Major Naseema, an Afghan-born Air Force veteran whose linguistic skills proved vital in the War in Afghanistan, attended Okaloosa County’s third annual Women Veterans Day ceremony June 12, where she holds the distinction of being one of the few living people honored with a statue at the Women’s Veterans Park.

• Naseema, who came to the United States as a teenager to pursue education, enlisted in the Air Force in 1985 and attained the rank of master sergeant. She completed her master’s degree in management and graduated from Officer Training School, receiving her commission in April 2001 and retired as a Major.

On Sept. 11, 2001, she was the only airman fluent in Pashto, the same language spoken by the Taliban. The Air Force immediately deployed her as an aircrew linguist, waiving all aircrew requirements so she could serve aboard RC135 surveillance and reconnaissance aircraft. She was awarded several Air Medals specifically for flying combat missions.

“I like to think that anybody else being in my position would’ve done the same thing,” Naseema said in an interview at the ceremony. “I just happen to have a unique background.”

Her unique background made her invaluable to military operations. After her deployments as an aircrew linguist, she was assigned to the National Security Agency at Fort Meade, Maryland, where she provided near real-time intelligence support for entire U.S. air and ground operations in Afghanistan for four years. Her work included conducting signals intelligence and processing data from airborne and ground sensors to inform personnel across the intelligence community.

At the ceremony, Commissioner Carolyn Ketchel recognized Naseema’s presence as a special moment. “We are honored to have with us today, Naseema,” Ketchel said. “It is such an honor to have you with us.”

Ketchel noted that when the committee chose Naseema for the statue, a commander told them, “We couldn’t have chosen a better woman because not only did she translate all the targets we made, but she was also in service in Afghanistan and fought during that war.”

• The commissioner expressed her personal connection to Naseema, saying, “I’m just so proud to call her my friend, and I couldn’t believe it when she called and said, ‘I’m coming this year.’ So this is wonderful.”

Commissioner Ketchel, who spearheaded the Women’s Veterans Park project, had called Naseema during her retirement to inform her about the statue. Naseema said her daughter was present during the phone call and became excited about the honor. 

“I come from a very humble background. So for me, this is still somewhat unreal to actually see it,” she said. “When I read the bios of the other women, I wonder how did I get in this crowd? Because they’re some amazing women.”

In 2009, when President Obama made building partner capacity a top national security strategy priority, Major Naseema was selected as director of the Building Partner Aviation Capacity Seminar at the USAF Special Operations School at Hurlburt Field. She was responsible for curriculum development and execution of the Air Force’s first and only Building Partner Capacity course, while also delivering lessons on Afghan culture and Islam.

Major Naseema retired in 2011, but her connection to military service continued through her personal mission to help family members in Afghanistan.

At the ceremony, which featured keynote speaker Colonel Kristen Wood and unveiled two additional statues honoring women veterans, Naseema reflected on the evolution of opportunities for women in the military. She shared an early career experience that illustrated the limitations women faced in the 1980s.

• “When I was on my first assignment, I was administrative at the time, and I got an incentive-ride for doing good work,” she said. “I went with the Army Paratroopers, and they were jumping out of airplanes. So, I come back to my unit excited and I look at my commander and say, ‘Sir, I want to jump out of airplanes.’ He just looks at me and says, ‘The Air Force doesn’t allow women to jump out of airplanes.'”

Despite such limitations, Naseema said she felt supported throughout her career. “I joined in the eighties and there weren’t that many women in the service, but to me I felt like I was incredibly supported by so many people. I wouldn’t have been able to accomplish what I did without them.”

The veteran emphasized the stark contrast between opportunities available to women in America versus her homeland. “Currently in Afghanistan, things have gotten so bad for women that they’re not allowed to leave their house without escorts. They’re not allowed to have jobs. These are doctors, lawyers, professionals,” she said. “And so that freedom that we take for granted here, most women don’t have it there.”

Naseema has spent the past four years working with the Department of Defense and State Department to help family members escape Afghanistan after the Taliban’s return to power in 2021. 

• “For two days in a row I tried to get them through the gate at the airport in Kabul,” she said about her initial rescue efforts during the chaotic evacuation. “Thank God they left just before the bombing happened.”

She currently has more family members stuck in Doha due to refugee and visa ban and pleads with President Trump to provide an exception for service member families so they can be processed to the U.S.

 “The only reason why their life is in danger is because I served in the United States Air Force,” she added. “That’s it. They didn’t do anything wrong. They had jobs, they had livelihood, they had all that, and all that got uprooted because it got out that I served in the United States Air Force.”

When asked about the importance of recognizing women’s achievements, Naseema became emotional. “If it wasn’t for them, we wouldn’t be here,” she said, referring to the organizers of the Women’s Veterans Park. “If it wasn’t for their hard work, their vision, them understanding the value of women’s contributions – it took so much to get to where we’re at.”

Her message to young women focuses on seizing opportunities and working hard. “I think anytime you see an opportunity, take advantage of it. Even when somebody says, ‘Hey, are you interested in doing this?’ our first initial response is usually no. I would encourage them to say yes, because along the way, you build yourself a network of people. You find new interests and you get to meet great people along the journey.”

• She also emphasized the importance of education and critical thinking. “There’s so much misinformation out there. I would encourage them to read for themselves and get the facts, not just go by what whoever says, whether it’s an elected official or someone else. Do the research yourself.”

Naseema stressed that education takes many forms. “You don’t have to go to college, you can go to a tech school, but you have to have some sort of profession to make a meaningful living. We spend most of our awakened-time at our jobs, and so you want to do something that you absolutely love, because then it doesn’t feel like work.”

Reflecting on her military service, Naseema said what she misses most are the relationships. “The mission always got done. Maybe sometimes you could’ve done it better, but the mission always got done. But it’s the people that you were with day in and day out. The brotherhood, the sisterhood, that’s what you miss.”

Despite having traveled the world, Naseema remains grateful for her adopted country. “This is still the greatest country. We might have our problems at times, but it’s the greatest country in the world. Every single person has an opportunity. You just might have to work twice as hard as the person sitting next to you.”

The Women’s Veterans Park currently houses eight statues representing women who served from the Revolutionary War through modern conflicts. Two additional statues were unveiled at the ceremony, with plans for two more representing the War of 1812 and the evacuation of Afghanistan to be placed in November 2025.