WASHINGTON, DC – U.S. Senator Jacky Rosen (D-NV) introduced the bipartisan Jax Act to amend military records of women veterans who deployed alongside Special Forces in Afghanistan and Iraq to ensure they accurately reflect their service as members of Cultural Support Teams (CST). CSTs were deployed to combat zones with Special Operations Forces (SOF) and shared similar operational and traumatic experiences as their male peers also serving in combat but have not been recognized for their combat service, denying them rank, benefits, and critical health services.
Fox News: Bipartisan bill would give some female vets combat-related benefits: ‘They are so deeply owed’
By Peter Aitken
Key Points:
- Sens. Sullivan; Jacky Rosen, D-NV; Joni Ernst, R-Iowa; and Tammy Duckworth, D-IL, on Thursday introduced the Jax Act, named after Cultural Support Team (CST) member Jaclyn “Jax” Scott.
- The act will amend military records of women veterans who deployed alongside Special Forces in Afghanistan and Afghanistan to reflect their roles on CST, which enabled female service members to deploy to combat zones before they were formally allowed to serve in front-line combat roles in 2015.
- Due to their status in combat, members of CST were not eligible for rank, benefits and health services upon completion of service. The Jax Act will allow those vets to now qualify for those benefits.
- “I’m introducing bipartisan legislation to cut through bureaucratic red tape so that our brave women veterans can see their service reflected on their military records and receive the recognition and access to resources they are so deeply owed,” said Senator Rosen.
Las Vegas Review-Journal: These women served in combat, but their files omit that part
By Jessica Hill
Key Points:
- When Summerlin resident Shirley Wu was deployed to Afghanistan in 2011, she served alongside her male peers, going on patrols and taking direct enemy fire. She lived on a small dirt site next to a rural village, and her food would be dropped via a parachute. She’d talk with the local women and search them in some cases to make sure they weren’t threats.
- But when she returned to the U.S., her military paperwork did not say anything about what she did on her deployment, especially that she was exposed to general combat environments.
- Wu was one of hundreds of women who served on “Cultural Support Teams,” accompanying special forces into combat zones. But they are not recognized as combat veterans, limiting their benefits and medical service access.
- Nevada Sen. Jacky Rosen, D-Nev., alongside Sens. Joni Ernst, R-Iowa., and Tammy Duckworth, D-Ill., introduced legislation that will amend military records of female veterans who served alongside special forces in Afghanistan and Iraq to reflect that they were deployed in combat zones so they receive equal benefits and health services.
Las Vegas Review-Journal En Español: Estas mujeres sirvieron en combate, pero sus expedientes omiten esa parte
- El jueves por la tarde, la senadora demócrata por Nevada Jacky Rosen, junto con la senadora republicana por Iowa Joni Ernst, pidieron que se reconozca a estas mujeres como veteranas de combate. Joni Ernst, republicana por Iowa, y Tammy Duckworth, demócrata por Illinois, presentaron una ley que modificará los expedientes militares de las veteranas que sirvieron junto a las fuerzas especiales en Afganistán e Irak para reflejar que fueron desplegadas en zonas de combate, de modo que reciban las mismas prestaciones y servicios médicos.
- “Las mujeres veteranas que sirvieron valientemente a nuestra nación y lucharon por nuestras libertades merecen todo el reconocimiento, los beneficios y el honor que se ganaron, como sus homólogos masculinos”, dijo Rosen en un comunicado. “Debido a políticas obsoletas, a las mujeres veteranas que formaron parte de los Equipos de Apoyo Cultural y que sirvieron en combate se les está negando rango, beneficios y servicios de salud críticos”.
Reporter: “A group of U.S. Senators led by Nevada Senator Jacky Rosen has introduced the bipartisan Jax Act in Washington. The goal is to amend military records of women veterans who deployed alongside Special Forces in Afghanistan and Iraq to ensure their records accurately reflect their service as members of Cultural Support Teams. The legislation would require the review of military records of CST women veterans who served from 2010 to 2021 in support of Special Operations Forces.”
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