We are still in the month of March — Women’s History Month — and just fresh off the lifting of restrictions on women serving in combat positions.
A double reason to dedicate this Defense in Images post to our brave women in combat
U.S. female soldiers secure an Afghan compound while other soldiers meet with Afghan elders in the Spin Boldak district in Afghanistan’s Kandahar province, March 3, 2013. The soldiers are assigned to the 2nd Infantry Division’s Female Engagement Team 6, 2nd Battalion, 23rd Infantry Regiment, and 519th Military Intelligence Battalion.
U.S. Army Pfc. Laci Lognion, right, inventories her medical equipment while U.S. Army Capt. Ivonne Cartagena, center, adjusts medical items during a pre-flight exercise on Jalalabad Airfield in Afghanistan’s Nangarhar province, March 13, 2013. Lognion, a flight paramedic, and Cartagena, a critical care nurse, are assigned to the 101st Airborne Division’s Company C, 2nd Battalion, 149th General Support Aviation Brigade, 1st Brigade Combat Team.
U.S. Army Staff Sgt. Claudia Caberoherbas, right, provides perimeter security outside a village where troops search for a weapons cache in the Spin Boldak district in Afghanistan’s Kandahar province, March 3, 2013. Caberoherbas is assigned to the 2nd Infantry Division’s Company B, 2nd Battalion, 23rd Infantry Regiment, 4th Striker Brigade Combat Team. U.S. Army photo by Staff Sgt. Shane Hamann
U.S. Army Spc. Shaina Joseph mounts her M240B machine gun aboard a UH-60 Black Hawk helicopter on Jalalabad Airfield in Afghanistan’s Nangarhar province, March 13, 2013. Joseph, a chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear specialist, is assigned to the 101st Airborne Division’s Company C, 3rd Battalion, 501st Combat Aviation Brigade, 1st Brigade Combat Team. U.S. Army photo by Sgt. 1st Class John D. Brown
U.S. Army Chief Warrant Officer 2 Bethany Bump conducts her pre-flight routine in a UH-60 Black Hawk helicopter and checks with her crew chief before a mission on Jalalabad Airfield in Afghanistan’s Nangarhar province, March 13, 2013. Bump, a helicopter pilot, is assigned to the 101st Airborne Division’s Company C, 3rd Battalion, 501st Combat Aviation Brigade, 1st Brigade Combat Team.
U.S. Army Sgt. Amanda Olmeda provides security from an observation tower on Forward Operating Base Fenty in Afghanistan’s Nangarhar province, March 13, 2013. Olmeda, a chaplain’s assistant, is assigned to the 101st Airborne Division’s Headquarters Company, 1st Brigade Combat Team. U.S. Army photo by Sgt. 1st Class John D. Brown
Finally, read how a proud mother of three young boys who is deployed to a combat zone manages to keep close ties with her children and to stay active with her kids’ lives, “like emailing their teachers weekly and being involved in every decision which affects them.”
Army Staff Sgt. Bonnie Clark displays a picture of her three children while deployed to Forward Operating Base Apache in Afghanistan’s Zabul province, March 13, 2013. Keeping close ties with her children is a top priority for Clark while deployed. U.S. Army photo by Staff Sgt. Christopher Blakeslee
All photos and captions: DOD
