Les Carroll is the author of This Troubled Ground. He shares his experience in the U.S. Air Force and Air National Guard on the podcast while also highlighting his book. This Troubled Ground is a novel but is based on many experiences from his own military career with fictional characters added to the story. It is […]
Category Archives: Afghanistan
Stories from when I was deployed to Afghanistan on a PRT. Most focus on the different missions I went on as Civil Engineer and a female in Afghanistan
The Challenge of Deployment
Lauren Kay shared the challenge of deployment in her memoir The Fine Art of Camouflage. Lauren’s decision to join the military was inspired by her moms service during Desert Storm and the events of September 11th. Those two things led her to look into the military and she ended up gaining her commission through the […]
A Female Purple Heart Recipient Story
Combat exclusion was lifted in 2016. But women were serving in combat long before combat exclusion was lifted. Vanessa Brown served as a mechanic and was running convoys on all three of her deployments. The first one happened in 2008. She is also a female purple heart recipient. Each deployment she faced a close call […]
Remembering September 11th – Twenty years later
Sometimes writing is healing. Sometimes it is hard. In the past, when I think back to September 11th, I think about how much my life has changed. My thoughts focus on my experience. How I’m not the same person I was twenty years ago. In September 2001, I was a senior in high school. And […]
What is happening in Afghanistan? A reflection
I wanted to highlight my thoughts of watching what is happening in Afghanistan with the Taliban take over Afghanistan. I debated back and forth on creating this episode. And then had second thoughts after it. Should share these personal feelings? In the end, I decided it is important for others to hear veteran voices. So […]
Who is a Combat Veteran?
Combat Veteran. When I see those words, I think of heroic acts. I think of people daily facing firefights. But in truth, a combat veteran is someone who has deployed to a combat zone or received hazard duty pay. So even without direct combat, you are a combat veteran. A quick search of the internet […]
Losing a team member while deployed
What is it like to experience losing a team member while deployed? Stacie opened up and shared about the loss of four members on her Panjshir PRT in 2009. We also covered the topics of PTSD, mental health, and moving forward. Thank you to Blue Star Families for supporting the Women of the Military podcast! […]
Women in Combat Roles before 2016
When I deployed in 2010 to Afghanistan, I had vaguely heard that women couldn’t be in combat. But since I being sent on a deployment with an infantry unit and would be one of the women in combat roles before combat exclusion was lifted. I thought that the military was just ignoring the combat exclusion […]
Women in Afghanistan
On one mission in Afganistan, I met with some of the women in Afghanistan. In 2010, I deployed to Afghanistan with the Army as part of a Provincial Recontruction Team. Today I’m sharing part of my experience of when we went to the capital to meet women in Afghanistan. This was originally an email sent […]
The onset of Female Engagement Teams
Amy Forsythe served on five combat tours as a correspondent and Public Affairs Officer. In 2006, she was part of the first-ever Female Engagement Teams in Iraq. I am excited to share her story this week on the podcast as I have done a lot of research about Female Engagement Teams, but have found limited […]
