Shoot Like a Girl: One Woman's Dramatic Fight in Afghanistan and on the Home Front

Just imagine being marginalised because you don’t fit the excepted norm. In Jennings-Hagars case this was simply for being female. Just when you think that the conscious and unconscious towards a women doing a role that she will excel at has gone, it rears its ugly head.

MJ as the author likes to be known gives a good narrative around her childhood and this is important as it sets the scene for how she gets her drive and also in my view her insecurities. She clearly has no time for her abusive biological father but adores her step father who seems to be a calming and encouraging influence in her life.       

Her first battle is to serve her country, this is a strong calling for MJ as it is with most service personal, myself included. She is overeager at times to prove herself worthy in what is a historically male occupation. However due to her ability and drive, despite an injury she succeeds and is accepted into the US Air Force flight programme.

It is here that she meets failure and fails to be selected as a pilot, but as you read and get to understand MJ, she is not one for giving up, in fact if anything it spurs her on. She comes across a lot of male chauvinism and discrimination as despite excelling in her work she is looked over for the one available pilot slot for those who have not directly been put forward for pilot training.

She eventually decides to leave the air force and join the National Guard in New York as a helicopter pilot where once again she meets men who think because she is female she is not good enough, they clearly don’t know who they are dealing with here.

MJ is posted to Afghanistan flying rescue missions, clearly unhappy with her unit and isolated, although I feel this was her own choice as well. It is here that she meets another people from another unit and finds that some of her colleagues live in a modern world and treat her as a person and a pilot with the respect she deserves. On her return she leaves her New York unit for the new one and things are better.

She returns to Afghanistan with her new unit and involved in a fire fight that downs her helicopter. This is perhaps the most dramatic part of the book and is well described and written, you can feel the action and tension here.

I loved reading the military aspect of the book, but it is so much more. It’s about overcoming adversity and never giving up for it is an inspirational book and an excellent read. One line has stayed with me. MJ towards the end of the book states all armed forces personal that have served in a war zone have PTSD to a greater or lesser extent and the difference is how we are able to deal with it. As a former soldier I agree with this.

Buy this book it’s a great and inspirational read