Rachel Washburn | |
|---|---|
 Cadet Washburn in 2009 | |
| Born | 1987or1988(age 35–36) |
| Education | BA, Drexel U. (2010) |
| Occupations |
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| Employers |
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| Military career | |
| Branch | United States Army |
| Years | 2010–2016 |
| Rank | First lieutenant |
Rachel Washburn (born 1987or1988) is a former United States Army officer and former cheerleader for the Philadelphia Eagles.
Born in 1987or1988, [1] Rachel Washburn is a military brat [2] who moved at least twelve times while her father flew helicopters for the US Army and fighter aircraft for the US Air Force. By 2013, though, she called Philadelphia home. [3] In October 2019, Washburn was married to an active-duty soldier assigned to the United States Army Special Forces. [4]
Advised by her father to accept an Air Force Reserve Officer Training Corps (ROTC) scholarship to Ohio State University, Washburn instead accepted a "lucrative " Army ROTC scholarship to Philadelphia's Drexel University. [3] In autumn 2006, she enrolled at Drexel U. to pursue her Bachelor of Arts in history. [1] Cadet Washburn participated in 2009's Army-sponsored All-American Bowl in San Antonio alongside Secretary of the Army Pete Geren and Sergeant Major of the Army Kenneth Preston. [5]
With a childhood background in gymnastics, [6] inspired by her friend who cheered for the Philadelphia 76ers, and with an interest in American football, Washburn was accepted by the Philadelphia Eagles Cheerleaders in spring 2007, [1] despite having zero experience in the sport. She worked for the team for three seasons (2007–08, 08–09, and 09–10). [6] As a cheerleader for the Philadelphia Eagles, Washburn joined the team on a goodwill tour of Iraq and Kuwait; this reignited her passion for ROTC and military service. [1]
Washburn joined the United States Army in 2010. [7] After her commissioning as a second lieutenant, Washburn received paratrooper and intelligence training, and would be primarily tasked with the latter. Prior to her first deployments to Afghanistan, Washburn was trained as a cultural support team (CST) member: a female soldier attached to a special operations unit to liaise with Afghan women. Washburn wore a headscarf when working with local women, and even subbed for a midwife when she helped deliver an Afghan woman's baby. Washburn and other CST members were the first members of the program, and have considered writing a book on the topic. [1]
On her second Afghan deployment (ended 17 November 2013), Washburn led an intelligence platoon. By December 2013, First Lieutenant Washburn was stationed at Fort Stewart and had received a Bronze Star Medal, an Army Commendation Medal, a Combat Action Badge, and an Air Assault Badge. [1] Washburn left the Army in 2016. [4]
After working with a non-governmental relief organization as a regional director, Washburn was hired by the broker-dealer Academy Securities in 2017. [7] In 2018, she co-authored a report, cited by Forbes warning that "Turkey as a NATO ally is no longer a given". [8] As of October 2019 [update] , she was still with the veteran-run company. Academy Securities president Phil McConkey said of Washburn, "Rachel leads 13 admirals and generals as a junior officer. She's in charge, and she organizes all these great resources." [4]
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1st The Queen's Dragoon Guards (QDG) is a regiment in the Royal Armoured Corps of the British Army. Nicknamed The Welsh Cavalry, the regiment recruits from Wales and the bordering English counties of Cheshire, Herefordshire, and Shropshire, and is the senior cavalry regiment, and therefore senior regiment of the line of the British Army.
This article is about women in warfare and the military (2000–present) throughout the world outside the United States. For women in warfare and the military in the United States since 2000, please see: Timeline of women in warfare and the military in the United States, 2000–2010 and Timeline of women in warfare and the military in the United States, 2011–present.
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The Kandahar massacre, also called the Panjwai massacre, was a mass murder that occurred in the early hours of 11 March 2012, when United States Army Staff Sergeant Robert Bales murdered 16 Afghan civilians and wounded six others in the Panjwayi District of Kandahar Province, Afghanistan. Nine of his victims were children, and 11 of the dead were from the same family. Some of the corpses were partially burned. Bales was taken into custody later that morning when he told authorities, "I did it".
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Marshal Fahim National Defense University (MFNDU) is a military university located in Kabul, the capital city of Afghanistan. Established in 2005, the university is named after the late Marshal Mohammad Qasim Fahim, an Afghan political and military leader who served as the First Vice President of Afghanistan from 2004 until his death in 2014.
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The Junior Reserve Officers' Training Corps is a federal program sponsored by the United States Armed Forces in high schools and also in some middle schools across the United States and at US military bases across the world. The program was originally created as part of the National Defense Act of 1916 and later expanded under the 1964 ROTC Vitalization Act.
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Resolute Support Mission (RSM) or Operation Resolute Support was a NATO-led multinational mission in Afghanistan. It began on 1 January 2015 as the successor to the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF), which was completed on 28 December 2014. Pursuant to United Nations Security Council Resolution 2189 of 2014, RSM was a noncombat mission aimed at advising and training Afghan security forces to provide long-term security to the country, under the aegis of the Security and Defence Cooperation Agreement BSA between the United States and Afghanistan, which was originally supposed to run from 1 January 2015 and "shall remain in force until the end of 2024 and beyond" unless terminated with two years' advance notice.
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