Battle Scars & Body Wars breaks through stigma and taboo to deliver the truth, education, understanding and hope that will undoubtedly save lives.

The author served in the 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 make 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 is the first book to bridge 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 twenty years of service, Leah details how rigid standards, trauma exposure, weight requirements, and performance pressure can quietly fuel disordered eating across all ranks, genders, ages, backgrounds, and body types.

This book is designed to be practical and usable for those who have struggled in silence, those responsible for leading others, and those tasked with providing care. It bridges 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 language to recognize what they are experiencing, reduce shame, and see that help, healing, and hope are possible, even when the path forward feels unclear.

• 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 context often missing from traditional training, strengthening assessment, understanding, and response.

• Policy makers with a clear understanding of how untreated eating disorders affect readiness, retention, and lives, and where systemic gaps must be addressed.

Each chapter ends with a thoughtfully curated companion section designed to carry the reader beyond awareness and toward understanding, action, and support. These sections include highlights, takeaways, reflective prompts, suggested actions, 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. It makes clear that silence does not protect people or systems and invites action that supports both individual well-being and broader change.

Battle Scars & Body Wars is not just a story. It is a roadmap toward understanding, prevention, and hope.

Battle Scars & Body Wars: A Personal & Professional Journey Shining a Light on Eating Disorders in the Military