Student veteran blazed a trail for female Marines

by Kayleigh Thesenvitz

Kate Tillotson is a student veteran and an American hero, who blazed new trails for women in the Marine Corps.

Tillotson served as a Marine Corps Lioness in a time "before women were allowed to serve as infantry," she said.

Attached with an infantry unit in Iraq for 45 days, Tillotson's job was to search women at predetermined checkpoints.

Tillotson, right, while stationed in Iraq.

One of those checkpoints was the Fallujah Detention Center, which gained notoriety for successfully detaining and processing over 1,000 Iraqis without killing a single Iraqi citizen, even when under attack themselves.

Her position was created in an effort to respect the cultural gender requirements of Iraqi citizens.

While male Marines searching female citizens would have been viewed as a disgraceful act, having female Marines do the searching kept the unit safe and fostered relationships with the communities.

Tillotson said her experience was a great opportunity for women.

"To put it into perspective," she said. "when I served in the Marines, women made up just 6 percent of the Marine Corps' fleet and reserve."

Early in 2017, Tillotson was named Student Veteran of the Year by Student Veterans of America for her work revitalizing TU's Student Veteran Association.