Rocking the Boat to Be All She Can Be

Women have long played pivotal roles in the military history of the United States. But making their mark has and continues to be difficult.

In 1981, guest commentator Linda Bray was a sophomore at Western Carolina University. She was determined to graduate and have an adventurous life.

Bray found out about WCU's Army ROTC program. She signed up and was ultimately promoted to Commander of the 988th Army Police Company leading troops in Panama in 1989. That's also where she first experienced combat.

However, before managing strategic logistics, leading soldiers and carrying out military operations, Bray entered Boot Camp at Fort Knox outside of Louisville, Kentucky. Here she and other female soldiers had to fight an unexpected battle. Their supervisors could not lead them to victory. Instead, their only hope of survival and success was for the women to ban together and change the rules of engagement.