Cameron Beattie (she/her/hers) spent her childhood observing the military life. Her father, a Special Forces officer, was away from the family for long deployments, but she didn’t understand what it was like for him until she lived part of it herself.
As a freshman at Loyola College, Beattie joined the ROTC, receiving a scholarship to cover the remainder of her undergraduate education. The following year, she was selected to attend Airborne School. She graduated in 2009.