you don't need to join a corporate entity. secondly steve case and other people with the rise of the rest have been working with the administration ex-going to new orleans in costume weeks to talk about entrepreneur shouppe. ship. >> we work with incubators and accelerators to help support that effort, which is the whole innovation culture and the entrepreneurship culture in the united states, which frankly is the envy of the world. there isn't a country i go to around the world that says, how do we replicate what you have? what is so exciting to me is we're really doing a lot to elevate and support innovation and entrepreneurship outside of the traditional centers of boston silicon valley, austin,

texas, boulder and with the efforts like what steve case is doing and what eda is doing to actually help fund a number of these organizations. we're helping entrepreneurs around the united states get access not only to mentorship and to training -- remember, they're going to a business idea to a business plan to how to actually create an organization legally to having to hire people et cetera. that whole process is something daunting if you're not -- don't come from folks who can help you do that. and so these are really centers that are able to help young folks, and it's -- old folks doesn't matter what age you are. just any entrepreneur, and it's very exciting what is happening there. >> i will put in a plug that we just started this past month with eric levin who is one of

the incubator, has come here so we can have an incubation at the aspen institute. both for profit and nonprofit entrepreneurs, people want to be social entrepreneurs or entrepreneurs in the private sector because that notion of bringing people together and giving them the meanter toship and giving them skills and this sort of support structure they need allows people start new enterprises, and what about this portfolio approach that many people are something to how are we -- besides the affordable care act -- helping allow that to flourish in america? >> well, i think that -- you know we are living in the age of the microentrepreneur. so think about what technology is allowing to have happen. you can drive your uber for four hours a day and be going to night school or day school or whatever and you can be volunteering part of your time

at -- i always love talking to -- what exactly isor -- they're a portfolio. the same is true there of b & b. their sharing economy is allowing people to put together a portfolio lifestyle and income stream that is something we have never seen. we're unlocking entrepreneurship in this country in a way that is really revolutionary. >> that might be the answer to the question of, will technology create jobs or destroy jobs? once again we're seeing it create jobs. >> one of my question is, are we capturing all that in gdp? >> well, we certainly capturing it in the country and eventually the numbers will catch up with it. any final word? >> no, thank you all very much. >> thank you. [applause]

i don't think, we are people, so men and women together make a more powerful team. i do want to see women covered segregated or separated out it does although there some kind of unique or same capabilities only women have and only women can address. i think cultural support teams

were initially and the reason they're called cultural support teams and a female engagement teams was a decision they capability that could address populations writ large, not civil affairs should be able to do that. by tenuous, that's another debate. cultural support teams should be able to do the same things that come unstuck on several other should be able to do the same things these cultural support teams were identified to be. i do what is in separate women's teams women's only because that's because were different but we are largely not. >> i think public affairs -- [inaudible]

>> i understand. it's a problem they need to rustle with recording civil affairs and the socom community. >> to questions. one is you talk about standards and completely off on the way that is described here. but in these training courses, it's not just the ability to do the job. it's the ability to the job under stress. and so quite often we do the physical aspect to make up for things we can't do in training i.e. shooting someone and being in a life-and-death situation. like to get your perspective when you add that into this aspect of training. my second question is we are an all-volunteer force. you do volunteer for the

different mos's up to a point because when you get to the point you need to fill in to treat spots, you just take the bottom of the classes and you fill up the spots unless you're a woman. if we open it up for women should women be forced to go into infantry? >> i absolutely think what's good for the goose is good for the gander into google enforcement entities qualified name into these positions, then absolutely women should be treated exactly the same. to your earlier question point about -- what was at? stress. this can be great in a whole host of ways. it doesn't just have to be done through the exhaust -- you can create stress through low sleep not much food, unexpected environment. that's what the ranger school does. fatality which are -- their physical standards are from six polyps this this and this.

been you never know when you'll be woke up when your mission willwill end. stress can be added and whole post a voice that just aren't physical. they are psychological. the series of school does that. of does that. a lot of different courses great stressful environments without just being a lot of push-ups. >> and i agree. you can use sleep deprivation, restriction of food restriction of water. there are different ways you can impose a stress. >> and i should also say that this is not only in the military where these kinds of things occur. if you think about the training of physicians get in turn to get being on the long shifts, lack of sleep, there are all kinds of ways to be sure that somebody can react fast in an emergency. one of the best ways -- this is all part of the setting of whether somebody can pass what is a standard.

>> we have a few more minutes here. >> good morning. i just had a question about the research behind the process. it sounds like there's a very in depth research let process to ensure that standard approach to enforcing the letter of the law or the regulation when it came to the physical elements. i was wondering if there was that same amount of research and forethought that went into the consideration for normalizing the new social recognition of the spirit of that same regulation, or would you rely mostly on the existing social structure which with the chain of command? >> do you know what she's talking about? >> yes. >> could you clarify what you are talking about? >> so, for example we've discussed and sounds like there's a lot of thought put into ensuring that no matter who

was taking the test, all of the evaluators and instructors would know precisely how to score that particular assessment peace. but when it comes to the actual integration peace, how do you insurance that the mindset behind that enforcement and behind the you know, because it would be a new social situation for these groups, we have to recognize that it's a new situation, is a fair that same body of research behind the social element of it? >> i think what you're asking about is i is, how to guard against bias. to me that's a leadership issue within an organization. so leaders who know that subordinates within are unfairly biased against certain groups and they are treating you differently, they need to be able to parse that out identify and eliminate it. i would suspect the women who just want to ranger school could -- do you have that experience? didn't seem to be any bias? and if there was how do they

deal with it speak was interestingly within the class itself i think -- our class was primarily infantry lieutenant coming out of it. it seemed incredibly natural that those women who. it's all they've ever known. or they went through rotc and ranger challenge with women and their teams and getting the ultimate as they were cadets. we did not see any bias at all our classmates. if the cadre and leadership felt any bias they did a very good job of acting professionally and treating everybody the same. i don't know what discussions happen prior to implementation but deserved it could job as leaders of making us all feel included. i would think that most units would be capable of exhibiting the kind of leadership. >> one thing is one of the

things said on the last panel in response to the question about whether they didn't about the cadre in general the department in chairman dempsey's memo that said make sure there was insufficient cadre when they integrated any of these units, and the whole issue of cultural studies, why are they doing cultural studies why article uses his? i don't think we got totally satisfactory answers from the earlier panel what they are saying is that both of those are supposed to be helpful to the actual integration process. we also know, of course, from the experience of "don't ask, don't tell" and repeal a "don't ask, don't tell" that the military argued for and got from the congress a specific implementation period when they said they're going to go out and talk to the trip to make sure everybody understood, this is going to happen. you all have to accept it, et cetera, et cetera.

i didn't think we get that process been added to think that we need the process now, but they are at least saying what they are doing is looking at these cultural and other factors so that you can be in his u.n. problems are encountered this the problems as they integrate. yet to take before the word now i think because we haven't seen any of these days and we don't know what they are doing in response. i don't know if you have something to say about that. >> it's a leadership issue, pure and simple. i mean, the leadership sets the tone. it's a leadership issue. i don't know that you -- i'm always leery of the studying cultural stuff because i think you get i'm too old. i've been through too many of these things, but it's a leadership issue. the leadership sets the tone for the leadership sets the standards. and it's up to leaders to hold their subordinates accountable. it's up to the leader where you

are, and the leader above them to hold them accountable. >> sue did you want to comment on that? >> that's cut outside of my domain. we do have researchers that you go into culture operates in the report those findings back to the leadership but that's good outside my domain. >> do i need to close? just shut down? okay, we need to stop, soar. i think a painless will be around for a while. so please don't informally -- please talk informally. [applause] [inaudible conversations] >> is it easier for you to buy safety or go up to the podium? doesn't make a difference?

this forum is a privilege. personal it's a privilege to be on stage with all of you. it's a privilege to be talking about the book that is out because of some of you know you've been two years was something that your baby in this issue and your laptop. now it's out in the world with all of you so it's nice to see again. is for me has been two years of cross-country travel come a lot of holiday inn express stays and conversation with some of the most seasoned of military leaders to talk about what happened. in 2010 and 2011 that led to women on the battlefield alongside special operations. and as for me begin with the question that led to more questions after months and months and months find the answers which was is hosting an event and a marine said this is 2012 and a marine said it's like

a lieutenant who died on a night raid in afghanistan last year. and i said what? you know what was a female soldier doing finite operation in afghanistan? who were these people? why were they fair? and had we not know about them as a country? and those sets of questions really led me on this journey. and what i've learned after conversations with folks like admiral olson general mcchrystal, and lots of soldiers who have executed some of the most difficult missions that the united states military has seen is that in 2010 admiral olson have an idea. in 2011 a poster went out and there were people starting in the end of 2010 going into to start 2011 who answered the call from female soldiers become part

of history, joint special operations command battlefield in afghanistan. and my personal journey with this started in ohio at the home of mr. and mrs. white who were lieutenant white's parents. and i sat in the room which had been actually is in the spring of 2012 -- saar, 2013 come and asked them about their daughter. they start telling me about this mission they have done, she had done and the kind of person she was. and what it became very apparent very quickly was that it was not her death that defined her but her life. and that she was one of those rare people who never talk to you about what she could do a simple letter actions speak for themselves and was one of those people who was much happier doing her job at going hold to her husband and tell you but think it just done. and in the corner of the room

where we sat i saw a piece of paper with allbritton back letter scam you are my motivation. and i thought it somebody could have left at the gravesite more than a year after this then we should really know who that somebody was. and as it turned out there was this whole team of women at the dentist extraordinary thing to get answered the call to serve not once but twice. and i focused specifically pashley entity because ashley's death was the moment that through this program was really built in the much more into the public spotlight. but it was also because of who she was. so the call went out more than 200 people answered. this is no march of 2011 they may 2011 about 55-60 of the women are chosen after 100 hours of hell as it was called on fort

bragg and these women were then spent of their chosen in march or may trained in june and july and deployed by august. they were seeing the kind of combat that fewer than 5% of nice if military see. some of these rangers alongside whom are women, that actually served with where people come if you added up the number one seed in an outcome talking three or four years straight. so you could imagine some of of the skepticism that created the window to take people who have a different training cycle competitive selection process and by the way they are female. but what surprised me about so much of what i learned was that battle hardened soldiers like these guys can find is if it is meant alongside many considered it the biggest privilege of their career to go and serve alongside.

but actually welcomed the women were coming. maybe not initially but certainly by the end because as they said as long as they delivered each night, as long as they paid the rent we wanted about there. some rangers said we should of had all my fourth and fifth and sixth deployment. not my 10th 11th and 12th 12th. so much of the conversation has been the men's reaction. what surprised people by sink him if they could get, help them find the things in the individuals that they were seeking that was the most important. because what has led admiral olson, admiral mcraven general mcchrystal and others to put up his call for female soldiers was not a social niceties or a gender normative it was a battlefield necessity. male soldiers could not access the female soldiers that they need to speak with. so that was the driving force behind the requester forces that came in from admiral mcraven. we need women out there because if you cannot talk to half the

population you're missing things that are out there, missing people that are out there. that was what led to the call of the female soldiers to become part of history. what has impressed me and struck me about every one i met is no matter what year or class they serve there is a bond we've almost never kind of see him a female service members which is because they were recruited as a team in training as a team and deployed as team even though they're going after different bases in ones and twos they have a spirit of bonding and sisterhood that i've never seen among female service members. and quite honestly as a country i don't think we've had the chance to see. what is funny at incredible and remarkable about them is if you read the end of band of brothers the reason he wrote the book was the way the soldiers interacted with one another. i would say the same thing. you sit in a room with them, they are advisors confessors

and biggest boosters imaginable. and only they know what they've seen and experienced. as long as they let that affect anybody else will understand what they did what they saw, what they experienced and how much it meant to them. i got to appoint about eight months in my felt like i could answer almost every question i've been asked almost because i felt like it was a script. this was the best job i ever had is with the people who mean the most to me. i would've done this over and over again if somebody had let me. this was a nation that matter. and for me this whole story is not about politics. it's about purpose. it's a hero's story that we haven't yet heard as a country and that we really should. because it is about people who only wanted to do something that matters at the center of an incredibly long war doing a nation that had real value to

some of the most important people deciding what happened in this war and people who only wanted to serve alongside the best of the best. and this was their chance to get the find is, the fittest the most fierce and also the most feminine women who answered the call to serve because part of what they had to do particularly off of operations was thrown in the heat of battle, that they would feel. so they would board the bird, go to the house, deal with whatever would happen on the nation would happen and then these women would go up to do with women and children they were working with at that quickly take off their helmets and show that they were women. because otherwise underbody farmer in night vision is what enough who was male and his female. so this to me was a story about a team that came to love one another and their mission in a

way that we as a country have not seen. and you really were by and large accepted by people simply wanted to get off target and complete their mission in the best way possible. and i did feel very strongly that particularly in the case of ashley white, this was somebody who had made a mark that no one paid attention to. because upon her death, the lieutenant general who was then head of army special operations command goes to her small town in ohio and said make no mistake about it, these women are warriors. they have set the standard for what it means to be a female and the united states army, the finest army in the world. and he talked in a very public and very moving way about what they have done and why it mattered. and the next day at her funeral the colonel gets up and gives a speech about the man in the

arena which many of you will know as teddy roosevelt speech, and says this is written for a man but it actually could have been for this female soldier. and he says actually, your range of brothers will be out of continuing the mission. you will not be forgotten. and i must tell you that no one in this book who spoke with me did it because they thought they could do anything that should be remembered. they spoke with me because they didn't want their teammate forgotten. because ashley white's obituary lead with the fact that she was a member of the north carolina national guard which she was but as mrs. white told me that's not what she died doing. she died on a mission she believed in alongside the best of the best and we are incredibly, incredibly proud. so all of that was behind the story of how i came to write this book and the last two

things i want to leave you with on the book and i can't wait to talk to you which is that this was an incredible team of all-stars and it wasn't just actually seeking. you spend the night with complex that you get cst one to eight in the river personal you could look rent and you will believe her eyes that there are all these incredibly powerful women that we just don't know who are serving in the united states. and second of all on ashlee's tenure at west point track star another west point who played high school football all four years and wanted to talk after the virtue that because of his people toward girls catholic football jerseys continued playing, she just wanted in glee club but she did want to give anybody the satisfaction of being right. and then you had a one former intel officer who served in bosnia it would help the fbi

busted drug gangs in pennsylvania to get another guard member who was on her third deployment in the war on terror. yet another it was driven trucks in iraq. all of these people wanted to be there. more than they wanted to do any other mission that they had ever done. and at the end of the first weekend of interviews i did with the white family, i asked mrs. white, what would it mean to you if a little girl told you she wanted to be like ashley? she caused. -- she paused as she said it would mean everything. and she said there was a woman at the funeral, now, this funeral as i was saying, this entire special operations committee attended. there were hundreds of people of all ages vietnam veteran korean veterans, little children chilled with her hands in prayer lining the streets.

and they all came to salute first lieutenant ashley white with her husband who was for rotc can state sweetheart who would always pushed her to be the best she could and to be the best she could have ever have been. and this woman came up to me and said -- to mrs. white at the end of two days of ceremony, they had just put red roses on her casket and she came up and said, mrs. white, you don't know me but i brought my daughter here today. and i brought my daughter here today because i want her to know what a hero was. and that's why this story matters. because there are heroes stories all around us we do not see and did not acknowledge, and this was one way to offer a small salute to people who have served and sacrificed and given so much and you really are a hero's story we don't yet know

any to you. so thank you so much and i look forward to the conversation here. [applause] >> so i would just like to go down the line. if you could tell us your name and what mission you did and what years you were there in afghanistan. >> is this on? my name is annie kleinman. i was in cst three songs in the group that took over for ashley's group, and -- what was the question? >> what mission you are doing. [inaudible] spent firstclass meghan malloy. i was part of cst five to a cutback in 13 as part of the village of stability operation mission. >> janiece marquez, i was cst t. which was ashley's mission to also the% of all volunteers to go out to do the cst mission to

got to hear who are from there as well. it's hard to listen to talk about ashley. i see people getting emotional in the audience. i'm like hold it together. i did the vso mission. >> may i start with you because your most recent and i will work down. what attracted you to the mission, and who first told you about at? >> initially i heard about it with cst to i think was the first time i heard about it. i'd wanted to go been in my commander wouldn't let me and my commanders would let me and was just -- >> because you need to explain this was a when you mission write what you need to get command because it would just be done one person, right? >> correct. so eventually my commander happened to be gone for a month and i got my xo who had responsibility -- >> that's innovative leadership

spirit she signed off on it and a couple bucks later i was at the selection. as far as what drove me to do it this was, i did three previous deployment all in iraq and i honestly didn't realize that there was agenda issues as far as, i was the only female out on most of them. as a medic at basically just yanked me from whatever you i was at and we need medics on this mission whether fourth infantry, second deployment to one of the other infantry battalions need medics to help search for females and we didn't have a team or didn't like that and they were like you can keep up plus added bonus, you're a medic. so they just pulled me right in and out issues. i just went to work and they were professional and i was professional. third deployment with the engineer battalion were answered as inadequate route clearance which officially is a position that's off limits to females but again they need medics. they could leave the wire

without them so i coupled with a. shortly after i came back i started hearing, that was the whole thing about the combat exclusion. i was like combat exclusion? i've been doing this for a while now. i started hearing stories from friends of mine have done it. they talked about like the sisterhood and about these wonderful things these girls were doing and these opportunities we would have. i jumped on it as soon as they could. it was an awesome opportunity i would do it again in a heartbeat spent that i would do it again in a heartbeat i probably heard 750 times in the past two years. that's the thing that struck me was not just what you all have done but how much everyone missed that mission. there were people who were willing to take their careers, they just keep doing this mission alongside special operations. i met them all the time and i'm sure there's tons i didn't have

the opportunity to meet because it was like one after the other after the other. this was the thing that meant the most. there's two things i want to pick up on before ask you one more question which is is that xcom and i know a lot of these people long before there was a a cst program that was hey, we need a female to go out tonight, you're coming out with us. i met so many people have gone on peace mission and were just was glad to see it institutionalized by the cst program. one medic told me a story about her commander said a they want to go out and get bad guys? i knew the answer was yes. soon she left her base and i think within a week and a half was out on alongside rangers going out on these missions. and then the second thing want to pick up on this you talk about the combat exclusion policy. when secretary panetta announced the lifting of the combat exclusion policy and it's an

epilogue of the book five months later special operations held a press conference and he cited all of you. i think it was major general at the time. he said these young girls of the cst may well have laid the groundwork for ultimate integration and specifically cited the cultural support teams work. as a writer i was like oh no everyone is going to discover this story. but the truth was no one was paying attention. but, you know, it was direct credit him obviously there so many people upon his shoulders each of you stand. that history is there in part with the things of lori manning but i do think that was with an important thing to note that you all were singled out in the history of this whatever happened. can you just talk about why you wanted to do it? you said you immediately knew. did you know you wanted to do that? >> it was a bit of a longer process. my husband was the one first

told me about this and if anything at the time of we were both in the air force and who's tried to convince me to switch to the army. he was like hey check out this cultural support teams thing. it's awesome. you get to go out with special operators and you got to switch to the army though like that was his pitch. that's not going to happen whatever, that's crazy. he actually flew reconnaissance aircraft that would provide overwatch for the teams on the ground and it was like, i'm telling you there are women on the teams. i can hear them on the radio. this is happening. i think i told he was full of it. about a year later i stood looking into the program. i was reading instructions and thought it would never let me go, i'm a reservist, it's crazy. no kidding about two weeks later we got an e-mail from the air force special operations command because i was assigned there at the time. it was asking for volunteers for air force women to sign

specifically and it turned out to be a one time thing, it was lucky i volunteered for that. that specific rotation but it was literally i got the e-mail i think on like a wednesday and then on monday i did the army pft. on tuesday morning i did the morningmorning i did a rough march and is a wednesday and it all took off from there. >> how long before you were deployed? >> i want to set up with your assessment and about a month later and in went through training to its after that and was out the door another two months after that. so it happened, once the ball got rolling it happened really quickly but it was a little bit of a process. i had this kind of weird cognitive -- i'm going to be combat. it's as object it is going be secured before they bring us in. my husband was just like you don't know what your talking about. like i see the quick moving and there's no rearguard that comes afterwards. like i don't think was until i was actually out of the

helicopter like that's what he was talking about. >> everybody had that moment. there's a lot of expletives in the book but you're all familiar with that language. one of the gals who was telling me this story about the first night, the book opens with a mission, one of the gals who've told me about it, she walked in after the first combat mission and was this should make a series. not that she did know but there's something about how quickly it all happened, right? you know you going to be there but they're still that moment where you're like oh yeah. >> during training to we talked about it was like going to walk with a platoon leader, that's going to be separate from the assault element. unit going to be with the people in front. at the time we were like the platoon leader is right there. his 20 feet back from the front squat but for some reason it was like we have bought into the whole combat exclusion thing so we were telling ourselves like

it's not actually going to be combat, the objective is going to be secured. >> at the reality was -- >> there was a bullets flying directly at me but it was 50 feet, 100 feet away. the funny thing is a jag that redistricting over going into theater, this was before the combat exclusion was lifted, he goes cannot assigned to ground combat troops. you're 10 feet back. we were like oh that's good to know. >> one of the things that i was working on answering, i always had the question of where did the name come from. it was really interesting, admiral olson was talking about it was the best of the bunch of bad options. cultural because it was culture admit that was no reason for the rss initially. the requester forces. we did what people do think we all regret getting criticism, it

was about doorway and a front-line role. for women. and keen because everything is special operations is again. so that's where the name came from, but i mean you've seen these nations now, right, it's very hard to say that well, you're so far back that's just not the way that kind of combat is happening. what led you to do this mission, and what did it mean to you in hindsight? >> i was a student at defense leverage institute in monterey. i was studying pashtu and my committee comes up to me one morning and he says your scores are fantastic. he said but i have bad news. he told me about my follow-on assignment and i was just devastated. because i wanted something exciting to everybody does after that. i wasn't scheduled to be

deployed for another year and after i would be sitting on a base for a while and i didn't want that. the following week he comes into my classroom and he said, we need to talk. i think i'm in trouble. he sits me down and he said, so this letter came across my desk and is asking for women to serve with special forces. i'm like you're kidding? that he was joking for the longest time until finally the message came out and so started to apply. but during the application process migration manager denied me and if you like every commander of above my company commander was just turning me down. i'd like to echo marybeth in this. is the one person mattered who is willing to fight for me. so we took a deputy inspector general and finally my branch releasedrelease me to do this mission. i had just graduated from the pushtan language course right before going to cst selection, and it was almost like i finally

had a purpose. the military wasn't just being in the military following everybody. now is able to be a pioneer in a program that had not started yet. i think actually the first group of girls were going through training as we were filling out our pockets. it's this brand-new concept of putting them training us in the able to go and fight in the front lines. and to me it was exciting. and then when we finally got out to afghanistan it was this whirlwind of everything i thought it would be and also everything i thought it wouldn't be. >> tony mauro about what you thought it wouldn't be. >> there was a lot of gray area going through training. we were told i mission was supposed to be maybe this, we might be doing some of this, some of that. until you finally get out there and the team you working with is like, sit down i'm going to tell you how it's done.

in your like okay, i'm ready. you get all of the training and you start to really go to practice and rehearsed with these guys. i thought like you said, i thought i would be out to engage with women and children, being with the mission commander standing away from everything. but that's not how it ever was. there were times when i was the governor. the entire last three months of my deployment i was a gunner. i would also go into these villages and talk to women and children to go into their homes. thatthat is pretty interesting to talk to them in their native tongue and really bond with him without the use of interpreters and see who they really were. >> that is the best person for the job is the thing that comes up over and over again. to a lot of people and it who were in this story who were in jobs at one point or another that were coded for me.

their commanders were like you're the best person for the job so you are in a. the people who serve as expos are people who are doing, number two roles are people who are in roles the world from an h.r. standpoint and human resources template supposed to be reserved for men only but the commanders would say that just as a canny sense. you're the best person for it. were going to leave that paperwork like. one gal said i'm going to such badlands on c-span. one gal said that, i look like a shit bag for two years because it look like i do nothing when interns she just been doing a job that was i supposed to be filled by men. i think it's a story, you can take is that what you will but there's so much leadership that went on in terms of people saying i know the regulations are but this is war that we are fighting and yet to be innovative and you need the best people. so they were using the best

people that they have and they're trying to give them opportunities. i really do think it's the stories of leaders who are trying to be as flexible as they could given the rules. just like the attached thing. they went to the voters and socom and they said you can attach them to special operation units. it's perfectly legal, and so does have that happen. i think we can think about what it will but that was a need for me battle field commander in the field who needed a capability for his forces. that was what was driving the decision while the combat ban was very much in place, added to think secretary panetta and general dempsey when it announced the lifting of the ban very much acknowledged the reality has long surpassed the regulation when he came to these women. one of the things i just want to ask before we go to question is how did this mission change you? everybody at the river to spend

time with was profoundly changed by the extent of both their teammates and i met alongside they served. >> i have very different from employment i still teach in touch with. we talk about babies and grad school and what life afterwards but we keep in touch. everything else, it's a little easier. i'm in grad school now and if i don't get my paper perfect, no one's going to die. is not bullets blind. the stress level as a lower. i live in boston so we had 100 plus inches of snow and a section when my afghanistan boots stomping around and i was like this is fine. i'm not holding any for put it. it's not a big deal. but everything else is it's just a little bit easier in comparison. >> it definitely made me think about things a lot differently.

i definitely have done a couple of diplomats before so it wasn't anything new but on those people and it was a very cut and dry mission. you going to do this if they should achieve you should back it if someone gets hurt be fixed. it was this and that. going into a special on the vso side -- village stability operation. >> of the direct action site and felt they had a more cut and dry mission whereas the voters to build operations she had just right. they told was kind of one thing, we did a special operations they told us something totally different. when we got out to the actual oda, they were like yeah no, no. spigot this is the team -- >> at one point when i first got out there they were like you need to make yourself more important than the working dog because the working dog has a spot on the team to go out. you need to prove herself to be

more important more valuable to to them because that's really what you're when you're going out on a mission. i was blessed with a absolute awesome partner out there, and her and i got together and sort it -- started coming up what can we do for this team? how can we gather this intelligence and how can we gain that bond with the women and children out there so they're willing to give us the information that will potentially help out the team? that really makes you have to think hard. that is not an easy thing a special i am not a super creative person in between the two of us we really have to work on that and that helped me immensely with my career ever since then. because i'm looking at things a lot differently and more of a leadership come in that way. federal i was deployed with is my best friend we literally call each other probably every couple of days. we talk together can we live together, we cry together. it's a bond.

even just getting together with the other cst is what never met before complete all sure that bond so easy to come together and fight oh yeah. we've all been there and done that. it's a very small group of people. >> that bond i'm telling you, the first time i was in a room with these women i really thought i was being ranked because as a storyteller you do not get to meet people who really have a connection that we've never seen in a way that we've never known and that has been so important through 14 years of war. it really is a very tangible thing that connection to one another. and cst, cst two would call cs 28 and they would understand each other and be connected and to be able to help one another in ways can the members of these teams in different classes would understand one another better

than probably anybody else they will ever work with ever again. the dog thing, that was actually the real question. after ashley died one of the historians asked for replacement in kandahar, and this is in the book, do you want to keep doing this mission? because, you know, after vietnam the dogs program went away. we ended up needing to reply to come and she kind of laughed like i guess we are dogs now. but the truth was the comparison was somewhat apt. it was a capability built for a specific mission, and she said nothing would dishonor her memory more speaking of ashley, then shutting down this mission. we all want to go back out there, and more, right? and i'm sure each one of you experienced that. and then the third thing about the life-saving, what is the information, what is the value you add.

i read cannot read but i know don't range impact award what they said this person hoped us to get this information that we would not have found if this person, you know, soldier wasn't there about some other cst's. that there were people information there were things that were very relevant to achieving that mission that were found because those women with their which is why i think we are sitting here today, why the program continues as long as it did. i'm going to ask you a question and then we will open it up how it changed you. >> i'm a lot more confident and it's not that it wasn't confident before but now it's just through the roof. [laughter] and i think it would open a lot of doors. i don't think that would've been opened by kinetic combat experience that they have to do example a lot of the work i do in south america, foreign military commanders invite me into the office of to talk about my combat experience and talk

about how to fix his programs because of what i've done. had i not been a cst had a not fought on the lines i wouldn't stand a chance. we would be talking to them, i would have a lot of the clout that i do. i think that's the reason why a lot of business partners and colleagues that i have is they willing to put their confidence in me because i was willing to put myself up front and unwilling to fight and learn. the matter what it took. like all of these girls i know i speak for all of them, we fought so hard to get into this program. it took so much energy and effort and mental exhaustion and jordan something that is completely new to you all the while knowing you're not getting all of the drink that you deserve but you're going to go out there and you're going to put your best foot forward. whatever foot that maybe. spirit my last -- >> , my last thought is this was

the most of selecting group of people who chose themselves and who, all of them to either forwarded the e-mail or add the flour and most of them were told i would never do this but this sounds like it would be perfect for you, right? seven and eight and nine times, some of the of the girls i talked to her like i had like six people fortitude within a 36 hour period because they were like didn't always want to do something like this? one of the gals in the book when she was 19 said she just hated being to go because she's everything noble is out of reach. you know she wanted to be infantry. all these things that she wanted to do that she couldn't because she's female. and here was, she was about to sign up for another mission and associate afforded the e-mail is like no, no, no. started writing essays that were not asked for by the application, called everybody she knew might be able to help her, and was like no one is going to keep me after i will seriously, i will park myself in front of bank all at fort bragg

if they don't take me. i just want to open it to question the sadist for me has been a huge privilege and a great responsibility to write a first draft of this history that we as a country should know about heroes we don't. so thank you so much. [applause] >> congressional research service and navy veteran of what is a windows in the service if i had this opportunity would've jumped at it. it sounds amazing. i was wondering we heard from marybeth about helping a woman was a distraction sometimes and we heard from the woman at the ranger school was quite receptive they had in the training pipeline. i was wondering what your experience was when he joined the special operations teams from the men in the unit's.

>> i had two vastly different experiences. i worked with two different teams and you could tell the difference in the amount of training that the men had received on working with cultural support teams. in particular the first team didn't even know they had women on their way but we were already on the helicopter in route. it was very for difficult to convince them that this was the new thing, having women on your team is in. and so it was a constant battle to get on patrols to get respect, to become a part of the team. but when they left and the next team came in and took their place, they had been briefed on patty is a cultural support teams, how to use them to interact with women and children and will use as a benefit of their overall mission.

and it was amazing. probably the best experience i've had in my life. we were active. we were used. they were professional. we never felt any sort of sexual exploitation or manipulation whereas i feel that a lot of youth in the military to have things like that because the women are not as respected as they should be. >> i was pretty lucky, same kind of thing. when i got there we were definitely outsiders but many of the neighbors were. it wasn't just because i was female. we were kind of come everybody wanted to know what was going on and we were initially, and i think that's kind of normal. that's happened every time i've been to a new unit. but after that especially once they realized how that we could be used and how much information we could bring in we were very accepted and really never had an issue. they treated us so well and always went out of the way to make sure, i mean i did want to say they went out of the way because really they treated us

like they did anyone else. it was we were very well supported. but not every team was like that. i completely agree because the teams the oda said received the most training from other the parent unit and had -- they were not expecting a somewhat weaker do are far better and far more receptive of us. we are able to work much faster. when he only was with the team for three much of a limited time to try to prove yourself. some of the teams that did not work with theme support and we see these briefings really had a hard time. honestly some of the girls that were with those teams went monthsformonths without ever going out on a single mission. i know there was a lot of the different, a lot of different stories out there with that. >> i think i had an easier time. one reason was cst 2 data easy

job of laying the foundation improving they could perform an added value to the mission to secondly i was on the da sides of is a much more well defined kind of structured role for us. i absolutely had no issues with any of the teams that i was with. they are fantastic super professional and what really hit home was but one particular mission and our aircraft loaded was would like because it was altitude and was at all these issues and are cutting three much everybody that they could to minimize -- >> explain to people. yuppified for those seats on the helicopter. >> right. they started counting the neighbors cut the combat camera guys they kept the tj and that -- >> e.j.? >> that's an air force person they go through two years of training, a classically trained and their job is to be there to

do crisis management in case something terrible happens i can helicopter goes down or something. they're the ones managing that. they are search and rescue specials. they cut the e.j. and eternity and said go get ready. okay. nykesha like the first comment you have a specific skill set. we need you on this mission. i was like okay. i will try not to mess up. that show how much they valued. >> you the story someone else that my biggest fear was not dying. my biggest fear was not dying my biggest it was making a mistake in letting my teammates down. and you heard it over over again. they really were general mcchrystal joke in our interview that in an ranger stood for knowledge. that was the old joke. it was such a transparent mission that you either help to find the person or think we didn't and if you did you are

much more easily and readily a part of the team because you prove your value. i talk to one ranger a first sergeant who served 13 combat deployment and he said a job well done stands out. those goals want to be there and had heart and grit and they paid their rent. so i think that sort of goes to the. in the back. >> so as the military looks at whether or not to create art on the exceptions to the combat exclusion rule, has anyone from the service asked you about your experience and whether or not looked for your input as they think about whether or not there should be for the exceptions created? it seems to me you all unlike training, you all have actual direct experience that would be very constructive and is what if anybody has asked for that?

>> no. [laughter] me, no, but i've also been out of the military since the end of 2012. perhaps their experience is a bit different. >> note on my side but that was something we are all frustrated with we came back because we put together a 14 page they are with everything we thought they could've gotten done better at to be completely honest we're all in this point that seem to have gotten filed in a garbage can summer. social that frustrate and i forgot from a few of the others as well. but no and again also getting back to kind of we did come back, that was because we were not assigned that were just attached, it did kind of screwed up a special on the opposite side, a lot of them really got off-line on their time and they were doing to commit time from not doing their xo type doing their xo tuckered out wanted to make that you won't sacrifice a potentially sacrifice their

lives but a lot of them sacrifice their careers as well. that's a big chunk of time because the cst program is not well-known within the military so, for example, you can sergeant majors look at my porch to see if i'm going to get a modicum they don't know what a cst is. and i were in a special operations combat patch but is not allowed. that's another kind of issue with coming back with us as well. kind of a little off-track. >> i was not approached by the military but because i was working at air force special operations school i heard to the great fun that they were doing researches i made a point to reach out to the guy who came up and we did a quick interview. i haven't heard what the results were or any follow-up from that. >> good afternoon. losing my voice it. major robin johnson at i'm actually with my rotc roommate.

serve in the military together. we always talk about there's a linear battlefield and we will be in the division we are. in 2000 i was in a small outpost, so i'm really really grateful for this book to be written up for you to share your stories, so thank you. i wanted to ask you a little bit to what the lead just before the past but specifically if you had an office called with the joint chiefs what would be the one thing that you would tell them on the way forward? how did they as a senior leaders get it right? what would be your one talking point that you would start with? >> equality is not saying this but in this i feel that women deserve the same amount of training no matter how they receive the training that all of the men on the battlefield have received in the past. think of yourself as a military commander for a second and you're in the middle of a mission, and a guide to your left and they write this exact

same amount of training as you do. now, change those two people out to someone who is lesser training. you have a little bit less confidence in that person. so just imagine how much we can amplify women on the battlefield if they just had an equal amount of training. >> probably something similar. i just want the same opportunities as everyone else has. i'm willing company to work harder to get those opportunities come and that's fine. we talked about standards previously and i agree with everything that was everybody on the panel had to say because it's really important that the standards are there, but it's important that we make sure we're using the right standards and not just something that's something based on research done 40 years ago. so i feel like those opportunities need to be there for those of us do want to go out and get them. >> i would say as far as some of these assessments that are

happening right now with ranger school and with the marine infantry officer course, i would say the ones ones with the right standards in place you need to be patient that maybe it's going to take a couple of iterations or whatever to have those women volunteering to go through the courses to succeed but i would counsel against any sort of knee-jerk like nobody made it through the first two tries, we are just going to shut it down. it's going to take time, take of a bit of process to build that. but i would say be patient and the right one for the right jobs are going to come along. >> i'm just going to close with one file, which is that i was at fort benning two weeks ago. it was a terrific opportunity to visit the last of the pre-ranger schools. there was a retired sergeant major really focus on saying listen, if these women can meet the standards, then that's great. you are that over and over again. then you would interview somebody observe or is because

you can interview for very good reasons the actual students, the soldiers. they said nothing would hurt our cause more than for the standard to be changed. and that all we wanted is to be able to meet to have an opportunity to meet that standard. ..