The Story:
When Staff Sgt. Turner and Spc. Ivanov first deployed to Afghanistan as combat medics attached to an Afghan National Army (ANA) brigade, they had a hard time earning respect -- especially from Afghan soldiers, who had never seen women in combat before. Yet all that changed as they proved themselves time and again during high-risk missions and during life-saving operations in the midst of battle.
During one patrol, Kandak soldiers were ambushed by insurgents; without hesitation, Turner, who was driving a Humvee for embedded trainers, drove her vehicle directly into the firefight while another soldier manned the weapon in the turret and helped cut off the enemy’s direct line of fire. In another incident, the team responded to an attack on a nearby Kuchi camp. Upon arrival, they saw that instead of hitting the intended American base, insurgents had hit the camp instead, wounding and killing several civilians. Turner and Ivanov quickly began providing medical care to the civilians despite the rockets still crashing down in the area.
Besides providing medical support for the ANA, Afghan police, and U.S. personnel during missions, Turner and Ivanov serve as mentors to ANA healthcare providers and conduct classes for Kandak medics. They also serve in a humanitarian role by coordinating medical assistance for Afghans in nearby villages - an opportunity to make friends with locals and gather intelligence, which has led to actionable information. Ivanov and Turner have both earned Combat Medical Badges for their work under fire.