Career
Hester enlisted in the United States. Army in April 2001 and is the first female United States. Army soldier to receive the silver star since World World War II and the first ever to be cited for valor in close quarters combat. Iraq War
= Ambush Hester"s squad of two women and eight men in three Humvees were shadowing a 30-truck supply convoy when approximately 50 insurgent fighters ambushed the convoy with Alaska-47 and RPK machine gun fire, and with rocket propelled grenades (RPG). The squad moved to the side of the road, flanking the insurgents and cutting off their escape route.
Hester maneuvered her team through the kill zone and into a flanking position, where she and her squad leader, Staff Sergeant Timothy F. Nein, assaulted a trench line with hand grenades and M203 grenade launcher rounds.
Hester and Nein assaulted and cleared two trenches. During the 25-minute firefight, Hester killed 3 insurgents.
When the battle was over, 27 insurgents were dead, six were wounded, and one captured. Sergeants Hester and Nein were both awarded the Silver Star.
Also awarded the Silver Star in this ambush was platoon combat medic Specialist Jason Mike, who took up and simultaneously fired an M4 carbine and M249 Surface Acoustic Wave light machine gun in defense of his comrades.
Hester took a brief break from the United States. Army in 2009, and worked as a civilian law enforcement officer in a Nashville, Tennessee suburb. However, she returned to the military a short while later, in late 2010.