November 18, 2015 - Gayle Lemmon

In 2010, the United States Army created Cultural Support Teams (CTS), a secret pilot program to insert women alongside Special Operations Soldiers battling in Afghanistan. The women of the CSTs put themselves in the line of fire to build relationships with the women of both the Afghan mountains and the tough streets of the Afghanistan cities. In November 2015, the U.S. Army Heritage and Education Center (USAHEC) in Carlisle, PA presented a lecture by Gayle Lemmon, author and Senior Fellow at the Council of Foreign Relations, based on her book, Ashley’s War. Lemon discussed the complexities of war, as well as the stories of the war in Afghanistan through the eyes of the members of the CST team. Her talk also covered why the Army believed women could play a unique role on the Specials Ops teams.

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