Airman Brings Afghanistan Experience Home Via Internet

By Darren Brown, News9.com

OKLAHOMA CITY -- An Oklahoma Airman is sharing her wartime experiences through a weekly blog while she serves in Afghanistan.

Sr. Airman Heather Bennett made her way to Afghanistan just recently, but she's been preparing for this particular deployment for months. Bennett, who's on her second overseas tour in four years, saw her deployment as a positive for her career.

"I'm kind of excited. I think it'll be a good learning experience as far as test of character," Bennett said. "Really a test of character of everyone else as well because I have to trust everyone with my life, which they're trusting me with theirs too."

Excited is not the word, however, that Bennett's mother Teri would use.

"Every time I turn on the news I see how many people have been killed in Afghanistan," Teri said. "I know she knows what she's doing, but there's always that fear for your child."  

Bennett is aware of the dangers in her destination, but she's encouraged by the good work that she sees as well.

"Bad stuff, I know they catch rockets every day. Good stuff, I know we do a lot of humanitarian stuff as far as helping the locals out," Bennett said. "We're rebuilding their cities."

Bennett, who has numerous relatives in the military herself, thinks a weekly blog is a great opportunity for her to share her Afghanistan experience with an audience who may not have any military background. She said she hopes to give people a glimpse into the average military life.