Capt Katie Benn, US Army 2021-Present

Captain Katie Benn recently returned from a deployment where she may have been the first openly transgender commander in a combat zone.
Asked about it, she said, "Whether I am the first or the fiftieth does not truly matter. What matters is that across the military there are transgender service members doing their jobs day in and day out in the face of personal danger and in service to their nation, just like every other service member beside them. All I ask, all I think any of us ask for, is the opportunity to continue serving openly as our true selves."

Katie grew up in Ardmore, Oklahoma and enlisted in the U.S. Army Reserve as a Petroleum Supply Specialist in November 2012. After graduating from the University of Oklahoma with bachelor's degrees in political science and Middle Eastern Studies she commissioned into the Military Police (MP). She graduated as the Distinguished Honor Graduate from the MP Basic Officer Leader Course in May 2021.

Following her two-year assignment to Korea as an MP, Katie transferred to Air Defense where she took command of the 12th Missile Defense Battery.
In her 13 years of service, CAPT Benn’s military education includes the Petroleum Supply Course (DHG), the Military Police Basic Officer Course (DHG), Equal Opportunity Leader’s Course, Anti-Terrorism Basic Course, Introduction to Space, the SHARP Foundation Course, and the Army Space Cadre Basic Course. She's been awarded the Meritorious Service Medal, Army Commendation Medal, Army Achievement Medal (2), Army Reserve Components Achievement Medal, National Defense Service Medal, Global War on Terrorism Expeditionary Medal, Global War on Terrorism Service Medal, Korea Defense Service Medal, Armed Forces Service Medal, Humanitarian Service Medal, and the Outstanding Volunteer Service Medal.
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Katie is currently pursuing her Master of Global Affairs from OU.
You can read more of Katie's story in 𝘞𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘝𝘢𝘭𝘰𝘳 𝘈𝘯𝘥 𝘝𝘪𝘴𝘪𝘣𝘪𝘭𝘪𝘵𝘺: 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘕𝘦𝘹𝘵 𝘊𝘩𝘢𝘱𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘰𝘧 𝘛𝘳𝘢𝘯𝘴𝘨𝘦𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘳 𝘔𝘪𝘭𝘪𝘵𝘢𝘳𝘺 𝘚𝘦𝘳𝘷𝘪𝘤𝘦

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