Sarah Spradlin knew she wanted to serve her nation in uniform, and to her the only option was the U.S. Marine Corps. She was commissioned as an officer after completing ROTC training at Virginia Tech in May 2001. Within months, the U.S. was at war following the 9/11 attacks.

But Spradlin was not deployed to a war zone. After an assignment in Okinawa, she returned to the U.S. to oversee the training of female Marine recruits at Parris Island and focusing on ways to improve manpower. After that, she found herself at Marine Forces Special Operation Command, or MARSOC. It was in that position that Spradlin began researching emotional intelligence in special operators, and especially female special operators.

In this edition of Veterans Chronicles, Spradlin takes us with her to Okinawa, Parris Island, and MARSOC. And she explains how she got this new science off the ground, what she's learned about female special operators, how they interact with their male counterparts, and how her research has helped the effectiveness of our special operators.