Joe Kent-Send Me: True Story of a Mom at War

"Send Me: The True Story of a Mom At War" by Joe Kent and Marty  Skovlund, Jr.

The extraordinary true story of Shannon Kent, a legend among special operators serving in Iraq during the War on Terror.

“Operator” doesn’t refer to everyone in special operations. The term

is reserved for those few who weren’t satisfied with their Special Forces

tab, the color of their beret, or their Navy SEAL trident. Those, like

Kay, who wanted to serve at the most elite level of special

operations and volunteered to take “the long walk.” Seventy thousand of

the 1.3 million active-duty service members in the US military are

assigned to the US Special Operations Command (USSOCOM).

Among them are the operators—the one percent of the one percent."

But few realize these same operators are the friendly neighbors

and Little League coaches back home, tasked with balancing home

and work like any other busy American. Well, almost like any other

American.

Shannon was a highly-trained  cryptologist who joined US Navy after 9/11, trained in Defense Language Institute , where she showed unusually exceptional skill in languages

In 2007-after two years of training, deployed to Iraq with a SEAL Team! Meets Joe Kent, Green Beret.

2008-she’s the only woman in her Naval Special Warfare Direct Support Course

2012-deployed again , this time with Naval Special Warfare to Afghanistan in a Cultural Support Team (back home, women are now completing Ranger training!)

Shannon produced 400 mission-critical IQ reports, advanced warning on 12 attacks, prevented 30 IED attacks, leading to the capture or killing of 6 enemy soldiers

2014-in a course together,  Shannon and Joe reconnected and fell in love. He realizes she’s kind of an urban legend (“Shaymah”) respected by Iraqi operators due to her mastery of Iraqi slang and her wit. Xmas Eve 2014-they get married, and she’s pregnant. Joe deploys in Jan. 2015 she finishes a BS in psychology, while still working fulltime for one of the world’s most elite special ops units. She moves them into a new place, paints it etc in her 3^rd trimester!Colt is born 11 Aug 2015

Shannon is recruited into another secretive, more compartmentalized element, requiring her to attend a different high-stress selection & training pipeline.

2016-Joe is deployed for the 10^th time. Meanwhile, Shannon is diagnosed with Hashimoto’s Disease, the thyroid cancer. She has lump removed.

2017-pregnant again. Joe is nearing retirement, considers CIA work.  21 June-Josh is born. Joe is promoted to Chief warrant Officer 3. Due to her cancer, the US military won’t admit her to their psychology PhD program (but she’s considered well enough to deploy to Syria!) She is promoted to Senior Chief Petty Officer

16 Jan. 2019 She and three others are killed by an ISIS suicide bomber. (within a month, the entire ISIS team that planned and executed the attack is dead or captive.)