Abbey spent eight years in the army national guard. There, here bubbly outgoing personality was mistaken for a promiscuous, immoral woman; doing all she could to be a good soldier, she was handicapped by the stereotypes that were thrust upon her as an outgoing woman.

Abbey, after going through the Primary Leadership Development Course, volunteered to go to Iraq and went as an E-4. Wondering when she would be promoted to E-5, Abbey was told she could not be promoted while with a different unit, but the same rule apparently did not apply to men in the same situation.

One of only four women in her unit, Abbey was constantly undermined openly in favor of male soldiers. To Abbey, the individuals perpetrating these offenses are not the most offensive, the institutionalized nature of the harassment was the largest problem.