M.B. Dallocchio (The Desert Warrior) is a London-based artist, author, and social worker who specializes in artistic psychosocial rehabilitation.
Dallocchio served as a medic, mental health sergeant, and retention NCO in the US Army for eight years. While on deployment to Ramadi, Iraq in 2004-2005, she served as a member of "Team Lioness," the first female team that was attached to Marine infantry units to perform checkpoint operations, house raids, and personnel searches on Iraqi women and children for weapons and explosives.
M.B. Dallocchio is the author of "The Desert Warrior," "Everyday Chamorro," "Quixote in Ramadi: An Indigenous Account of Imperialism" and the Women Warriors chapter of the book, "War Trauma and Its Wake."
In addition to having been featured in the San Francisco Chronicle, The Huffington Post, Las Vegas Review-Journal, PBS, Yahoo! News, and many other media outlets covering facing injustice during and after combat, she also speaks out on women and minority issues, overcoming strife, and the importance of self-empowerment.
Since returning from military service in Iraq in late 2005, M.B. Dallocchio took to fine art and creative writing to assuage post-war trauma. Residing in London, she continues to paint and write using her surroundings and travels as her muse.
From current socioeconomic turmoil to indigenous rights, Dallocchio persists in ensuring that the often muted voices are heard.
As a native Chamorro (Northern Mariana Islands), a woman, and a combat veteran, her travels and cultural interactions – and sometimes misunderstandings in dealing with those who don’t know what to make of her – have aided her in producing quite the diverse portfolio. Her cultural upbringing helped shape her views prior to witnessing various horrors and miracles, but it has, even more so, helped her cope with the aftermath.
Dallocchio intends to elucidate taboo issues surrounding both culture and violence, whether institutional or direct, and does so in a clear and honest manner that shows otherworldly pain and quixotic beauty, hell and heaven on earth, without reservations.
Specialties & Services
Custom Fine Art and Multi-Media Design
Effective CV and Resume Writing/Design
Speaking Events on Women Veterans, Combat PTSD, and Art
