2LT Estella Blas Aguon, Guam National Guard
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2LT Estella Blas Aguon became the first woman from the Guam National Guard to complete the Ranger Training Assessment Course at Fort Benning, GA.
Guam National Guard
<a href="%20https%3A//www.postguam.com/news/local/aguon-achieves-milestone-for-women-in-guam-guard/article_11f7e24a-a99a-11e8-84b2-ab2ebdbaca67.html">Aguon achieves milestone for women in Guam Guard.</a>
The Guam Daily Post
August 28, 2018
Public domain.
LTG Nadja West, US Army
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Lieutenant General Nadja West became the first African American appointed Army Surgeon General and the first African American woman to attain three-star general officer rank.
US Army
2LT Marcella A. Hayes, US Army
<a href="/items/browse?advanced%5B0%5D%5Belement_id%5D=49&advanced%5B0%5D%5Btype%5D=is+exactly&advanced%5B0%5D%5Bterms%5D=Hayes%2C+Marcella+A.">Hayes, Marcella A.</a>
<a href="/items/browse?advanced%5B0%5D%5Belement_id%5D=49&advanced%5B0%5D%5Btype%5D=is+exactly&advanced%5B0%5D%5Bterms%5D=African+American">African American</a>
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Photo of Marcella Hayes, originally printed in Ebony Magazine in 1980.
Ebony Magazine
Army Women's Foundation, https://www.awfdn.org/trailblazers/marcella-a-hayes-ng/
1980
Front page of The Carrier, Naval Air Station Alameda, California, August 14, 1992, Vol. No. 33, NAS Avionics Worker Recalls Desert Storm Duties, featuring Army Reservist First Sergeant Delphine Metcalf
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<a href="/items/browse?advanced%5B0%5D%5Belement_id%5D=49&advanced%5B0%5D%5Btype%5D=is+exactly&advanced%5B0%5D%5Bterms%5D=Operation+Desert+Storm">Operation Desert Storm</a>
<a href="/items/browse?advanced%5B0%5D%5Belement_id%5D=49&advanced%5B0%5D%5Btype%5D=is+exactly&advanced%5B0%5D%5Bterms%5D=689th+Graves+Registration+Company">689th Graves Registration Company</a>
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First Sergeant, United States Army Reserve, Delphine Metcalf gives an account the work done by her 30 soldier 689th Graves Registration Company, processing 177 casualties for shipment home during Operation Desert Storm.
Kelly, Rochelle
The Carrier, Naval Air Station Alameda, California
August 14, 1992
Saleha Jabeen
U.S. Army, U.S. Air Force, 2019-present
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<a href="/items/browse?advanced%5B0%5D%5Belement_id%5D=49&advanced%5B0%5D%5Btype%5D=is+exactly&advanced%5B0%5D%5Bterms%5D=Muslim">Muslim</a>
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Saleha Jabeen grew up in India and came to the United States in the mid-2000s as an international student to earn an MBA and join the corporate world. Within two years, her outlook changed due to her experiences with prejudice. Financial concerns left Jabeen with a choice—move back to India or seek financial independence in America. Inspired by her brother’s military service, Jabeen initially joined the U.S. Army, working alongside chaplains. She then became a chaplain candidate and commissioned as a second lieutenant by the U.S. Air Force Chief of Chaplains on December 18, 2019, becoming the first woman Muslim chaplain in the Department of Defense. Of her service, Jabeen says, “When other people look at what I have done, I want them to know that God has a plan for you and to go out there and be the best version of yourself and accomplish the mission you were specifically designed to complete. Don’t let anyone or anything stop you and when they try—be kind, be generous, be resilient and don’t quit.”
Pratima Dharm
U.S. Army, 2006-2015, Operation Iraqi Freedom
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<a href="/items/browse?advanced%5B0%5D%5Belement_id%5D=49&advanced%5B0%5D%5Btype%5D=is+exactly&advanced%5B0%5D%5Bterms%5D=U.S.+Army">U.S. Army</a>
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Pratima Dharm, the first Hindu chaplain in the U.S. Army, grew up surrounded by spirituality of all kinds in India. She moved to the United States in 2001 for school. Dharm wanted to become a chaplain which required attending seminary, but Hindu studies were not offered. To meet requirements, along with studying psychology and Judaism, she attended a Protestant seminary. After becoming a Pentecostal minister, she was commissioned as an Army chaplain in 2006, joining a community of approximately 1,000 Hindu servicemembers. Dharm became the first Hindu chaplain in the Defense Department in 2011. “There's this tremendous sense of hope and relief that there is someone who understands their story at a deeper level, coming from the background I do,” she said of her fellow Hindu Soldiers. Dharm worked as a counselor on suicide prevention, combat stress training, marriage counseling, and other spiritual and psychological needs. Earlier, Dharm deployed to Iraq in 2007-2008, earning a Bronze Star and the Army Commendation Medal for running ten humanitarian aid missions for the Iraqi Kurdish population. Dharm left the service in 2015.
Anmol Narang
U.S. Army, 2020-present
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Anmol Narang, a child of Sikh immigrants from India, became the first observant Sikh to graduate from the United States Military Academy at West Point in June 2020. Sikh religious beliefs prohibit shearing hair, so while Sikhs had graduated from West Point before, military guidelines prevented them from observing their religious beliefs. Narang could tie her hair in a bun, allowing her to observe her religion while attending West Point. Upon induction into the U.S. Army, Second Lieutenant Narang said, “I have never worked harder for anything in my life. Being a Sikh woman is a very important part of my identity and if my experience can play a small role in being an inspiration for others ... that will be wonderful.” After graduation, Narang completed her Basic Officer Leadership Course at Fort Sill, Oklahoma, and reported in January 2021 to her first assignment at Kadena Air Base, Okinawa, Japan.
Vanessa Guillen
U.S. Army, 2018-2020
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Vanessa Guillen, from Houston, Texas, enlisted in the U.S. Army in June 2018 at the age of 18. She trained in small arms and artillery repair and was assigned to Fort Hood, Texas. Prior to her April 22, 2020, disappearance, Guillen told friends and family she was experiencing sexual harassment but had yet to report it due to concern over possible backlash. A witness said Guillen left an arms room to confirm serial numbers with Specialist Aaron Robinson before disappearing. Thousands of soldiers searched Fort Hood and the surrounding area for Guillen, finding her remains several months later. The U.S. Army announced Guillen died in the line of duty, allowing her family military benefits. In the wake of Specialist Guillen’s murder, a bipartisan bill called the “I Am Vanessa Guillen Act” was introduced in September 2020, which would have made sexual harassment a crime within the Uniform Code of Military Justice and move prosecution decisions of sexual assault and harassment cases out of the military chain of command.
Emily (Tatum) Perez
U.S. Army, 2005-2006, Operation Iraqi Freedom
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<a href="/items/browse?advanced%5B0%5D%5Belement_id%5D=49&advanced%5B0%5D%5Btype%5D=is+exactly&advanced%5B0%5D%5Bterms%5D=U.S.+Army">U.S. Army</a>
<a href="/items/browse?advanced%5B0%5D%5Belement_id%5D=49&advanced%5B0%5D%5Btype%5D=is+exactly&advanced%5B0%5D%5Bterms%5D=Operation+Iraqi+Freedom">Operation Iraqi Freedom</a>
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Emily (Tatum) Perez, one of two children born into a military family, lived much of her youth in Germany. She returned to the United States in 1998, graduating from high school in Maryland in 2001. Realizing her life-long dream of becoming a soldier, Perez was accepted to the United States Military Academy at West Point, where she continued to excel. She was in the top ten percent of her class and a medal-winning athlete. She was the first minority female Corps Command Sergeant Major in the history of the Academy. Perez graduated in May 2005 and commissioned a second lieutenant in the U.S. Army. She was assigned to Fort Hood, Texas, as a medical service officer with the 204th Support Battalion, 2nd Brigade, 4th Infantry Division. In December 2005, Perez deployed to Iraq with her unit. On September 12, 2006, 23-year-old Second Lieutenant Emily (Tatum) Perez was killed when an Improvised Explosive Device (IED) detonated near her Humvee in Al Kifl, Iraq. Joe Rogers, her assistant track coach at West Point, said of Emily, “She was just the kind of kid you want your own children to be like.”
Debra (Lopez) Fix
U.S. Army, 1981-2001
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Debra (Lopez) Fix, from Elgin, Texas, entered the United States Military Academy at West Point in 1977. In 1981, she became the first Hispanic woman to graduate from the Academy. She went on to serve in several demanding assignments. While serving at the Pentagon on September 11, 2001, Fix’s team took the brunt of the terrorist attack that killed 26 of her comrades. Wounded in the attack, she earned the Purple Heart and was credited by a fellow lieutenant colonel with saving that officer's life. After September 11, the Army promoted her to colonel, and she went on to hold leadership positions in the Department of the Army. Fix has said of her service, “I have seen through the eyes of many young Soldiers. They are the same eyes on their way to Vietnam in 1966 and the same eyes that would go to war after 9/11.”