Dr. Lyla Kohistany was born in Afghanistan. Her family fled to the U.S. in 1982 to escape Soviet occupation. When the USSR was forced to leave Afghanistan in 1989, her father planned to bring the family back to Afghanistan, and he had also made plans for 12-year-old Lyla that she wanted no part of. With the help of her brother and the U.S. Navy, Kohistany was able to stay in the U.S. 

She would later join the Navy out of gratitude for that help, but just months after being commissioned as a U.S. Naval officer, the U.S. was hit by the 9/11 Al Qaeda terrorist attacks.

In this edition of Veterans Chronicles, Dr. Kohistany shares the powerful stories of her family leaving Afghanistan, struggling to adjust to life in the U.S. and how the Navy played a key role in helping her avoid an undesirable arranged marriage.

She also explains what it was like to see the Taliban take power in Afghanistan in 1996 and to realize, in horror, that the perpetrators of the 9/11 attacks were given safe haven by the Taliban.

Kohistany then tells us why she shifted to Navy intelligence after 9/11. She details her deployment to Afghanistan in 2005, returning there as part of the intelligence community in 2011, and her work with U.S. and Afghan special operators.

Finally, Kohistany reveals what it was like to see Afghanistan fall, both as someone with deep roots there and as an American veteran and intelligence official who spent years trying to bring security and freedom there. And she discusses her new role as CEO of Honor the Promise.