Women Secretly Attached to Special Operations Units
The military listed Jacqueline Price’s job as a driver but deployed her in classified combat and intelligence operations. This is based on the documented history of the U.S. military secretly attaching (but not officially assigned) women to male-only special operations units during the War on Terror, years before it was legal. As depicted in the novel, it was culturally taboo for male soldiers to interact with Afghan women and children; however, women could bypass this barrier. The novel presents Jacqueline as a fictional pioneer of these real, classified programs.
• Special Operations Association of America: Women in Special Operations
• The Conversation: Women’s Secret War — Female Soldiers in Covert Roles
• https://www.pbs.org/newshour/show/sister-soldiers-assisted-special-ops-afghanistan
• https://www.juancole.com/2023/05/soldiers-missions-afghanistan.html
• https://taskandpurpose.com/news/the-story-of-the-incredible-women-who-served-with-special-ops-units-in-afghanistan/
