It’s easy for some to dismiss Paula Broadwell as some temptress who maybe led Gen. David Petraeus astray. But while she’s got the face of an angel, Broadwell has the soul of a warrior.
After her graduation in 1995 from the West Point Military Academy, where she graduated number one in physical fitness over a class of 1,015, consisting of 87 percent men, she chose an initial posting to Korea as a platoon leader on the demilitarized zone.
She accepted assignments increasing in responsibility in Europe, the Middle East and Africa, including the command of an International Defense Intelligence Agency Document Exploitation Unit in Bosnia and as a senior intelligence and security officer for the largest Military Police Battalion in the Army based in Mannheim, Germany, all sparking an interest in covert military operations.
When she was a senior Army captain, Broadwell cleared many hurdles to enter into the world of black ops, but she traded her active duty commission for one in the Army Reserves so she she could concentrate on her family while still pursuing other career opportunities.
However, she was recalled to active duty shortly after the September 11 attacks and was assigned as a special operations command intelligence planner in Europe. And her role included planning strikes on counter-terrorist targets in Africa, the Caucuses region and Afghanistan. She also engaged in several self-defense and combative courses, earning Airborne qualifications from four countries.
Not just a pretty face, huh?