Before you start reading this book, you might not be familiar with the term female engagement team or FET for short. So I’ve provided some information to explain some of the background of this book.
During the height of the war, throughout Afghanistan, platoons of male soldiers from the Afghan and American forces conducted daily patrols. Over the course of the patrols there always existed the possibility of encountering women, given they make up nearly half the population of Afghanistan. Male soldiers were prohibited from looking at or talking to these women due to Afghan cultural norms.
So in order to engage the female populace the United States Marine Corps established female engagement teams in Afghanistan 2009, based off their Lioness program in Iraq. It is comprised of volunteer female members of appropriate rank, experience and maturity to develop trust-based and enduring relationships with the Afghan women they encounter on patrols. Having such a team at its disposal has given American forces an added tool in reaching out to the Afghan population. In 2011, there were 16 FETs in Helmand province, which Marine forces have patrolled since 2008. Additional U.S. FETs were distributed across other provinces.
FETs often were tasked with distributing information to Afghan families and collecting information from them, assisting with civil affairs and supporting clearing operations, in part by searching women for weapons. FETs have assisted not only conventional Marine units, but special operations units as well.
While FETs are no longer used as due to the scheduled troop reduction in 2014, while in existence, these women served bravely and were important assets to the United States Marine Corps.
If you would like to learn more about this subject, check out this New York Times article on a real FET: http://www.nytimes.com/2010/10/03/world/asia/03marines.html?_r=0
This story is completely fictional and no association to any person, living or dead is intentional. All rights reserved by Nicki Syler.
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No Place for Females
Action"I wasn't even suppose to leave the base." The only thing Lena Jacobs ever expected to do in Afghanistan was work at the military base clinic to which she was assigned. But when she arrives she finds out that she must fill in as a medic for a U.S. M...
