“In the National Guard, you do get lots of benefits, and one of the main benefits is the health care and the salary, which helps out a lot with college and widens my options for choosing what colleges I can go to. That’s part of why I enlisted, was to help for college. The main reason why I joined is because I love this country, and I would fight for it. I want to get deployed. I feel that when I get deployed is when my career actually starts. That’s when I start doing something and start fighting for my country. There are certain aspects to women taking combat roles in the military. Men and women have physical differences, and it’s a lot easier for men to carry around all this gear. Women can do it too. It’s difficult, but doable. It is tough for everyone, though. You can watch videos of people doing it without breaking a sweat, but what they don’t show you are the ones struggling. It’s not just women, but men too.”

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