Women Warriors

Nicola Hall, Sergeant, U.S. Army

Born and raised in Ipswich, England with an English mother and American father, Nicola Hall was a natural born Athlete with a sense of dual nationalityHer father was an Olympic athlete – and at just 10 years old, she started competition track. By the age of 15, she was the fastest hurdler in England, and represented England in international track events. She was also the only female on her school’s football team.  

When she was 16, her family moved to Georgia. She received a track scholarship and went off to college, only to find that her passion did not lie there at the time. She then felt compelled to join the Army and enlisted in 2000  

Hall was assigned to the 21st Military Police Company (Airborne). On her first deployment, in Kosovo, she earned soldier of the quarter and earned her promotion to corporal. Soon after, 9/11 occurred and she found that her patriotism for America was confirmed stronger than ever 

In early 2002, she deployed to KandaharAfghanistan with her company. However, the infantry units were facing issues running combat patrol missions due to the local women hiding intelligence, weapons and high-value targets. It would have been cultural warfare for the male infantrymen to search these women. Therefore, they needed a female to aid in combat patrols and missions with them – and she was selected. She was so successful in finding weapons and other items hidden on the local women that the infantry unit she was working with requested that her company release her to continue combat patrol missions across the country. She was then deployed to Forward Operating Base Salerno which was in the southeastern province of Khost, Afghanistan. 

Hall reported in an interview that the infantrymen of her new unit were skeptical about bringing on a female. However, it was only a short time before they became comfortable and established trust in her. The company commander even relinquished worry once they saw how capable and how much of an asset a woman could be for the team. Because she was so successful in her missions, she drew much attention from the local nationalsAs a result, and for her safety, she had to keep her face covered and essentially wear blank uniforms to hide any identifying markers such as her name and rank on her uniform while running these missions. One woman she was inspecting had a hand grenade on her, in which Hall swiftly disarmed her as she was about to pull the pin, saving 15-20 people who would have been in the blast radius.  

Shortly after returning to her Police company, she found herself deploying with American and Canadian Special Forces to run similar missions. In 2003, she arrived at her new unit in Korea. She couldn’t help noticing that the soldiers in her unit were rather inexperienced and underprepared for where they would be deploying– Iraq. She then brought it to her company commander’s attention and requested to become the training NCO to prepare these soldiers for what they were about to experience. She wanted to train them for new urban environments with live fire and various heightened risks. 

Speaking on behalf of women service members, Hall illuminates that, “there is no decrement in our readiness and lethalness”. During her time, women were not officially permitted to serve in combat roles, yet her performance in an all-male combat unit in the early days of the war in Afghanistan exemplified that women are capable and valuable in combat operations. Since female combat roles weren’t available for her to pursue in 2005, she decided to take the experiences and knowledge she gained and leave the service. She now helps female veterans in their transition and provides connection to VA services as well as other resources available to them.   

Back To Blog
  • Need Assistance?

    Here to Serve You


    We understand the obstacles and unique challenges women veterans face and are here to assist you.

    Get Help
  • Other Inquiries

    Contact

  • Get News & Updates

    Subscribe

  • Do your finances keep you up at night? Not sure ho Do your finances keep you up at night? Not sure how to achieve financial freedom?

Join us on March 1st for a webinar on the First Steps to Financial Freedom.

During this webinar you will learn about important topics to take the first steps to create your financial plan, understanding credit and minimizing debt, saving to build wealth, and more.

Two live sessions are available to accommodate our national community: 
East Coast and Midwest – 6:00pm Central Time/7:00pm Eastern Time
West Coast – 6:00pm Pacific Time 

The very first step to financial freedom is showing up! 

Register today by clicking the link in our bio.
    Meet Major General Marcia Anderson. In 2011, Ander Meet Major General Marcia Anderson. In 2011, Anderson became the first African American woman in the United States Army’s history to achieve the rank of Major General in the United States Army Reserve. Her last two assignments before her retirement were Deputy Commanding General, U.S. Army Human Resources Command and Deputy Chief, U.S. Army Reserve. In this role, Anderson, had oversight for the planning, programming and resource management for the execution of an Army Reserve budget of $8 billion that supported over 225,000 Army Reserve Soldiers, civilians and their families. 

Learn more by clicking the link in our bio. 
.
.
.
.
#BlackHistoryMonth #BlackHistory #BlackLeaders #BlackWomen #Leadership #WomenInTheMilitary #MilitaryWomen #Military #WomenMakingHistory #Inspiration
    Meet Master Sgt. Natasha Smith. She is the 81st He Meet Master Sgt. Natasha Smith. She is the 81st Healthcare Operations Squadron internal medicine flight chief and sharing how her family, faith and heritage have been the cornerstones of her military career.

“My children are my inspiration. They inspire me to be a better mother, daughter, sister and Airman! It is my mission to show them there is nothing too hard for them to accomplish.” - Master Sgt. Natasha Smith.

Learn more by clicking the link in our bio.
.
.
.
.
#BlackHistoryMonth #BlackHistory #Success #WomenInTheMilitary #MilitaryWomen #MiitaryMom #MilitaryKids #Inspiration #Military #RoleModel
    A heartfelt thank you to the Green Foundation for A heartfelt thank you to the Green Foundation for the generous $25,000 investment in our mission! Our donors are critical partners in ensuring women veterans can achieve success in their after-service lives. You too can support the personal and economic wellbeing of women veterans and their families. 

To make an impact or learn more visit our website by clicking the link in our bio.
.
.
.
.
#Nonprofit #FoundationforWomenWarriors #FFWW #WomenWarriors #WomenVeterans #WomanVeteran #Veterans #Veteran #Military
    Happy Presidents' Day! Happy Presidents' Day!
    The Women’s Bureau of the U.S. Department of Lab The Women’s Bureau of the U.S. Department of Labor reported the median childcare price for a family with one child ranged from $4,810 to $15,417 in 2018.  Today, childcare costs continue to increase significantly. An infant enrolled in licensed childcare in San Diego costs an average of $19,000, a price tag more costly than in-state college tuition.

According to the San Diego Foundation Workforce, Childcare & Change Report, Californian’s pay 26% higher than the national average for childcare, and San Diego is 15% higher than the state average. For many, this reality threatens not only their financial stability, but potentially their employment. 

Our childcare program allows women veterans to focus on their education and advancing their careers while their children are in safe and reliable care. To learn more or apply visit the link in our bio.
.
.
.
.
#WomenVeterans #WomanVeteran #FemaleVeterans #FemaleVeteran #Veteran #Veterans #MilitaryVeterans #WomenInTheMilitary #MilitaryWomen #MilitaryWoman #MilitaryKids #MilitaryFamily #Military #FoundationForWomenWarriors #FFWW #WomenWarriors #HonorHerService #EmpowerHerFuture
    Meet Joy Allen. Allen serves as Deputy Department Meet Joy Allen. Allen serves as Deputy Department Head for Naval Surface Warfare Center (NSWC) Corona Division’s Performance Assessment Department, which serves as the independent analysis and assessment agent across several warfare areas including Air Defense, Integrated Air and Missile Defense, Surface, Strike, and, Cyber. 
 
The department's expertise is utilized across unit level, multi-ship, and strike group compositions, and she ensures everything runs smoothly and assists with daily, high-level operations that are critical to warfighter success and combat capability.
 
“I am grateful for the opportunity to work in a leadership role for our Navy.” - Joy Allen
 
Learn more by clicking the link in our bio.
.
.
.
.
#BlackHistoryMonth #BlackHistory #WomeninSTEM #BlackWomenInSTEM #Leadership #USNavy #NavalSurface #NavalSurfaceWarfareCenter
    Join us on Saturday, March 25th, 2023, at 5:30pm a Join us on Saturday, March 25th, 2023, at 5:30pm at The Museum of Photographic Arts (MOPA) located in Balboa Park for a special in-person screening of The Six Triple Eight Documentary followed by a Q&A. 

The 6888th Central Postal Directory Battalion, known as the Six Triple Eight, was the only all-black female battalion to serve in Europe during WWII. Confronted with racism and sexism from their own leadership and troops, they cleared a backlog of over 17 million pieces of mail. The 6888th ensured troops stayed in touch with their loved ones back home. President Biden signed into law on March 14th, 2022, a Congressional Gold Medal to recognize the women of the 6888th.

Ticket are $25 per person and must be purchased in advance. Limited tickets are available and will not be sold on site.

Buy your tickets today, visit the link in our bio.

#SixTripleEight #6888 #6888th #NoMailLowMorale #6888thCentralPostalDirectoryBattalion #Veterans #Veterans #WomenVeterans #WomanVeteran #FemaleVeterans #FemaleVeteran #Military #WomenInTheMilitary #MilitaryWomen #MilitaryWoman #BlackHistory #BlackHistoryMonth #WomensHistoryMonth #WomensHistory #CongressionalGoldMedal #WomensArmyCorps #USArmy #Army #WomenInTheArmy #Soldiers #BreakingBarriers #PavingTheWay #RoleModels #Inspiration #Trending