Laura Naylor Colbert and friends on deployment in Iraq

Operation Iraqi Freedom: Wisconsin Women Were There Proving Their Skill

Among the First to Arrive On March 20, 2003, Operation Iraqi Freedom (OIF) officially began. More than 3,900 active Wisconsin troops deployed to Iraq. Among the first Wisconsin units to arrive was the Wisconsin Army National Guard’s 32nd Military Police Company. In preparation for major combat actions, medical personnel also

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Listening to Learn: Oral Histories from Women in Service

By Ellen Brooks, Oral Historian 2018 marks seventy years since the passage of the Women’s Armed Services Integration Act which enabled women to serve as regular members of every branch of the military. In 1978 the Women’s Army Corp was officially disbanded. In January 2013 the restriction on women serving

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