Michael J.

Michael J.

Michael J is keeping you in touch everywhere you find Country music: on the air, on-line and with the iHeartRadio app! If it's happening in...Full Bio

 

Women you need to know: Meet Kat Kaelin, a U.S. Veteran deployed to Iraq

Kat Kaelin, served over 10 years in the Army and the National Guard. She deployed to Iraq multiple times and has opened up about being assualted and raped while on deployment. Understanding her contract she struggled with her responsibility and at the same time find a way to lead for other women in the service. Her story is so impressive.

Grazia reports "Kat’s first deployment with the army left her heavily depressed. ‘My experience[in Iraq]was really bad. The men called the women’s quarters the ‘red-light district’ and we were given a rape whistle to carry everywhere we went,’ she toldThe Female Lead.

Fighting her depression, she decided to join a new initiative called Female Cultural Support Team (CST). Her role involved being on the front line, engaging with Afghan women, something that wasn’t seen as culturally appropriate for the male soldiers to do. ‘People say that women don’t go into combat but I got off the same helicopter as the men and was shot at by the same guns,’ she continues.

The success of the CST is what lead to the ban against women taking on combat roles being lifted in 2013, something which Kat is very aware, and very proud, of. ‘Our succesful group of women has helped to open things up so that women can now graduate from ranger school, and there are more possibilities in the future’."

Some languarge is NSFW but it's real life and Kat Kaelin's story can be inspirational for other women who are interested in following in her boot prints.


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