52 Women in the Iraq War

Vernice Armour is a former United States Marine Corps officer who was the first African-American female naval aviator in the Marine Corps and the first Marine Corps African American female combat pilot in the U.S. Armed Forces. She flew the AH-1W SuperCobra attack helicopter in the 2003 invasion of Iraq and eventually served two tours in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom.

Band of Sisters: American Women at War in Iraq is a 2007 book by Kirsten Holmstedt about the Iraq War and women in the military with a foreword by Tammy Duckworth. Band of Sisters presents twelve stories of American women on the frontlines including America's first female pilot to be shot down and survive, the U.S. military's first black female combat pilot, a 21-year-old turret gunner defending a convoy, two military policewomen in a firefight, and a nurse struggling to save lives.

Monica Beltran is a soldier in the Virginia Army National Guard who was awarded the Bronze Star Medal with "V" device for actions during a 2005 battle in the Iraq War.

Vice Admiral Nancy E. Brown most recently served as the Director, Command, Control, Communications and Computer Systems, The Joint Staff. She is the principal advisor to the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff on all C4 systems matters within the Department of Defense. Her service spanned 32 years. She retired in 2009.

Corporal Sarah Louise Bryant, of the British Army's Intelligence Corps, was the first British servicewoman killed in Afghanistan.

Margaret W. Burcham is a retired brigadier general of the United States Army. She was the first female brigadier general in the United States Army Corps of Engineers.

Colonel Kim Nichole Reed-Campbell is a United States Air Force officer and Senior Pilot. She was decorated for piloting her A-10 Thunderbolt II back to base in southern Iraq after taking heavy anti-aircraft artillery (AAA) damage in aerial combat over Baghdad during Operation Iraqi Freedom in 2003. After her tour of duty in Iraq ended, Campbell gave lectures throughout the United States about her experience, including one at the National Air and Space Museum. Campbell was promoted to the rank of major in 2006.

Liz Carmouche is an American mixed martial arts fighter who currently competes in Bellator MMA. Carmouche competed for the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) in the Women's Flyweight and Women's Bantamweight divisions. At the time of her UFC departure, she was #4 in the UFC women's flyweight rankings.

Gina Cavallaro is an American journalist and author who has covered the U.S. military in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Wing Commander Linda Mary Corbould OAM is a retired officer of the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF), who was the first woman to command a RAAF flying squadron. She joined the RAAF in 1981, and became one of its first female pilots in the early 1990s. Corbould flew transport aircraft, including during the Iraq War in 2003, and commanded No. 36 Squadron from 2006 to 2008. She retired from the RAAF in 2011, but remains an officer in the Air Force Reserve.

Arwa Damon is an American journalist who is a senior international correspondent for CNN, based in Istanbul. From 2003, she covered the Middle East as a freelance journalist, before joining CNN in 2006. She is also president and founder of INARA, a humanitarian organization that provides medical treatment to refugee children from Syria.

Jody J. Daniels is a lieutenant general in the United States Army, who serves as the 34th Chief of the United States Army Reserve, and the 9th Commanding General, United States Army Reserve Command since 2020. She earned her commission through Reserve Officers Training Corps in 1983. In July 2020, Daniels was confirmed to succeed Lieutenant General Charles D. Luckey as Chief of Army Reserve.

Teresa A.H. Djuric is a retired United States Air Force brigadier general. Her last assignment was Deputy Director, Space and Intelligence Office, Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition, Technology and Logistics, The Pentagon, Washington, D.C.

Jennifer Marie "Jenna" Dolan is a colonel in the United States Marine Corps Reserve and former fighter pilot. During the 2003 invasion of Iraq, she became the first woman to fly the McDonnell Douglas AV-8B Harrier II aircraft in combat. The First Lady of the United States, Michelle Obama, recognized Dolan's transition from the military to civilian workforce as an example for others to follow. Dolan plans to join a small group of civilian pilots that fly the Harrier at air shows.

Kimberly Dozier is a contributing writer to The Daily Beast and a contributor to CNN. She was previously a correspondent for the Associated Press, covering intelligence and counterterrorism, and prior to that, a CBS News correspondent for 17 years based mostly overseas. She was stationed in Baghdad as the chief reporter in Iraq for CBS News for nearly three years prior to being critically wounded on May 29, 2006. She is General Omar N. Bradley Chair in Strategic Leadership, at the Army War College, Penn State Law and Dickinson College.

Ladda Tammy Duckworth is an American politician and retired Army National Guard lieutenant colonel serving as the junior United States Senator from Illinois since 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, she represented Illinois's 8th congressional district in the United States House of Representatives from 2013 to 2017.

Joni Kay Ernst is an American politician and former military officer serving as the junior United States Senator for Iowa since 2015. A Republican, she served in the Iowa State Senate from 2011 to 2014. Ernst served in the Iowa Army National Guard from 1993 to 2015, retiring as a lieutenant colonel.

Barbara Fast is a retired major general of the United States Army. One of the first female officers placed in many challenging and dangerous situations and assignments, Fast is a member of the Military Intelligence Corps Hall of Fame. She was the first female to command an Army Military Intelligence Tactical Exploitation Battalion and the first female Intelligence Officer/G2 of a combat division. Her expertise spans across intelligence and cybersecurity.

Tulsi Gabbard is an American politician and United States Army Reserve officer who served as the U.S. Representative for Hawaii's 2nd congressional district from 2013 to 2021. Elected in 2012, she was the first Hindu member of Congress and also the first Samoan-American voting member of Congress. In early February 2019 she announced her candidacy for the Democratic nomination in the 2020 United States presidential election.

Rebecca Stevens "Becky" Halstead is a former United States Army officer and the first female graduate of West Point to become a general officer. She was the 34th Chief of Ordnance and Commandant of the United States Army Ordnance Center and Schools at Aberdeen Proving Ground, Maryland.

Sabrina D. Harman is a former United States Army reservist convicted of war crimes in connection with the 2003–2004 Abu Ghraib prisoner abuse scandal in Baghdad, Iraq, during and after the 2003 invasion of Iraq.

RDML Gretchen S. Herbert is a retired United States Navy officer who commanded the Navy Cyber Forces.

Leigh Ann Hester is a United States Army National Guard soldier. While assigned to the 617th Military Police Company, a Kentucky Army National Guard unit out of Richmond, Kentucky, Hester received the Silver Star for her heroic actions on 20 March 2005 during an enemy ambush on a supply convoy near the town of Salman Pak, Iraq.

Fern Leona Holland was an American lawyer who was killed in the Iraq conflict that began in 2003. Holland died on March 9, 2004 while working for the Coalition Provisional Authority (CPA) in Iraq.

Elizabeth Nicole "Liz" Jacobson was a United States Air Force airman who was killed in action in the Iraq War in 2005. A member of the U.S. Air Force Security Forces, she was the first female U.S. airman killed in the line of duty in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom and the first Air Force Security Forces member killed in conflict since the Vietnam War.

Shoshana Nyree Johnson is a Panamanian-born former United States soldier, and the first black female prisoner of war in the military history of the United States. Johnson was a Specialist of the U.S. Army 507th Maintenance Company, 5/52 ADA BN, 11th ADA Brigade. During the Battle of Nasiriyah, she suffered bullet wounds to both of her ankles and was captured by Iraqi forces. She was held prisoner in Iraq for 22 days along with five other members of her unit. She was freed in a rescue mission conducted by United States Marine Corps units on April 13, 2003.

Janis Leigh Karpinski is a retired career officer in the United States Army Reserve. She is notable for having commanded the forces that operated Abu Ghraib and other prisons in Iraq in 2003 and 2004, at the time of the scandal related to torture and prisoner abuse. She commanded three prisons in Iraq and the forces that ran them. Her education includes a Bachelor of Arts degree in English and secondary education from Kean College, a Master of Arts degree in aviation management from Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, and a Master of Arts in strategic studies from the United States Army War College.

Shawna Rochelle Kimbrell is a Lieutenant Colonel in the United States Air Force, and the first female African-American fighter pilot in the history of that service. She flew the F-16 Fighting Falcon during combat missions in Operation Northern Watch. She is stationed at Nellis Air Force Base where she is a member of the 78th Attack Squadron and serves as an MQ-9 Pilot and Mission Commander.

Karen LeDoux is a retired major general in the United States Army Reserve and former Commander of Fort McCoy, Wisconsin.

Jessica Dawn Lynch is a former United States Army soldier who served in the 2003 invasion of Iraq by U.S. and allied forces. On March 23, 2003, Private First Class Lynch was serving as a unit supply specialist with the 507th Maintenance Company when her convoy was ambushed by Iraqi forces during the Battle of Nasiriyah. Lynch was seriously injured and captured. Her subsequent recovery by U.S. Special Operations Forces on April 1, 2003 received considerable media coverage; it was the first successful rescue of an American prisoner of war since World War II and the first ever of a woman.

Wendy Lee Motlong Masiello retired as a lieutenant general in the United States Air Force on May 24, 2017. From May 2014 to May 24, 2017 she was the director of the Defense Contract Management Agency, based in Fort Lee, Virginia.

Anne Charlotte McClain is a lieutenant colonel in the U.S. Army, engineer and a NASA astronaut. Her call sign, "Annimal", dates back to her bruising rugby days; she also uses the call sign in her Twitter handle, AstroAnnimal. She was a Flight Engineer for Expedition 58/59 to the International Space Station.

Megan Malia Leilani McClung was the first female United States Marine Corps officer killed in combat during the Iraq War. Major McClung was serving as a public affairs officer in Al Anbar Province, Iraq when she was killed.

Martha Elizabeth McSally is an American politician and former military pilot who served as a United States Senator for Arizona from 2019 to 2020. A member of the Republican Party, she previously served as the U.S. Representative for Arizona's 2nd congressional district from 2015 to 2019. McSally served in the United States Air Force from 1988 to 2010, achieving the rank of Colonel. She is the first U.S. woman to fly in combat and also the first to command a fighter squadron.

Melanie Meier is a Democratic member of the Kansas House of Representatives, representing the 40th district. An officer in the United States Army Reserve, she was called up for active duty and replaced by Don Navinsky in February 2009. Once Meier's tour of duty in Iraq was complete, in January 2010, Navinsky relinquished the seat and Meier resumed her duties at the State House. She was re-elected to a second term in November 2010.

Julia Nesheiwat is an American national security adviser who served as the 10th Homeland Security Advisor in the Donald Trump Administration, from 2020 to 2021. She also served in the Bush and Obama administrations.

Anne Nivat is a French journalist and war correspondent who has covered conflicts in Chechnya, Iraq, and Afghanistan. She is known for interviews and character portraits in print of civilians, especially women, and their experiences of war.

Captain María Inés Ortiz was the first American nurse to die in combat during Operation Iraqi Freedom and the first U.S. Army nurse to die in combat since the Vietnam War. The United States Army named the Forward Operating Base Prosperity clinic after her.

Stacy L. Pearsall is an American photographer. Pearsall served as a military photographer in the United States Air Force until her wounds lead to her medical retirement. Since leaving the Air Force, Pearsall has worked as a professional photographer.

Emily Jazmin Tatum Perez was a Cadet Command Sergeant Major in the United States Military Academy at West Point.

Lori Ann Piestewa was a United States Army soldier killed during the Iraq War. A member of the Quartermaster Corps, she died in the same Iraqi attack in which fellow soldiers Shoshana Johnson and Jessica Lynch were injured. A member of the Hopi tribe, Piestewa was the first Native American woman to die in combat while serving in the U.S. military and the first woman in the U.S. military killed in the Iraq War. Arizona's Piestewa Peak is named in her honor.

Coral Wong Pietsch is a United States Judge for the United States Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims. She is a former brigadier general in the United States Army Reserve. In 2001 she became the first woman Army Judge Advocates General (JAG), and the first Asian-American woman to reach general officer rank in the United States Army.

Laura Jane Richardson is a lieutenant general in the United States Army who was most recently commanding general of United States Army North. As an army aviator, Richardson flew Sikorsky UH-60 Black Hawk helicopters. Promoted to brigadier general in 2011, she served in various commands at Fort Hood and as chief of staff for communication in the International Security Assistance Force in Afghanistan. In June 2017, she was promoted to lieutenant general and appointed deputy commanding general of United States Army Forces Command (FORSCOM). She served as acting commander of FORSCOM from October 2018 until March 2019 and, on July 8, 2019, became the first woman appointed to command United States Army North. Richardson was nominated as commander of United States Southern Command by President Joe Biden in March 2021 and confirmed in this role by the United States Senate on August 11.

Staff Sergeant Denise Michelle Rose of the Royal Military Police's Special Investigation Branch was the first British female soldier to die in military operations in the Iraq War. Her death was later ruled to have been a suicide.

Nadiya Viktorivna Savchenko is a Ukrainian politician and former Army aviation pilot in the Ukrainian Ground Forces, and former People's Deputy of Ukraine.

Giuliana Sgrena is an Italian journalist who works for the Italian communist newspaper Il Manifesto and the German weekly Die Zeit. While working in Iraq, she was kidnapped by insurgents on 4 February 2005. After her release on 4 March, Sgrena and the two Italian intelligence officers who had helped secure her release came under fire from U.S. forces while on their way to Baghdad International Airport. Nicola Calipari, a major general in the Italian Military Intelligence and Security Service was killed, and Sgrena and one other officer were wounded in the incident. The event caused an international outcry.

Melissa Stockwell is an American two-time Paralympic triathlete, swimmer and former U.S. Army officer. Competing in the 2008 Summer Paralympics in three swimming events, she returned to race in the 2016 Paralympic Games and won a Bronze medal in the inaugural triathlon event on September 11, 2016.

Ramona M. Valdez was a Dominican-born United States Marine who was killed in the Iraq War. She was posthumously honored by the U.S. Marine Corps when the II MEF Communications Training Center was dedicated as the Valdez Training Facility.

Clarissa Ward is a British-American television journalist, who is currently chief international correspondent for CNN. She was with CBS News, based in London. Before her CBS News position, Ward was a Moscow-based news correspondent for ABC News programs.

Sarah West is a retired Royal Navy officer, the first woman to be appointed to command a major warship in the Royal Navy.

Kayla Williams is a United States government official and a former Arabic linguist in the United States Army who wrote her experiences of the 2003 Iraq invasion in her book Love My Rifle More Than You. This book details her personal experiences during the war in Iraq.

Mika Yamamoto was an award-winning Japanese video and photo journalist for the news agency Japan Press. Yamamoto was killed on 20 August 2012 while covering the ongoing Syrian Civil War in Aleppo, Syria. She was the first Japanese and fourth foreign journalist killed in the Syrian Civil War that began in March 2011. She was also the fifteenth journalist killed in Syria in 2012. Yamamoto was a recipient of the Vaughn-Uyeda Memorial Prize of the Japanese Newspaper Publishers and Editors Association for her reporting of international affairs in 2004.