Vessels

Opinion

After six years at the front, here is what nobody tells you about being a woman at war

This May will mark six years since I put on a military uniform and began serving in the same marine infantry unit — first as a combat medic in a reconnaissance platoon, and now as a strike drone operator. I have witnessed three distinct forms of war: the forgotten trench war, the large-scale war of maneuver, and the drone war. Over that time, after many combat operations and losses, much has changed within me. It is gratifying to see how attitudes toward women in the military have shifted duri