Sergeant Amanda Pinson worked as a cryptologist in Iraq. Amanda enlisted in the Army after graduating from Hancock Place High School, Mississippi. She won several scholarships, excelled in academics and athletics and planned to attend college after her military service to become an FBI or CIA agent. After enlisting, Amanda received training in electronic intelligence at Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri, after which she was assigned to the 101st Military Intelligence Detachment, 501st Special Troops Battalion, 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault), Fort Campbell, Kentucky. In 2006, her unit was deployed on the frontlines in Iraq. Amanda was part of a highly skilled group who fought their battles not only on the sands of the desert, but also in the electronic ether. As a cryptologist, her role was to provide and protect essential communications, as many cryptologists did in past wars and conflicts. She died on March 16, 2006, at the age of 21, when insurgents detonated a mortar round in her compound in Tikrit, Iraq.

Signals intelligence and communications security personnel from many countries around the world not only work from their garrisons or government buildings. In times of war, they often have to perform on the front lines. Amanda's story reminds us to respect all those who serve in silence and risk their life for things we don't see, hear or know of. Their work is considered secret and vital to their nation's security, not allowing them to disclose their achievements. They also play an important role in peacetime by protecting and gathering information that keeps military powers balanced, as we saw in the Cold War. Amanda is the first female soldier to be honored by the National Security Agency and inscribed on the NSA Memorial Wall on May 30, 2006.