Ashley's War - Gayle Tzemach Lemmonav

Ashley's War - Gayle Tzemach Lemmon
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Ashley's War - Gayle Tzemach Lemmon
Introduction
Gayle Tzemach Lemmon is a famous and very talented author, reporter and novelist who has written so many books and among them is Ashley’s War. The book advocates for gender equality in the army and for equal opportunities for women in combat, special operations and physical raid missions. In addition the book shows that women are competitive and are capable of going through the tough physical and mental trainings just like their male counterparts (Laine, 2015).The book showed that women, despite their feminine nature can put on body armor and be as good in battle if not better as the men. It also showed that people will always have reservations about new things as was the case in approving women to participate in active combat until they actually see that it can be done and done well. In addition the book showed the strength women have as they not only fought battles on the field, but also encountered daily battles to prove that they were indeed fit for the roles given.
Brief Description of the book
The book is written through the true story of Lt. Ashley White one of the first members of the all-female team who died in combat. These female teams came as a result of the Cultural Support Team program (CST) aimed to foster intelligence efforts in the battlefields (Laine, 2015). For years, the American forces with only male soldiers in Taliban populated areas like Afghanistan were encountering resistance when trying to get information from the female residents through interrogations basically because it was against their Muslim customs to interact with men in such close proximities (Laine, 2015).
The Cultural Support Team program was approved after persistent lobbying by the commander of the special operations team, Adm.Eric Olson (Laine, 2015). Resistance was majorly due to the perception that special operations were over the years purely male dominated and that women were physically incapable of pulling their weight in high risk sensitive missions. However, the women who recruited were able to go through all the rigorous trainings that were not only physically but also mentally demanding. The female team members in addition to joining their male counterparts in battle, assisted to interrogate female detainees to obtain crucial information, search women at checkpoints and engage female residents to compare the truthfulness of what the male residents had previously shared (Laine, 2015). The author through the heroic efforts of Lt. Ashley White brings out exhaustively the story of the group of female soldiers in the CST’s and their determinations that finally earned them respect in combat. Never giving up on ones dreams or quitting when the going gets tough, equality in all genders even on the hardest of tasks like war and the strength and support a strong sisterhood bond can achieve are some of the major aspects Gayle Tzemach Lemmon showcases in the book
Critical Review
The author takes the readers through the physical and traumatizing journeys of the female soldiers as they were taken through arduous selection processes that were more intended to break their spirits and have them quit...