Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta removed gender discrimination from the military. She had to sue the Secretary of Defense that the Combat Exclusion Policy was unconstitutional after all she had spent three tours in combat in Afghanistan even if the military ignored it. The reason for refusal was she was a woman otherwise, she was qualified for the job. After she stopped flying, she was refused a job she applied for in the Air National Guard. Hegar had to fight the military for access to combat related Veterans Services. As exciting and interesting the combat part of the book was, the real story happened when she returned to the States.
She was the sixth women to receive The Distinguished Flying Cross and only the second women ever to receive it with the Valor Device. Major Hegar was awarded the Purple Heart. Their ordeal culminated in a daring escape hanging onto the skids of a Kiowa helicopter. She fought through her injuries to save the three Americans that were the target of the rescue mission and her own team. Hegar tells of being shot down during a rescue mission.
Most of the book is about her time in military service. The author briefly covers her time in high school and ROTC in college. Hegar had served three tours in Afghanistan.
She had successfully rescued hundreds of men and women off the battlefield. This is the memoir of Air Force Major Mary Jennings Hegar. In Shoot Like a Girl, MJ takes the listener on a dramatic journey through her military career: an inspiring, humorous, and thrilling true story of a brave, high-spirited, and unforgettable woman who has spent much of her life ready to sacrifice everything for her country, her fellow man, and her sense of justice. But soon she would face a new battle: to give women who serve on the front lines the credit they deserve.Īfter being commissioned into the US Air Force, MJ Hegar was selected for pilot training by the Air National Guard, finished at the top of her class, then served three tours in Afghanistan flying combat search and rescue missions, culminating in a harrowing rescue attempt that would earn MJ the Purple Heart as well as the Distinguished Flying Cross with Valor Device.īut it was on American soil that Hegar would embark on her greatest challenge - to eliminate the military's Ground Combat Exclusion Policy, which kept female armed service members from officially serving in combat roles despite their longstanding record of doing so with honor. Despite being wounded, she fought the enemy and saved the lives of her crew and their patients. On June 29, 2009, Air National Guard major Mary Jennings "MJ" Hegar was shot down while on a medevac mission on her third tour in Afghanistan.
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