Staff writer
Many female Cadets at the Leader’s Training Course could feel awkward training in such close proximity to hundreds of male Cadets, but Jackie Horgan is used to spending a good deal of time with the opposite sex.
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| Co. B 1/46th Inf. (Co. 7) Cadet Jackie Horgan turned down a full scholarship for soccer to participate in training at LTC. Photo by Chen Wang |
“The hardest thing for me here is living with 70 females,” said Horgan, who attends Plattsburgh University in New York. “This is a totally different environment than what I’m used to.”
Horgan traveled America working out as a goalkeeper with some of the best soccer players in the world. Women’s soccer does not have a residency program, which is why she trained with men.
Injuries Horgan suffered, including a cracked occipital lobe from when she was hit in the face with a soccer ball, were the reasons she decided to retire from the sport. She found it hard to stay away from soccer, however, and acquired a national coaching license from the National Soccer Coaches Association of America.
This year Horgan, who is studying to be an Army flight nurse, was offered a full scholarship to play soccer at Appalachian State University but turned it down to participate in training at LTC. She said her experience as an athlete has helped her job as a squad leader at Fort Knox.
“Being a goalkeeper, you have to position your team members,” the Tampa, Fla., native said. “This is just a change in uniform: from soccer to greens.”
Second Lt. Laurent Lundy, a squad tactical officer for Co. B 1/46th Inf. (Co.7), said Horgan’s training habits show a lot of courage.
“She once had a kidney infection and was advised to go see a nurse,” Lundy said. “She decided not to, and went ahead with training the rest of the day.”
The infection did not hinder Horgan, and she was fine the rest of the day. She said the only real discomfort she has experienced at LTC has come from the bruises that cover her inner thighs, which she got while climbing on ropes during training at Rudder’s Ropes Course.
“That’s normal though,” Horgan said. “All the girls’ legs are like this.”