Able Seaman Kate Nesbitt, Royal Navy: Nesbitt was awarded the Military Cross for her heroism under fire with 3 Commando in Afghanistan. The MC is the British equivalent of the Silver Star and she is only the second woman to ever be awarded it.

She dressed L/Cpl John List’s neck wound and kept him from losing blood while bullets and rockets flew overhead in Marjah district in Helmand.

Earlier this month, L/Cpl List said no words could describe what Ms Nesbitt had done, but without her action he would not have lived.

Her citation said: “Under fire and under pressure her commitment and courage were inspirational and made the difference between life and death.

“She performed in the highest traditions of her service.”

Kimberly Munley, Ft. Hood Police Department: Munley was one of two police officers who responded to a terrorist attack at Ft. Hood. She engaged the terrorist and was badly wounded in the engagement.

The task on Thursday fell to the petite Ms. Munley, a civilian police officer employed by the Army at Fort Hood. Munley had taken part in intensive active-shooter training during the past year.

One of the first responders, she exited her car and entered the building as shots rang out. She rounded a corner, identified the shooter, and fired four times. He returned fire and hit her at least twice in the legs and once in the arm.

Army Chaplain (Capt.) Rebekah Montgomery, Chaplain of the Year award from the Military Chaplains Association:

After an 18-month tour in Afghanistan, Montgomery returned to Maryland and took on two jobs. One weekend a month, she is the brigade chaplain for the 58th Troop Command, a job that she said keeps her grounded in the “M-day” unit mentality. An M-day unit one in which troops serve one weekend a month and a two-week annual tour each year.

“With my state, that’s where the real nuts-and-bolts mission is,” she said. “I feel like I’m staying in touch and serving at the local level.”

During the week, she focuses on a broader mission at the readiness center, advising high-level officials on spiritual issues.

Spc. Heather Lemanski, New York National Guard: Fought off a rapist in the shower and held him until help arrived.

Upon entering the shower, Lemanski heard someone come into the trailer after her.

“I didn’t hear another shower start, so I called out to see if anyone was in there,” she said. “No one answered.”

With a knife in one hand and a can of pepper spray in the other, Lemanski began checking each shower. Soon she found herself face-to-face with a male Soldier, dressed in his army combat uniform, crouched in another stall.

“I managed to restrain him, and I called out to a sergeant passing by to notify the [military police],” she said.

Sergeant First Class Helen Gillespie, WAC and tuba player: Helen is a new found friend this year. She told us her story, joining the Women’s Army Corps (WAC) to play in the band, and then making the transition to the “new” Army.

From early 1971 until my recent decision to retire I’ve strived to be a valuable part of what I consider the strongest military organization in the world, the US Army. Running into and breaking through brick walls of limited opportunity for women has soured my view of the US Army. However, the benefit I received over the years has strengthened my belief that the Army offers great opportunity and growth to anyone who has the ability and strength to embrace it.

Megan Schlotthauer and her mother Lisa Altoon: This cheerleader needed a change and the Army offered her that change. Mom wasn’t sure, but before it was all settled, Mom had enlisted, too.

She presented the idea to her mother, Lisa Altoon, who wasn’t receptive to the notion of her cheerleader daughter joining the Army.

“I was dead set against it from the beginning,” she said.

Altoon, like many parents, was concerned about the possibility of Megan deploying to a combat zone. That is, until she met her daughter’s recruiter, Army Sgt. 1st Class Jessica Dean of the Fremont, Calif., recruiting station. Dean proved to be a persuasive recruiter.

Jaeda Sichel, honorary Coast Guard Rescue Swimmer: Jada inspired us in 2009 by being unwilling to let her illness determine her life’s boundaries. In early July, we covered Jaeda as she was given the basics of being a Coast Guard rescue swimmer at the Aviation Training Center Mobile, Ala. Jaeda’s diagnosis of Cystic Fibrosis didn’t slow her down at all and we posted a number of photos of her training. She is attending the University of Colorado at Boulder and is majoring in Aerospace Engineering.

Lance Corporal Sally Clarke, 2nd Battalion the Rifles: The second Brit to appear in this year’s list, Clarke rendered aid to her fellow soldiers under intense enemy fire.

L/Cpl Clarke applied field dressings and a tourniquet, and then waited for the emergency response team to arrive. The medic, who has served in the forces for three years, treated each soldier before helping to move them to the helicopter landing site so that they could be flown to Camp Bastion.

Despite being entitled to get on the flight she refused, insisting she would not leave the rest of the patrol without a medic. She said: “I didn’t feel like my injuries were bad enough to go back to the hospital, particularly as I was the only medic on the ground at the time.

“I couldn’t leave them on their own – I came out here to support the troops on the ground and give them medical care when they need it the most.”

Spc. Amanda Cleveland, Task Force Keystone: Still a teenager, this soldier is a teacher and a medic.

Cleveland is humble about her teaching ability, but is quick to acknowledge the importance of the subject matter.”I really enjoy teaching, but it’s not always easy keeping a student’s attention, because I’m not a dominating person,” said Cleveland. “I just keep reminding myself that what I am teaching these Soldiers will not only affect them, but also the people they may have to save. I may be helping my students save a life!”

Cleveland is the primary instructor of the 28th CAB’s First Aid Refresher Course at Contingency Operating Base Adder which is taught monthly to a rotation of Soldiers. When she is not training, she is receiving clinical experience in her unit’s medical clinic. She takes vital signs, screens patients, performs asthma treatments and even stitches sutures.

Maj. Gina Sabric, 332nd Air Expeditionary Wing, and the Women Air Force Service Pilots:

It’s been more than 60 years since the Women Air Force Service Pilots or WASP took the skies by storm as the first women in U.S. history trained to fly American military aircraft, overcoming inequality and changing the face of aviation forever. On July 1, these aviation pioneers were recognized by President Barack Obama, who presented the Congressional Gold Medal as long-overdue recognition of the historical “Fly Girls.”

Here at JBB, a 21st-century “Fly Girl,” Maj. Gina Sabric, an F-16 fighter pilot, couldn’t be more pleased with the recognition.

“I think it is amazing that they were presented [with the Congressional Gold Medal],” said Sabric, currently deployed here as the 332nd Air Expeditionary Wing flight safety officer from Nellis Air Force Base, Nev. “It is definitely well-deserved and probably a little overdue, but it is amazing that they are finally being recognized for their service to our country.

“They are definitely pioneers in aviation and an inspiration to those of us that fly now,” she continued. “We would not be here if it wasn’t for the work that they did before us. They paved the way and opened up doors for the rest of us.”

Yesterday, I had the opportunity to interview Sergeant First Class Helen Gillespie for a Bloggers’ Roundtable. SFC Gillespie began her military career in the Women’s Army Corps [WACs], and has served in several National Guard Units and Army Reserve units.

Sgt. Gillespie told us this in her opening remarks:

From early 1971 until my recent decision to retire I’ve strived to be a valuable part of what I consider the strongest military organization in the world, the US Army. Running into and breaking through brick walls of limited opportunity for women has soured my view of the US Army. However, the benefit I received over the years has strengthened my belief that the Army offers great opportunity and growth to anyone who has the ability and strength to embrace it.

From the beginning of my Army career as a tuba player in the Women’s Army Corps Band until now, as I close out my military career as a journalist, I’ve experienced memberships in three state’s National Guard organizations (Florida, District of Columbia, Alabama), the active Army and the Army Reserve. Some of the other jobs or “Military Occupational Specialties” I’ve held are, Repair Parts Specialist, Psychological Operations Specialist, Cook and administrative skills instructor. I’m one of many soldiers who illustrates that a person can do the job they want in the Army, no matter how many jobs they want to do.

I asked her what advice she would have for a young woman considering joining the Army:

Q: Okay. Sergeant, if you have one piece of advice to give a young woman considering joining the Army today, you know, you’ve been around, what would you say to a young woman considering joining?

SGT. GILLESPIE: Oh, this is going to sound so tacky, Chuck. Be Army strong.

Q: Now you got to tell me what you mean.

SGT. GILLESPIE: Oh, of course. Of course. You know, when you’re strong, you’re true to yourself. And I would suggest that — well, any — male or female — be true to yourself. Be true to your passions. If that’s not working for you, then, you know, heck, why get up in the morning? You know? But just be true to yourself, male and female. And there’s not that much difference these days.

And I would say the Army society or the military society pretty much has been a picture of — or a vignette of the American society. It doesn’t matter any more if you’re male or female. You know, you show up at the recruiter’s door to do a job. Then you qualify for that job and you march on from there.

Sgt. Gillespie is nearing retirement from the Army. It was clear that she had a mix of emotions as she considered her career and her life in and out of military service. This interview reminds us all that our warfighters are people, too, and that a person’s career has many ups and downs.

Sergeant First Class Helen Gillespie, thank you for your service to our country. God bless you.