Army Sergeant Amanda Pinson worked as a cryptologist in
Iraq. Amanda died on March 16, 2006, at the age of 21, in
Tikrit, Iraq, when insurgents detonated a mortar round in
her compound. She is the 2,315th U.S. soldier to be
killed in Iraq. In 2002, Amanda enlisted in the Army
after graduating from Hancock Place High School,
Mississippi. At school she won several scholarships and
excelled in academics and athletics. She planned to
attend college after her military service and become an
FBI or CIA agent. After enlisting, Amanda received
training in electronic intelligence at Fort Leonard Wood,
Missouri, where she learned the importance of cryptology
on the battlefield. Amanda was assigned to the 101st
Military Intelligence Detachment, 501st Special Troops
Battalion, 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault), Fort
Campbell, Kentucky. In 2006, her unit was deployed on the
frontlines in Iraq. Amanda was part of a highly skilled
group who fought their battles not only on the sands of
the desert, but also in the electronic ether. As a
cryptologist, her role was to provide and protect
essential communications, as many cryptologists did in
past wars and conflicts.
Cryptologists not only work from within
their garrison, but in time of war they must also perform
on the front lines. Amanda's tragic story reminds us to
respect all those who risk their lives while doing things
we don't see, hear or know of. Most of them do their job
in total anonymity. Their work is considered secret and
vital to their nation's security, not allowing them to
disclose their important achievements. Cryptologists not
only excel in war time but also play an important role in
peace time by gathering and protecting information to
keep military powers balanced, as we saw in the Cold War.
Amanda is the first female soldier to be honored by the
National Security Agency. On May 30, 2006, Lieutenant
General Keith B. Alexander, director of the National
Security Agency, paid special tribute to Amanda during
the Agency’s annual Memorial Day Observance and
unveiled Amanda Pinson's name, inscribed on the NSA
Memorial Wall.
They shall grow not old, as we
that are left grow old.
Age shall not weary them, nor the years
condemn.
At the going down of the sun and in the
morning
We will remember them.
