
Choosing the perfect roller derby nickname is important, the women said, because it becomes registered and is theirs forever. “Someone can call and ask to create a version of your name, but they have to get your permission,” Wahkahquah said.
Wahkahquah’s last name in Comanche means “riding death.” So, in keeping with the Native American theme, she chose “Rolling Death” as her alter ego.
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Tags: 1st Lt. Jessica duMonceau, 1st Lt. Kristin Sloan, Oklahoma Army National Guard, Oklahoma City Red Dirt Rebellion, Sgt. Karli Wahkahquah
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Losing the weight isn’t necessarily going to make you like what you see. There are still a lot of times I step on the scale and cringe. It has to do with hitting the perfect weight, or more accurately, “the number” that signifies that perfect weight. That number is different for everyone. I remember seeing a girl who I thought looked perfect, and I asked her how much she weighed.
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Tags: endurance athlete, Master Sgt. Sarah Frankenhoff, weight loss in the military
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In joining the Air Force in 1997, Young said she wanted simply to serve and to have an opportunity to improve her education. She said it has worked out quite well.
“The Air Force has been quite good to me,” she said. “Through LEAD and the academy, I earned that education I wanted when I joined.”
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Tags: 380th Air Expeditionary Wing, Capt. Amanda Young, LEAD Program, Leaders Encouraging Airmen Development Program
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There were plenty of intense situations that called on Malone to be at her best as her unit’s lead soldier. Twice, Malone’s convoy took direct hits as the lead vehicle traveling through Tikrit. The impact of the attacks left her with shoulder, neck and back injuries that cause her daily pain, and that she hopes to overcome through surgery and physical therapy.
The first direct hit with an IED happened in November 2006, when two anti-tank mines wired together exploded and damaged the front right corner of Malone’s Humvee.
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Tags: Alabama National Guard, community-based warrior transition unit, purple heart, Sgt. Sophia Malone
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Both women agree that there is not a lot of room for sensitivity in the aviation field.
They also agree that they are up to the challenge.
Women must try to do things as men have tried. When they fail, their failure must be but a challenge to others—Amelia Earhart.
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Tags: 1st Cavalry Division, female Chinook door gunner, female crew chief instructor, Spc. Bernice Garcia, Staff Sgt. Katie Replogle
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“I love working with the planes,” she said. “It’s such a rush to work with air traffic.” She also takes pleasure in knowing she’s helped to get people back where they belong once their mission is complete.
“I really experienced that about a month ago when the Army was doing their changeover,” the sergeant said. “The C-17s were coming in, and I’m up here [in the tower] and can see hundreds of Army personnel loading onto the C-17. It was just incredible to know that we’re helping them get back to see their families.”
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Tags: 506th Expeditionary Operations Support Squadron, Kirkuk Regional Air Base, military air traffic controller, Staff Sgt. Ana Maria Martin
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Being “vigilant” isn’t just a word to Senior Airman Jacqueline Lawson; it is part of her deployed duties with the 380th Expeditionary Security Forces Squadron.
Deployed to a non-disclosed base in Southwest Asia, Lawson is a security forces journeyman charged, along with fellow security forces, with providing security and force protection for the 380th Air Expeditionary Wing, its people and millions of dollars in deployed equipment and assets. To do that, she said this is where being “vigilant” comes in force.
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Tags: 380th Air Expeditionary Wing, Senior Airman Jaqueline Lawson
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This may not seem like the dream of the average American child, and it’s not, because Roach was born and raised in a small town called Adukrom Akwapin in Ghana, Africa.
“When I look back now, I was the happiest child in the midst of not having much,” Roach explained. “I was so happy because I had my grandmother, my aunt, the church and my friends I grew up with.”
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Tags: Adukrom Akwapin Ghana, naturalized citizen, Petty Officer 1st Class Tracy Roach, religious program specialist
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Basic medical assistance is not the only the service the FCT provides. While Now Zad’s male population is forthcoming about their physical medical concerns, the area’s female population has shown an anxiety about emotional concerns. FET and FCT members have shown the ability to provide the female population an emotional outlet where they can voice mental issues and concerns.
“What [the FCT] has been able to provide is really, truly an open door. When we’ve gone out into the villages to see people, [the female population] tend to open up to the female providers,” said Craig. “When I looked at the list of complaints that the females were providing to the [FCT] it was fear of Taliban, fear that my son is going to be brought into the Taliban, fear for my family, fear for my home. A lot of fear components which the guys don’t say at all.”
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Tags: 4th Marine Regiment, afghan women, Changwalak, Dehanna, Female Engagement Team, Khwaja Jamal, Marine Expeditionary Brigade-Afghanistan, Now Zad Afghanistan, Operation Cobra's Anger, Taliban repression, women marines
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