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This is Kimberly Hampton. Hampton began her college career playing
tennis for Furman University. She went on to be an honors graduate and
champion tennis player at Presbyterian College. (keep reading, it’s
worth it) Hampton led the school team, the Blue Hose, to three
consecutive South Atlantic Conference women’s tennis tournament titles.
She was undefeated in three years of conference singles play. She won
the SAC awards for Women’s Tennis Player of the Year in 1997 and 1998,
and Female Athlete of the Year in 1998. After college, she went to
Aviation Officer Basic at Fort Ruckers where she completed training
with honors. Kimberly served 2 years in S. Korea and Afghanistan as
part of Op. Enduring Freedom. From here, she was assigned to the 82nd
at Fort Brag where she would go on to become the commander of Delta
Troop, 1st 1st Squadron, 17th Cav. (AIR) before deploying to Iraq for
Op. Iraqi Freedom. On January 2, 2004, her Kiowa was hit near Fallujah.
Kimberly Hampton is the first U.S. female pilot to be shot down and
loose her life from hostile fire.
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