Author: Erica Courtney
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Life of a Female Veteran: U.S. Army Combat Veteran Erica Courtney (part 3 of 6)
Chris and I finally got married and a few years later came our first son. We planned it so I would be pregnant in a non-operational position during an eight-month leadership course. Noah was born upon arriving to my next assignment at the 10th Mountain Division in upstate New York. My mother decided to help…
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Life of a Female Veteran: U.S. Army Combat Veteran Erica Courtney (part 2 of 6)
Towards the end of my tour I had set out to earn my spurs, an old cavalry tradition which signifies you are a cut above. This consisted of three days of physical hazing, meeting with a board of senior leaders to answer anything and everything about Cavalry tradition, and employing skills needed to meet the…
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Women Veterans: The Challenges They Face & a Way Forward
Although not officially recognized as members of the armed forces until 1901, the involvement of women in the military dates back to the Revolutionary War. Each year, the population of women veterans grows steadily due, in part, to the increasing number and proportion of women entering and leaving military service. Most women veterans possess those…
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Life of a Female Veteran: U.S. Army Combat Veteran Erica Courtney
I am proudly part of the 1.4 percent of American women who served in the military. The day I signed the paperwork to join as a teenager the Gulf War kicked off and I watched tanks fire through the night on TV thinking, “What in the world did I do?” Having grown up in surf…