, and hope. Read more