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[PAST EVENT] The Afghan Female Tactical Platoon: Three Years after The U.S. Withdrawal

September 25, 2024
5pm
Location
Tucker Hall, Room 127A
350 James Blair Dr
Williamsburg, VA 23185Map this location
Members of the Afghan Female Tactical Platoon

The Reves Center for International Studies presents a panel discussion, The Afghan Female Tactical Platoon: Three Years After The U.S. Withdrawal, on Wednesday, September 25, 2024, at 5pm in Tucker 127A. The event is free and open to the public.

The Afghan Female Tactical Platoon or FTP was a small unit of Afghan women who worked with U.S. special operations forces (SOF) in Afghanistan. The FTP was part of the Afghan Special Security Forces (ASSF). One of their primary tasks was the search, questioning, and medical assistance of women and children, in a way that was respectful of Islam and Afghan culture. These women assumed the same risks and dangers as their male counterparts. After the fall of the Afghan government and the taking of power by the Taliban, many of the FTP soldiers found themselves hunted by the Taliban. Some have managed to escape to the United States and other countries. However, many still remain in Afghanistan - their lives in constant danger. For the ones that made it to the United States, they deal with concerns about their immigration status, their future and the colleagues and family they left behind.

Panelists:

Mahnaz Akbari, Former Commander, Female Tactical Platoon
Mahnaz was born in Iran in 1985 and has always had a passion for art. Her first job in 2002 was working as a calligraphy teacher. In her free time, she partnered with a company to empower deprived women with educational and vocational services to alleviate poverty in her community. She returned to her homeland of Afghanistan in 2011, where she joined the Afghan National Army. She quickly excelled as a soldier and was selected to command the first Female Tactical Platoon (FTP) of the Afghan Special Operations. She worked alongside US Special Operations Forces to enable missions across Afghanistan from 2011 to 2021. When the Taliban overthrew the Afghan government in August 2021, she fled Afghanistan and assisted 30 FTP colleagues to safely arrive and resettle in the United States. Here, she has worked for organizations like Immigrant ARC the PenFed foundation helping to resettle refugees. In her free time, she likes to study, visit historical places, and read poetry.

Rebekah Edmondson, US Army Veteran, NXT Mission
As an enlisted member of the United States Army, Rebekah Edmondson spent nearly three out of ten years of service deployed to Afghanistan in support of Operation Enduring Freedom and Operation Freedom Sentinel. In 2011, she was selected for the Joint Special Operations Command’s Cultural Support Team (CST), a program that paved the way for the integration of women serving in combat. Between 2012 to 2016, she worked alongside the 75th Ranger Regiment, conducting direct-action night raids, and trained Afghan women to serve in a special operations partner-military unit known as the Female Tactical Platoon (FTP). In 2021, she worked with her former CST colleagues to safely evacuate the women of the FTP to the United States and spent the next 3 years working to help them acclimate. She just completed a master's degree in social work and recently launched a nonprofit organization called NXT Mission, which aims to share the epic story of the FTP and lessons learned from the war in Afghanistan.

Kathleen T. Jabs, USN (ret.), Special Assistant to the President for Military & Veteran Affairs
Kathleen serves as Special Assistant to the President for Military and Veteran Affairs at William & Mary. From 2019-2022, Kathleen served as Acting Secretary and Deputy Secretary of Veterans and Defense Affairs for the Commonwealth of Virginia where she worked to coordinate state and federal resources to support Virginia’s military and veteran communities and liaison with federal defense facilities. Kathleen graduated from the U.S. Naval Academy earning a Bachelor of Science in English with minors in Russian and Engineering. She completed six years of active duty, then transferred to the Navy Reserve where she commanded three units before retiring as a Captain in 2017. Her military career spans a variety of active duty and reserve positions, with service in Japan, Hawaii, Panama, the Pentagon, and military installations along the East Coast. Kathleen has more than 30 years of government, military and academic leadership and communications experience including assignments with NATO Allied Command Transformation, US Fleet Forces Command, the Joint Staff, and National Defense University. 

Moderator: Teresa Longo, Associate Provost for International Affairs & Executive Director of the Reves Center

The panel is co-sponsored by the Reves Center, W&M Vet, Whole of Government Center of Excellence and the Society of 1918.




Sponsored by: Reves Center for International Studies, W&M Vet, Whole of Government Center of Excellence and the Society of 1918

Contact

[[international, Reves Center]]