Naseema

Naseema. Afghanistan. Born in a small village in Afghanistan, Naseema grew up in a simple mud hut with no electricity or running water. Her father immigrated to the US on a Doctoral Scholarship, and was able to secure visas for his young children. Naseema was 12 years old when she left the country of her birth, and her mother behind, to join her father in America. , She developed a deep love for her new country, its freedoms and opportunities, and enlisted in the Air Force following her 18th birthday. Over the next 15 years, Naseema was able to complete a bachelor's and master's degree, raise two daughters, attain the rank of Senior Noncommissioned Officer, earn a highly coveted spot at Officer Training School and was commissioned Second Lieutenant by April 2001. , Follow the attacks of September 11th, the US Military was in urgent need of Pashto speakers, the language of the Taliban. As the only Pashto speaker in the Air Force, Naseema was transferred from a desk job directly to combat missions as an Airborne Cryptologic Linguist, for which she was awarded several Air Medals. , For years, Major Naseema provided intelligence support for the entire US air and ground operations in Afghanistan. She collected, processed and disseminated actionable combat intelligence directly to deployed forces, combatant commanders, the Secretary of Defense and the President of the United States. Her exceptional contributions led directly to removing thousands of insurgents from the battlefield and saving hundreds of coalition and Afghan lives and aircraft. She later used her expertise to train Special Operations Forces with the National Security Agency. When freedom called, this highly decorated US immigrant answered, and a grateful nation thanks her for her many sacrifices for her adopted country.