WEBVTT - Taking Flight with Natasha Ryan 0:00:01.000 --> 0:00:04.960 Please be advised the following episode contains references to violence 0:00:05.040 --> 0:00:10.880 and may not be suitable for all audiences. Welcome to 0:00:10.960 --> 0:00:14.000 Veterans you should Know a podcast from My Heart Radio 0:00:14.080 --> 0:00:16.960 that celebrates the men and women who have honorably answered 0:00:16.960 --> 0:00:19.880 a call to serve their country in the Armed Forces. 0:00:20.520 --> 0:00:25.400 I'm Rob Reel, actor, comedian, and former Marine raw In 0:00:25.440 --> 0:00:29.160 this special series Honoring Veterans Day, I'll be speaking with 0:00:29.200 --> 0:00:33.280 four incredible veterans as they detail challenges they've faced and 0:00:33.360 --> 0:00:37.280 how their experiences in military service served them in their 0:00:37.360 --> 0:00:41.760 everyday civilian lives. For this episode, we're switching things up 0:00:41.760 --> 0:00:45.479 a bit and speaking with a future veteran. Chief Warrant Officer. 0:00:45.600 --> 0:00:49.199 Natasha Ryan is an active duty black Hawk pilot with 0:00:49.280 --> 0:00:52.480 multiple deployments under her belt in her twenty plus years 0:00:52.479 --> 0:00:55.920 in the Army. Yeah. I didn't join for probably the 0:00:55.960 --> 0:00:58.760 most patriotic reasons, but I will tell you that it has. 0:00:59.320 --> 0:01:01.440 You know, over the wars of these last two decades 0:01:02.040 --> 0:01:07.240 absolutely changed who I am at the core of myself. 0:01:09.120 --> 0:01:12.639 Her first time stationed overseas, she bumpd with two women 0:01:12.720 --> 0:01:16.360 aviators who encouraged her to submit a flight package to 0:01:16.400 --> 0:01:21.000 become a pilot. And to her surprise but not ours, 0:01:21.040 --> 0:01:24.320 she was accepted into the pilot training program, changing her 0:01:24.400 --> 0:01:29.520 life forever. Thank you for joining us, Natasha. Welcome to 0:01:29.560 --> 0:01:31.920 the show. Thanks Rob. It's really great to be here. 0:01:32.360 --> 0:01:34.200 So let's just start at the beginning. Shall we tell 0:01:34.240 --> 0:01:35.680 us where you're from and how you found your way 0:01:35.720 --> 0:01:42.880 to the military. So I joined in and I was 0:01:42.959 --> 0:01:48.440 in Ohio, That's where I grew up. I was lifeguarding 0:01:48.560 --> 0:01:53.280 over the summer, playing soccer out of four ride scholarship, 0:01:53.640 --> 0:01:56.120 and there were two of us that were on four rides. 0:01:56.160 --> 0:01:58.760 The other girl had blown out her knee that season 0:01:58.800 --> 0:02:01.200 in the school said hey, we're not to pay for 0:02:01.200 --> 0:02:03.200 school next year. So I thought, Man, if that happens 0:02:03.240 --> 0:02:06.320 to me, what am I going to do? So went 0:02:06.400 --> 0:02:10.400 home lifeguarden was talking to some of my friends there 0:02:10.480 --> 0:02:12.880 and one of them said, Hey, what do you think 0:02:12.880 --> 0:02:14.799 about joint in the military? IM I know they pay 0:02:14.880 --> 0:02:17.880 for school. I know that's not the most patriotic answer, 0:02:17.919 --> 0:02:20.280 but that's what got me in the door. That's a 0:02:20.320 --> 0:02:22.880 real answer. That's a very real answer, and it applies 0:02:22.919 --> 0:02:26.320 to almost everybody signs up. So yeah, I can tell 0:02:26.320 --> 0:02:28.200 you twenty two years later though, that's not why I'm 0:02:28.200 --> 0:02:32.800 still here. But anyway, so I went talked to recruiters, 0:02:32.840 --> 0:02:37.639 signed up, and was relatively quickly off on my first 0:02:37.680 --> 0:02:42.680 deployment to Bosnia. And it was just kind of hooked. 0:02:43.280 --> 0:02:45.040 You know, when you're young and you work at a 0:02:45.040 --> 0:02:48.240 pizza shop or something like that, you don't realize that 0:02:48.280 --> 0:02:52.240 you could potentially have a real impact in the world. 0:02:52.360 --> 0:02:55.080 And so getting the opportunity to go overseas and see 0:02:55.240 --> 0:02:58.720 the way other people live outside of our you know, 0:02:58.760 --> 0:03:04.120 America bubble and being able to affect that was hugely 0:03:04.160 --> 0:03:07.960 impactful for me. So it wasn't too long after that 0:03:07.960 --> 0:03:10.960 that I just said, man, I gotta do this. Yeah, 0:03:11.240 --> 0:03:13.480 and you're right, a lot of people underestimate that. I 0:03:13.480 --> 0:03:15.760 remember Tom Rix, who was a journalist for the Well 0:03:15.760 --> 0:03:18.560 Street Journal who wrote a book about the Marine Corps, 0:03:18.600 --> 0:03:20.640 and he and he was talking about some of the 0:03:20.639 --> 0:03:25.079 Marines he met, these nineteen twenty year old squad leaders 0:03:25.120 --> 0:03:28.120 that we're taking patrols through the streets of Somalia, and 0:03:28.160 --> 0:03:32.799 their decisions our international incidents, you know, like if they 0:03:32.880 --> 0:03:35.560 decide to engage, if they tried to pull that trigger, 0:03:35.600 --> 0:03:39.480 if they decide that has global ramifications potentially, and you 0:03:39.520 --> 0:03:42.720 have these nineteen twenty year old soldier or marine out 0:03:42.760 --> 0:03:46.120 there making those decisions, sailor or airmen making those decisions, 0:03:46.560 --> 0:03:48.440 and to think, like you just said, a year before, 0:03:48.960 --> 0:03:51.880 they were in a pizza shop. So it is really 0:03:51.920 --> 0:03:55.040 amazing that you can go from something like that to 0:03:55.120 --> 0:04:00.920 a tremendous amount of responsibility. Now you find yourself in 0:04:00.960 --> 0:04:05.520 the army, you're deployed pretty quickly, but you decided to 0:04:05.600 --> 0:04:08.640 change jobs. If I understand correctly, and you did not, 0:04:08.680 --> 0:04:11.520 it's not small change either. It was a pretty radical 0:04:11.640 --> 0:04:15.720 change in MS, which for our non military listeners military 0:04:15.760 --> 0:04:20.440 occupational specialty, your j Ob, can you tell us about that? Yeah. 0:04:20.480 --> 0:04:25.520 So when I came in in the jobs that were 0:04:25.560 --> 0:04:29.440 offered to me were predominantly administrative jobs, and so I 0:04:29.520 --> 0:04:33.440 got a job as a seventy one LIMA Fox five 0:04:33.720 --> 0:04:38.599 and back then that was an administrative specialist with a 0:04:38.640 --> 0:04:42.640 postal specialty. And so I went on this mission of 0:04:42.680 --> 0:04:47.280 Pakistan where we were based out of the Islami Bod 0:04:47.400 --> 0:04:50.520 Embassy and helping to run the mail out of there. 0:04:51.160 --> 0:04:55.440 And when I got to one of the posts we're 0:04:55.440 --> 0:04:56.960 staying the night there, I woke up in the morning 0:04:56.960 --> 0:04:58.400 and there were two women that got up and they 0:04:58.400 --> 0:05:03.159 had flight suits on and it's kind of embarrassing, but 0:05:03.200 --> 0:05:05.360 it was two thousand four or two thousand five, and 0:05:05.880 --> 0:05:08.799 I didn't realize that. I've never seen a woman pilot. 0:05:08.920 --> 0:05:12.120 I just didn't realize that was a thing. So I 0:05:12.160 --> 0:05:15.719 asked them if they were crew chiefs and they they said, no, 0:05:15.839 --> 0:05:19.680 we're pilots. And I spent a good part of the 0:05:19.720 --> 0:05:22.440 deployment with them, flying the mail around to these different 0:05:22.480 --> 0:05:27.120 spots in Pakistan, and they said, hey, you should, if 0:05:27.120 --> 0:05:29.080 you're interested in it, you should put a flight packet 0:05:29.080 --> 0:05:30.919 in and they said it just like that, so that 0:05:30.960 --> 0:05:33.480 it sounded like it was going to be real easy, 0:05:33.600 --> 0:05:36.760 and uh, and it was not. The packet process, the school, 0:05:36.960 --> 0:05:39.440 none of it was easy. Yeah, that sounds like a 0:05:39.480 --> 0:05:42.440 classic recruiters trick. Oh yeah, it's a walk in the park. Yeah, 0:05:42.640 --> 0:05:44.720 you do a little boot camps, no big deal. Then 0:05:44.720 --> 0:05:46.359 you go a little training here and there, and then 0:05:46.400 --> 0:05:48.880 you're gonna be stationed in Hawaii. Trust me, just signed 0:05:48.960 --> 0:05:52.320 right here. It's amazing how they do that. But that's awesome. 0:05:52.360 --> 0:05:56.159 So these two aviators, you spent a lot of time 0:05:56.160 --> 0:05:59.320 with them, obviously traveling around, flying around, delivering the mail. Yeah, 0:05:59.520 --> 0:06:02.719 that tie you spent with them, something triggered in you. 0:06:02.720 --> 0:06:06.480 You saw something that you thought you could do. I'll 0:06:06.520 --> 0:06:12.440 definitely say that I feel like representation is really important. 0:06:12.600 --> 0:06:16.440 I would have never thought that I could do that 0:06:16.560 --> 0:06:19.360 job if I didn't see somebody like me doing it. 0:06:19.520 --> 0:06:21.040 I don't know if I don't think that I couldn't 0:06:21.080 --> 0:06:22.920 have done it, but I probably would have thought that 0:06:22.960 --> 0:06:25.120 there wasn't a place for me, and maybe I wasn't welcome, 0:06:25.800 --> 0:06:29.200 so put the packet in. I was in Korea when 0:06:29.200 --> 0:06:32.840 they called and said, hey, you got selected, and you know, 0:06:32.920 --> 0:06:35.960 my first thought was a ship. I better hurry up 0:06:35.960 --> 0:06:40.120 and get smart. So I went to Warrant Officer Candidate 0:06:40.200 --> 0:06:43.000 school and I got through that a lot of rite 0:06:43.000 --> 0:06:46.440 of passage stuff, just seeing who can suck the best. 0:06:46.560 --> 0:06:49.080 And got out of that school and they said, hey, 0:06:49.120 --> 0:06:51.000 we're getting ready to go to see your school next. 0:06:55.440 --> 0:07:00.960 Before one can earn their pilot wings, they must pass Survival, Evasion, 0:07:01.240 --> 0:07:07.120 Resistance and Escape Training, also known as SEER school. This 0:07:07.240 --> 0:07:12.280 military school prepares perspective pilots for a worst case scenario. 0:07:13.000 --> 0:07:16.280 It teaches them what to do and how to survive 0:07:16.680 --> 0:07:20.640 if their aircraft goes down. Behind enemy lines. If you pass, 0:07:21.040 --> 0:07:24.800 the next stop is flight school. The Army's warrant officer 0:07:24.960 --> 0:07:29.400 flight program has the nickname high School to flight School 0:07:29.440 --> 0:07:33.080 because it's the only service that allows pilot training without 0:07:33.080 --> 0:07:37.280 a college degree. After two years of classroom and hands 0:07:37.320 --> 0:07:41.000 on training, Natasha earned her gold wings as a qualified 0:07:41.440 --> 0:07:47.680 Army Blackhawk pilot. When you enlisted, did you ever think 0:07:47.720 --> 0:07:49.880 that you were going to be in the cockpit flying 0:07:50.040 --> 0:07:51.680 in a combat zone? I mean, did you ever have 0:07:51.720 --> 0:07:54.960 that moment when you're sitting the cockpit going through your checklist, going, Wow, 0:07:55.320 --> 0:07:59.760 this is happening. I'm here, I'm driving this thing. Wow, brob, 0:07:59.760 --> 0:08:01.520 I ever thought I was going to join the military. 0:08:01.560 --> 0:08:03.520 I mean, that was never even in my plans, let 0:08:03.560 --> 0:08:06.240 alone to be a rotary wing aviator. I mean, it 0:08:06.360 --> 0:08:09.240 just never crossed my mind. And I'll tell you, I 0:08:09.280 --> 0:08:12.640 distinctly remember thinking, when I was putting this packet in, 0:08:13.440 --> 0:08:17.200 You're probably not going to get picked up, but at 0:08:17.280 --> 0:08:19.520 least this is a good story to tell your kids 0:08:19.520 --> 0:08:21.680 when they try out for like Little League and they 0:08:21.680 --> 0:08:23.800 don't make the team, that hey, at least you tried, 0:08:23.800 --> 0:08:26.720 because now you know. And so when they called, that 0:08:26.760 --> 0:08:28.600 really was my first thought. I was like, oh, ship, 0:08:29.040 --> 0:08:33.600 get smart, hurry up. But when I the first time 0:08:33.640 --> 0:08:36.160 I set in a black Hawk, I remember just looking 0:08:36.160 --> 0:08:39.600 around me and thinking, there's nowhere they didn't put a 0:08:39.720 --> 0:08:43.439 switch or a button or a lever, and how am 0:08:43.480 --> 0:08:47.680 I ever going to get all this down? It was overwhelming. Yes, 0:08:47.880 --> 0:08:52.719 it absolutely is. I had a little pilot experienced myself 0:08:52.960 --> 0:08:56.320 when I started in the Marine Corps, so I fully 0:08:56.360 --> 0:08:59.440 appreciate what you're describing and what you're talking about, and 0:08:59.480 --> 0:09:03.240 it is a daunting task. And I do appreciate what 0:09:03.280 --> 0:09:06.360 you're saying to about trying going for something and whether 0:09:06.360 --> 0:09:09.040 it happens or doesn't happen, it's the fact that you 0:09:09.960 --> 0:09:11.959 through your head in the ring and said I'm willing 0:09:12.000 --> 0:09:14.120 to give it a shot. And then when they call 0:09:14.200 --> 0:09:16.680 your bluff, it's another thing because then you're like, oh, crap, 0:09:17.120 --> 0:09:19.199 I gotta get smart like you just said, or I 0:09:19.320 --> 0:09:21.320 better figure this out, or I guess I'm in this now. 0:09:21.600 --> 0:09:23.800 But it's kind of a wonderful thing too, because it 0:09:23.800 --> 0:09:27.600 brings out your best. Usually you find that your whatever 0:09:27.640 --> 0:09:30.920 you your thought your limits were, they weren't there. They 0:09:30.920 --> 0:09:34.360 were way above and that's great for growth for personal growth. 0:09:34.400 --> 0:09:37.080 I think, Yeah, I think a place that I have 0:09:37.240 --> 0:09:41.800 lived in consistently is a place of impostor syndrome and 0:09:41.960 --> 0:09:45.360 just constantly being around all of these greats and just 0:09:45.400 --> 0:09:48.240 thinking what am I doing among these people? And it's 0:09:48.280 --> 0:09:50.920 a matter of time before I'm found out. And so 0:09:51.000 --> 0:09:53.000 I remember going through flight school and I kept a 0:09:53.000 --> 0:09:58.480 notebook of whenever the i P or the instructor would say, like, 0:09:58.559 --> 0:10:01.240 you got that I was at the North and South, Yeah, 0:10:01.280 --> 0:10:03.040 I got it, I got it, and I'd write it down. 0:10:03.200 --> 0:10:05.240 They probably thought I was taking notes and I was 0:10:05.880 --> 0:10:08.480 on all the ship I didn't understand. We have a 0:10:08.559 --> 0:10:12.360 library on Fort Rutger that's just for flight school students, 0:10:12.800 --> 0:10:17.240 and some old, well seasoned aviators work in that library. 0:10:17.559 --> 0:10:20.319 So I would take my notebook with me there every 0:10:20.320 --> 0:10:23.440 single night, and I would set with those old guys 0:10:23.960 --> 0:10:26.640 and I would man, I'd tell me, I need you 0:10:26.679 --> 0:10:29.199 to tell me about this, because I definitely said I understood, 0:10:29.280 --> 0:10:31.120 I don't am I I P is gonna ask me 0:10:31.120 --> 0:10:35.280 about it tomorrow. Get me smart tonight. That's so smart, though, 0:10:35.320 --> 0:10:38.360 and that's so true. I obviously I served two and 0:10:38.400 --> 0:10:41.120 my answer was always yes, sir, yes, ma'am got it. 0:10:41.520 --> 0:10:43.679 Absolutely locked and loaded. I'm moving out right now to 0:10:43.720 --> 0:10:45.800 go take care of that. And I would go run 0:10:45.800 --> 0:10:47.800 around the halls going what does this mean? What does 0:10:47.840 --> 0:10:49.920 this mean? What do I do? You know you're looking 0:10:49.920 --> 0:10:52.360 for answers anywhere, but the answers always yes, I got it, 0:10:52.400 --> 0:10:54.680 I got it. And then you then you go find 0:10:54.679 --> 0:10:57.880 it somehow. You find somebody smart, or find somebody has 0:10:57.880 --> 0:11:00.440 a clue, and you start doing your detective work. But 0:11:00.480 --> 0:11:02.760 I do love the fact that you took the time 0:11:03.280 --> 0:11:05.360 to find your way through it. You didn't take anything 0:11:05.400 --> 0:11:08.800 for granted. You found that resource. I heard you say earlier. 0:11:08.840 --> 0:11:10.880 I want to go back for one second. You know, 0:11:10.960 --> 0:11:13.240 when I joined it, you know, it didn't feel like 0:11:13.240 --> 0:11:15.280 it was for the most patriotic reasons or whatever. It 0:11:15.320 --> 0:11:18.360 felt like it was more business and more practical. But 0:11:18.480 --> 0:11:20.680 that is that. That's life, you know. It is a 0:11:20.679 --> 0:11:22.800 little bit of patriotism. Otherwise you would have come up 0:11:22.800 --> 0:11:26.760 with other options, but it is practical. Over your time 0:11:27.000 --> 0:11:31.240 of service and through the growth professionally and probably personally 0:11:31.280 --> 0:11:35.360 that you've gone through in the military, maybe that outlook 0:11:35.360 --> 0:11:38.400 has changed a little bit. I don't know. You tell us, yeah, 0:11:38.520 --> 0:11:40.720 I mean, you know, when I think about it. I 0:11:40.720 --> 0:11:43.199 think probably the best analogy is like you don't meet 0:11:43.240 --> 0:11:46.000 your significant other because you bet they have a great personality, 0:11:46.240 --> 0:11:50.120 you know, I mean they're good looking, and the the 0:11:50.160 --> 0:11:52.240 same goes for the army. Yeah. I didn't join for 0:11:52.320 --> 0:11:54.800 probably the most patriotic reasons, but I will tell you 0:11:54.840 --> 0:11:57.280 that it has, you know, over the course of these 0:11:57.360 --> 0:12:02.640 last two decades, absolutely changed who I am at the 0:12:02.800 --> 0:12:08.840 core of myself. No other generation of members of the 0:12:08.880 --> 0:12:13.840 military have been in too full scale conflicts literally for 0:12:13.960 --> 0:12:19.559 two decades consecutively. So there were many times where it 0:12:19.720 --> 0:12:23.960 was coming back from a deployment and waiting sometimes twelve 0:12:23.960 --> 0:12:28.000 months to the day before we were off again. For 0:12:28.040 --> 0:12:29.840 a lot of us, that was our life for a 0:12:29.840 --> 0:12:33.920 good portion of our careers, was just going back. And 0:12:33.960 --> 0:12:35.720 there was a point where I felt like I knew 0:12:35.720 --> 0:12:39.960 how to fly better in Afghanistan. I mean without a map, 0:12:40.000 --> 0:12:41.960 I felt like I could have flown you around that country. 0:12:42.000 --> 0:12:46.320 I was just there so much. But it truly becomes 0:12:46.320 --> 0:12:49.080 a part of your identity, you know. Now I'm I'm 0:12:49.120 --> 0:12:52.360 a wife and a mom and I remember, I mean 0:12:52.440 --> 0:12:55.720 this just happened, my daughter telling me that she didn't 0:12:55.760 --> 0:12:58.960 want to go to school and I could not help 0:12:59.640 --> 0:13:04.040 but think back to when we had assisted in UH 0:13:04.240 --> 0:13:08.800 building a school for these little girls in Afghanistan, and 0:13:08.880 --> 0:13:11.440 the Taliban had come in two days after we opened 0:13:11.440 --> 0:13:14.199 it and poisoned their water and killed them all, and 0:13:14.280 --> 0:13:17.840 so things like that. I mean, that absolutely impacts how 0:13:17.880 --> 0:13:21.600 I parent, because I definitely let Gabby Ryan know that, 0:13:22.040 --> 0:13:23.920 you know, in our house, you're gonna be grateful to 0:13:23.920 --> 0:13:27.800 go to school, You're gonna be happy. You've got running 0:13:27.800 --> 0:13:30.400 water in there, You've got great teachers, you have a 0:13:30.400 --> 0:13:33.680 whole building over your head. There's so much to be 0:13:33.760 --> 0:13:37.240 grateful for. And I don't ever want her to take 0:13:37.280 --> 0:13:41.160 that for granted, because the bottom line is eight of 0:13:41.200 --> 0:13:45.600 the world doesn't live like we do, and I just 0:13:46.040 --> 0:13:51.360 don't want her to ever forget how fortunate she is 0:13:51.400 --> 0:13:53.640 to be here. So I would have to say that 0:13:54.040 --> 0:13:58.360 my experience over the last two decades of absolutely I 0:13:58.440 --> 0:14:02.120 got the degree. I got two of them. H nice. 0:14:02.559 --> 0:14:07.480 But who I am is greatly largely in part to 0:14:07.679 --> 0:14:10.559 the experiences and the people I've met in the military. 0:14:11.600 --> 0:14:15.880 I think for people who have seen firsthand what tyranny 0:14:15.920 --> 0:14:19.880 looks like or injustice, it's something you never forget and 0:14:19.920 --> 0:14:23.040 you never take for granted. And so I have kids too, 0:14:23.400 --> 0:14:26.040 so I hear you. When I try to explain to 0:14:26.080 --> 0:14:29.280 them just how precious what we have and how valuable 0:14:29.280 --> 0:14:31.920 it is, and they want to get a Starbucks, I'm like, 0:14:31.960 --> 0:14:33.680 did you even hear what I just said? You know, 0:14:34.400 --> 0:14:42.240 it's crazy. On Natasha's first deployment to Afghanistan, she was 0:14:42.360 --> 0:14:46.440 part of a female Engagement team. These specific teams of 0:14:46.480 --> 0:14:50.960 women's service members work with special operations forces, similar affairs 0:14:51.040 --> 0:14:54.800 and intelligence teams. Their mission to help open up lines 0:14:54.800 --> 0:14:58.720 of communication and local villages. Male soldiers were often seen 0:14:58.800 --> 0:15:03.000 as threatening. Had engagement teams with women like Natasha's had 0:15:03.040 --> 0:15:06.480 the potential to build rapport with the Afghan women, and 0:15:06.560 --> 0:15:12.760 that was often critical it's admission success. There was a 0:15:12.800 --> 0:15:15.280 time we went to this women's hospital and we were 0:15:15.320 --> 0:15:17.240 told there was a portion of our training where it 0:15:17.320 --> 0:15:21.320 was like we were shown pictures that were of essentially 0:15:21.320 --> 0:15:24.760 women that would have been like disfigured somewhat, and you 0:15:24.800 --> 0:15:27.880 had to practice just keeping like a straight face when 0:15:27.920 --> 0:15:31.440 you saw this stuff, because when she realized you could 0:15:31.440 --> 0:15:34.400 speak dor, she'd get a little bit more comfortable with you, 0:15:34.480 --> 0:15:36.320 and they were really comfortable with you. They would take 0:15:36.360 --> 0:15:41.000 their book off, and sometimes you just didn't know what 0:15:41.160 --> 0:15:44.080 was going to be under there. We definitely we saw 0:15:44.160 --> 0:15:48.960 things like um saying there was a man without honor 0:15:49.000 --> 0:15:51.520 as a man without a nose. So when some of 0:15:51.560 --> 0:15:55.680 these really young girls would run away from you know, 0:15:55.760 --> 0:15:59.080 what was their sixty year old husband that they've been 0:15:59.120 --> 0:16:02.720 married to, and they would capture them again, they would 0:16:02.720 --> 0:16:07.040 cut their noses off. So you just had to really practice. 0:16:07.840 --> 0:16:09.800 She'd take that broke off, and you just have to 0:16:09.960 --> 0:16:13.720 brace for impact because it might be an eye gouged out, 0:16:13.720 --> 0:16:16.040 it might be an ear cut off. One woman, her 0:16:16.080 --> 0:16:18.720 son kept speaking for her and I couldn't figure out why, 0:16:19.560 --> 0:16:22.080 and I realized eventually that she had her tongue cut out. 0:16:22.440 --> 0:16:26.000 And the perspective that you get when you get into 0:16:26.640 --> 0:16:30.520 these situations is I'll never be I'll never be the same, 0:16:30.560 --> 0:16:34.480 and I'm so grateful for that, absolutely, And somebody has 0:16:34.520 --> 0:16:36.840 to tell that story. Somebody has to tell those stories 0:16:36.840 --> 0:16:39.280 because I think people back home have no concept of 0:16:40.080 --> 0:16:44.120 the tyranny and the terror that people live under every day. 0:16:46.960 --> 0:16:57.560 Veterans you should know will return after the break, Welcome 0:16:57.600 --> 0:17:03.520 back to veterans you should know in the army. I 0:17:03.560 --> 0:17:07.720 believe women make up about I could be off on that, 0:17:07.800 --> 0:17:09.560 but those are the numbers that I heard women make 0:17:09.600 --> 0:17:14.520 about of the army going down that funnel. It's even 0:17:14.640 --> 0:17:18.160 less in the aviation community. Oh yeah, Do you feel 0:17:18.160 --> 0:17:21.400 like you are a mentor two young women out there 0:17:21.400 --> 0:17:23.840 that want to be pilots? Do you feel that responsibility 0:17:23.920 --> 0:17:27.119 or do you feel eyes upon you? We tiptoe around 0:17:27.119 --> 0:17:30.440 it so much, and I really think that women really 0:17:30.480 --> 0:17:33.760 just want to be the same as you know, no 0:17:33.960 --> 0:17:39.240 special considerations. I think as far as the mentorship goes, 0:17:39.520 --> 0:17:43.920 there were not a lot of higher ranking women when 0:17:43.920 --> 0:17:47.400 I was coming up, and so I feel like at 0:17:47.440 --> 0:17:51.720 this juncture it's important for me to stick around and 0:17:51.960 --> 0:17:57.119 important for me to make sure that not just the 0:17:57.200 --> 0:17:59.960 young women, but it's normalized for the young men also, 0:18:00.920 --> 0:18:04.919 and that we can be a mom and a wife. 0:18:04.960 --> 0:18:07.440 You can have a family and continue to do this job. 0:18:08.400 --> 0:18:12.479 It doesn't have to detract from your capabilities in the 0:18:12.520 --> 0:18:15.919 cockpit or or wherever they're doing the job. But I 0:18:15.960 --> 0:18:19.520 think the important thing is for women, did just realize 0:18:19.560 --> 0:18:24.760 that we're absolutely capable, competent able to do this and 0:18:25.080 --> 0:18:27.480 we should be there. I agree? I agree. Do you 0:18:27.480 --> 0:18:31.600 think the opportunities are there, you know, like I said, 0:18:31.640 --> 0:18:33.840 when I was coming up, nobody said, hey, girl, there's 0:18:33.840 --> 0:18:36.520 this really cool crew chief job, or you could do 0:18:36.640 --> 0:18:39.800 a program called high school to flight school. Nobody mentioned 0:18:39.800 --> 0:18:42.520 any really cool jobs like that. And when you think 0:18:42.520 --> 0:18:45.320 about joining the military, you don't think about processing some 0:18:45.880 --> 0:18:49.440 cool guys pay problems. You know, you think about going 0:18:49.480 --> 0:18:52.359 and doing a really cool army job. I think I 0:18:52.440 --> 0:18:55.520 wasn't any different, and then going to do an administrative 0:18:55.600 --> 0:18:59.840 job was a little bit of a letdown. But that 0:19:00.000 --> 0:19:01.640 doesn't have to be the end. You know, that doesn't 0:19:01.640 --> 0:19:04.080 have to be where you stop. You've got to continue 0:19:04.080 --> 0:19:08.400 to push forward and look for those opportunities. They're there. 0:19:08.800 --> 0:19:10.600 They might not be offered up to you, but they 0:19:10.600 --> 0:19:13.399 are there, and you can. You have to go seek 0:19:13.400 --> 0:19:22.440 those out. In all opportunities and occupations in the military 0:19:22.480 --> 0:19:26.080 were open to women for the first time. We are 0:19:26.160 --> 0:19:29.600 still seeing many first because of that. The Tomb of 0:19:29.640 --> 0:19:32.800 the Unknown Soldier at Arlington National Cemetery is a sacred 0:19:32.840 --> 0:19:37.040 memorial in resting place for unidentified service members who perished 0:19:37.040 --> 0:19:40.359 in war. A guard from the Army's third U S 0:19:40.440 --> 0:19:44.560 Infantry Regiment, also known as the Old Guard, stands watch 0:19:44.680 --> 0:19:48.240 over the unknown soldier at all times. This fall, for 0:19:48.280 --> 0:19:51.960 the first time in history, the tomb had its first 0:19:52.000 --> 0:19:58.400 all female changing up the guard. When I saw that image, 0:19:58.440 --> 0:20:02.120 it was incredibly powerful to me. I mean, I think 0:20:02.160 --> 0:20:06.199 that is for sure in our military, guarding the tomb 0:20:06.560 --> 0:20:11.879 is just absolutely one of the highest honors that there is. 0:20:12.440 --> 0:20:16.000 And too for the first time ever, get to see 0:20:16.040 --> 0:20:20.159 that there were three women doing it was, you know, 0:20:20.200 --> 0:20:29.239 like I said, an incredibly powerful image. I know it 0:20:29.280 --> 0:20:32.480 resonates to me being in the military, but I think 0:20:32.520 --> 0:20:36.080 the important thing is for the generations to come seeing that, 0:20:36.600 --> 0:20:40.160 and not just the women, not just the young women, 0:20:40.800 --> 0:20:45.880 but the male population as well, to start normalizing that 0:20:46.040 --> 0:20:49.959 and viewing that women's contribution can be just as equal 0:20:50.160 --> 0:20:53.800 to a male's and and a lot of different occupations. 0:20:54.440 --> 0:20:56.640 So I think there is a standard to be met, 0:20:57.280 --> 0:20:59.800 and just like there is for the soldiers that guard 0:20:59.880 --> 0:21:02.679 the him, there's some strict standards that have to be met, 0:21:03.119 --> 0:21:07.439 and if that individual male, female, black, white, whatever it 0:21:07.480 --> 0:21:10.320 may be, if they have met those standards, let them 0:21:10.359 --> 0:21:12.439 have the job. I couldn't agree more. I think if 0:21:12.480 --> 0:21:16.240 you meet the standards, there should be no limits on anything. 0:21:16.400 --> 0:21:19.359 It's all about meeting the standards. You are a woman, 0:21:19.520 --> 0:21:21.560 and you are a leader, and you are a soldier. 0:21:22.040 --> 0:21:25.080 These are all facts. They're not in dispute. So let's 0:21:25.080 --> 0:21:28.719 talk about that, Like, do you see progress? Are you 0:21:28.840 --> 0:21:31.480 feeling like there is progress with regard to women in 0:21:31.480 --> 0:21:34.840 the army and the military in general. Absolutely, And I 0:21:34.880 --> 0:21:40.440 think the fantastic thing is that women are aggressively seeking it. 0:21:41.080 --> 0:21:44.320 And I think we are up to eighty four women 0:21:44.320 --> 0:21:47.840 that have been through ranger school and we just had 0:21:47.840 --> 0:21:51.600 a woman lead, a woman ranger lead in combat, and 0:21:51.680 --> 0:21:55.320 I think that those things are incredible, and I'm so 0:21:55.400 --> 0:21:59.439 excited that for my daughter, those aren't going to be first, 0:21:59.680 --> 0:22:02.399 you know, and that happens for her and her later years. 0:22:02.480 --> 0:22:03.720 It's not going to be a first. It's going to 0:22:03.800 --> 0:22:07.560 be normal. You said you have a daughter. You mentioned 0:22:07.560 --> 0:22:11.280 your daughter. What do you want her to know about 0:22:11.359 --> 0:22:14.280 your service? If she could have one takeaway that she 0:22:14.280 --> 0:22:15.760 gets to put in her hip pocket for the rest 0:22:15.760 --> 0:22:17.520 of her life, what would what would you want that 0:22:17.560 --> 0:22:21.199 to be. I've thought about that a lot, actually, you know, 0:22:21.240 --> 0:22:24.800 and I think that this is probably a thought that 0:22:24.840 --> 0:22:29.239 crosses anyone's mind who has I guess as far as 0:22:29.240 --> 0:22:31.960 the military goes anyone that has some rank about them, 0:22:32.080 --> 0:22:36.760 or has held a position of high authority, or had 0:22:36.760 --> 0:22:41.000 a really illustrious career. You worry that are your kids 0:22:41.000 --> 0:22:42.840 going to feel like they're always kind of standing in 0:22:42.880 --> 0:22:44.959 your shadow? Are they going to feel like they have 0:22:45.080 --> 0:22:48.040 to live up to what you did? I wanted to 0:22:48.080 --> 0:22:52.040 give everything to whatever she decides to do and know 0:22:52.560 --> 0:22:55.920 that she is very loved and very supported. I had 0:22:55.920 --> 0:22:58.199 a mom that just really never made me feel like 0:22:58.240 --> 0:23:01.320 there wasn't anywhere that I There was no where I 0:23:01.359 --> 0:23:05.280 didn't belong, so I never knew that there were places 0:23:05.320 --> 0:23:08.119 I probably wasn't welcome, and so I just walked in 0:23:08.160 --> 0:23:11.040 the door like I was supposed to be there, and 0:23:11.600 --> 0:23:13.959 I felt like the people that thought I shouldn't be 0:23:14.119 --> 0:23:17.840 were the ones with the problem. Just try, you know, 0:23:17.960 --> 0:23:20.560 I mean I tried and I got picked up, you know, 0:23:20.600 --> 0:23:23.199 So whatever it is, just jump in. Because failure is 0:23:23.760 --> 0:23:26.840 an integral part of success. You cannot have one without 0:23:26.840 --> 0:23:28.639 the other. And I've failed a lot more times than 0:23:28.720 --> 0:23:32.480 I ever succeeded. True words were never spoken when I 0:23:32.520 --> 0:23:35.760