U.S. Senator Joni Ernst, R-Iowa, the first female combat veteran elected to the United States Senate, reflected on her military service in the Army Reserves and Iowa Army National Guard in a video released prior to Veterans Day.
Ernst who retired as a Lt. Colonel in the Iowa Army National Guard after 23 years of service that included leading a unit in the Middle East that drove convoys through Kuwait and Southern Iraq.
Her daughter, Libby, is a cadet at the United States Military Academy at West Point, N.Y. desiring to follow her mother’s footsteps to become an Army officer.
“She grew up with an understanding that we need to give back, whether it’s our communities, our state, or our nation,” Ernst said in the video. “Being able to serve in our nation’s uniform is something she knew was so important to me and now it’s also very important to her to be able to give back to our country.”
