Traditionally women have been kept at a distance from the front lines, but in Afghanistan there are no front lines. The fight is everywhere… and it’s nowhere. The combatants may be staying in the shadows or hiding in plain sight. And since there’s no battlefield per se in Helmand Province, women are serving in the U.S. military here in a variety of roles.
One of those women is 21-year-old Da’Shonda Shedd, an Army Private First Class from Marieta, Georgia, on her first Tour of Duty. She’s a Combat Engineer and her unit is working in support of the Marines 1st Light Armored Reconnaissance Battalion at Forward Operating Base Payne in Southern Afghanistan.
Da’Shonda is a bridge crew member. She and her fellow soldiers operate a ferry of sorts, moving troops, civilians and up to six huge armored vehicles at a time across the Helmand River between Payne and the wide open territory to the west.
She says she joined the Army for a change of pace and to prove people wrong, people who said she couldn’t do it. She tried college but it didn’t work out and says she was sick of the party life back home. She says she’s learned a lot since she’s been here and become a better person, less selfish and more appreciative of the little creature comforts we all take for granted. She also admits she’s counting the days until she can go home, especially with the temperature topping 110 every day and headed for 130 in a month or two.
Da’Shonda Shedd is a soldier, and she’s as close to war as any female can be.