A Heroine for Afghan Women
Blue is the color of the female in Afghanistan. Shrouded in burka, head to ankle, azure blue is a woman’s identity, all individuality submerged.
The woman standing before the crowd is not dressed in the color of oppression. She wears olive, red and gold. The colors of the warrior.
General Khatol Mohammad Zai, the sole female General in the Afghan National Army, is also Airborne qualified, both extraordinary feats.
In a country where women seldom leave their home or rarely hold a job, a female General is an astonishing vision. She embraces her achievement and is passionate sharing her strengths. She inspires Afghan women to be brave, to step out of their homes, and seek a better life.
On March 8th International Women’s Day, General Khatol traveled by Blackhawk with female ‘Sky Soldiers,’ from the 173rd Airborne Brigade Combat Team from FOBs Shank and Altimur in Logar Province. In Baraki Barak where Khatol spoke to rural Afghan women, sharing her life story and unique strength. She alongside Afghan government officials and the U.S. soldiers also handed out humanitarian aid to the women.
General Khatol became an Airborne jumper during the Soviet era in 1980’s Afghanistan.
“I loved sports and being a pilot” recalls Khatol.
Despite the Soviet communist philosophy of gender equality, Khatol fought hard to be admitted into the military. From rural village to top power structures, Afghans held tight to their tribal Islamic beliefs.
“My family was educated and they convinced me to pursue the job. Except my mother who would become so upset and leave the house every time I was scheduled to jump.”
Remembering back to Airborne school, Khatol recalled, “you have to be strong to be a jumper. There is no difference between male and female.”
Khatol has suffered numerous injuries in her career as a jumper. Once, a small rock shot into her neck exiting out of her cheek. She has broken two vertebrae in her neck; broken her thumb and right leg. On one jump when her primary chute failed to open, she suffered through a rough landing.
“I had only 3 seconds left to deploy the emergency chute” says Khatol. “I landed hard and crushed my ribs.”
Even after all these injuries, she strapped on the gear to compete during Afghan Freedom Day, a holiday to celebrate the defeat of the Soviet Military, she beat out 35 other countries to win the gold medal.
Danger is still close for Khatol. Scared for her own life going after the General rank—many thought she shouldn’t have it—she persevered and President Karzai awarded her the promotion. Like many Airborne soldiers, she is tenacious and brave, giving up is not part of her composition.
“If you work hard for something, you are proud, you hold your head up, sit quietly and know—you can answer anybody. If you get something too easy, you are always looking to the ground.”
When the Taliban were in control, a widower and sole provider of her family of six, Khatol was not allowed to leave her house. To provide for the family, she sold blankets and handicrafts from her home.
A skilled orator, on a radio address broadcast from FOB Shank earlier that day, she read a poem she wrote about her mother. The reading brought tears to not only Khatol but others in the radio booth.
She is also a strategist, ordering a cameraman to return to his position; whereby she restaged herself and gave a brief stimulating speech for his network’s broadcast.
Being the only woman General, Khatol is a seasoned warrior able to handle many perilous situations. When an Afghan TV reporter asked her a provocative question—about her thought s on the female interpreters who work alongside soldiers on U.S. bases—she fired off a response with deliberate and deadly aim.
“It doesn’t matter… all females who are brave enough to come outside, to leave their homes to work, these women are all heroes.”
She passed her strengths, hope and vision to over 180 women and girls on International Women’s Day event. It was the largest gathering of women to date at the Baraki Barak District Center.
