Political candidate, Air Force combat vet, and author MJ Hegar has seen her fair share of action. Her military career began in the ROTC at the University of Texas at Austin, where she studied criminology and sociology. She rose through the ranks early on to become Vice Wing Commander of Detachment 825 AFROTC and Deputy Commander of the Arnold Air Society while at Austin.
Such early military success prompted her to continue a path of service, so she joined the military full-time, working on F-16 Fighting Falcons and B-52 Stealth Bombers. She took part in Operation Enduring Freedom, flying search and rescue missions in Afghanistan. Hegar was shot down by the Taliban in 2009, earning her the Purple Heart and Distinguished Flying Cross awards, and paving the way for TED Talks to come.
Due to the military’s combat exclusion policy, Hegar could only apply to non-combat roles after being shot down in Afghanistan. Those roles do nothing for the progression of a military career, so with the help of U.S. Marine Corps Captain Zoe Bedell, U.S. Marine Corps First Lieutenant Colleen Farrell, U.S. Army Reserves Staff Sergeant Jennifer Hunt, and the Service Women's Action Network (SWAN), she sued the U.S. Secretary of Defence, claiming the policy was unfair. While the initial lawsuit failed, it ultimately led to the repeal of the policy in 2013.
This tenacity has deep roots. Hegar explained in an article she penned for Elle magazine in 2020 that she had a deep-seated need to fight for justice. She watched helplessly as her mother and older sister were abused by her father, which lit a flame in her later on to head into battle for those who were less equipped to do so themselves.
In her post-military career, she entered politics in her home state of Texas, where she lost congressional battles twice by narrow margins. Her story was far from over, though, and she went on to write a book titled “Shoot Like a Girl” about her combat career in a male-dominated industry. Even her own children are convinced she’s secretly a superhero, so despite a few political setbacks, the world has likely not heard the last from such an influential mind.