DES MOINES, Iowa — March is Women's History Month, and one Iowan is using the occasion to highlight female troops and veterans.
Alyssa Flood started her organization Bombshell Patriots to draw attention to women who serve. She says the group uses camaraderie and education to help women with many of the same problems men in our armed forces deal with.
Flood says women need support more now than ever and the numbers show it.
According to the U.S. Department of Labor, women are the fastest-growing group in the veteran population in the country.
Here in Iowa, in 2019 there were over 15,000 women veterans. And that number has since grown.
One of those women is Ace Heckman, who said she is thankful for the group because the military is still very much dominated by men.
"I got told quite often, 'You're a woman, you don't belong here'. And, you know, I've always been under the same type of mindset as my mom, if I can't do the same job that every guy around me can do that I don't belong there," Heckman said. "But I did the same job."
Flood says it's not just women who support her nonprofit, and that is the reason they have been able to stay active for three years.
Bombshell Patriots has conferences and events coming up this summer and fall to gather more support for these veteran women.