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It's a dangerous job, but somebody has to do it.
Now, the U.S. military has lifted it's ban on women in combat.
After 38 years in the Air Force, Diane Hiebert says women can be every bit as capable as men on the battle field.
"There are guys that have no business in combat," Hiebert says. "I have seen some really squirrely guys, and they're higher maintenance than a lot of women I know."
This Newton native was one of the first women to ever work in weather equipment maintenance for the Air Force. That job took her all over the world, including the combat zones of the Iraq War.
"We were not necessarily getting shot at, although we were prepared to get shot at," Hiebert says.
Hiebert is also a trailblazer in the VFW, being the first female quartermaster Wichita's Post 112 has ever had. Just two months retired, Hiebert says women have come a long way in the U.S. military.
"When I went to basic training in the 1970s, it was still old school--we were taught how to look good."
Now, she says the training is the same for everybody, and the new generation of service men see women as equals.
"If a woman can do the job, she ought to be able to get the job."
Whether that's a combat job or the job of running a local VFW post, the limits on how women can serve their country are vanishing.