Wednesday, September 12, 2007
Leigh Ann Hester
According to United States military policy, Leigh Ann Hester should not be in direct combat. The long debated issue of whether women should have a front line role in battle is often blurred in this assemetrical 360 degree battlefield that has become our nation’s newest World War.
Regardless of how one feels about a woman’s participation on the battlefield, Hester displayed fidelity and valor that trancends gender, and when that small aspect of this story is removed, she maintains a place in the hero roll call of Iraq. As with all other professional soldiers in the military, when given the austere conditions of battle, she was able to focus and hone her craft at the highest levels.
Outside Salman Pak, Iraq on March 20, 2005, as a member of the 617th Military Police Company, an Army National Guard unit out of Kentucky, Hester’s squad was pulling security for a supply convoy on a Main Supply Route when anti-Iraqi forces ambushed the column. SGT Hester’s squad leader, Staff Sergeant Timothy Nein, hastily enveloped possible enemy egress routes. When his squad flanked from the side of the road, insurgents were cut off from any possible escape. At that point, SGT Leigh Ann Hester brilliantly led her fire team through the “kill sac” and into a doctrinaly sound position to engage and destroy fleeing insurgents. When she personally led her team into a trench line, she tossed fragmentation grenades and fired 40 mm M203 high explosive rounds that quickly overwhelmed the enemy and allowed her fire team to achieve and maintain fire superiority. Hester and SSG Nein then cleared two other trenches, at that time she engaged and destroyed three insurgents with her M4 rifle.
When the smoke cleared, her unit was responsible for 27 dead insurgents, six wounded and one insurgent detainee. For these actions, SGT Hester became the first female soldier to receive the Silver Star (the third highest award for combat valor) since World War Two. SSG Nein was also awarded a Silver Star.
Hester, 23, is another glowing example of the quality of warrior this generation provides its nation throughout this Global War on Terror. Her actions that day in March 2005 were directly responsible for saving lives and represent the finest traditions of the United States military.
Whether women should be in the front lines of combat is a moot point when aggressed by this fantical Islamist enemy today in Iraq. When bullets and rockets are slamming into peers and subordinates, valor and selfless service are called upon. As long as this nation has defenders of freedom like SGT Leigh Ann Hester who can expertly excute their duties in such an overwhelming manner, we realize more fully all the contributions that are needed for victory in this fight against those who plot to destroy our American way of life.
You can read more about Sgt. Hester here.
Regardless of how one feels about a woman’s participation on the battlefield, Hester displayed fidelity and valor that trancends gender, and when that small aspect of this story is removed, she maintains a place in the hero roll call of Iraq. As with all other professional soldiers in the military, when given the austere conditions of battle, she was able to focus and hone her craft at the highest levels.
Outside Salman Pak, Iraq on March 20, 2005, as a member of the 617th Military Police Company, an Army National Guard unit out of Kentucky, Hester’s squad was pulling security for a supply convoy on a Main Supply Route when anti-Iraqi forces ambushed the column. SGT Hester’s squad leader, Staff Sergeant Timothy Nein, hastily enveloped possible enemy egress routes. When his squad flanked from the side of the road, insurgents were cut off from any possible escape. At that point, SGT Leigh Ann Hester brilliantly led her fire team through the “kill sac” and into a doctrinaly sound position to engage and destroy fleeing insurgents. When she personally led her team into a trench line, she tossed fragmentation grenades and fired 40 mm M203 high explosive rounds that quickly overwhelmed the enemy and allowed her fire team to achieve and maintain fire superiority. Hester and SSG Nein then cleared two other trenches, at that time she engaged and destroyed three insurgents with her M4 rifle.
When the smoke cleared, her unit was responsible for 27 dead insurgents, six wounded and one insurgent detainee. For these actions, SGT Hester became the first female soldier to receive the Silver Star (the third highest award for combat valor) since World War Two. SSG Nein was also awarded a Silver Star.
Hester, 23, is another glowing example of the quality of warrior this generation provides its nation throughout this Global War on Terror. Her actions that day in March 2005 were directly responsible for saving lives and represent the finest traditions of the United States military.
Whether women should be in the front lines of combat is a moot point when aggressed by this fantical Islamist enemy today in Iraq. When bullets and rockets are slamming into peers and subordinates, valor and selfless service are called upon. As long as this nation has defenders of freedom like SGT Leigh Ann Hester who can expertly excute their duties in such an overwhelming manner, we realize more fully all the contributions that are needed for victory in this fight against those who plot to destroy our American way of life.
You can read more about Sgt. Hester here.
