What is the CST Initiative?

The Cultural Support Team (CST) program was established in 2010 when the Special Operations Community saw the need to communicate with the untapped population within Afghanistan, the women, and children. Before the CST program, the male special forces operators lost valuable insights from 50% of the population, leaving a significant gap in the intelligence picture. Due to cultural and religious norms, males could not speak to women and children. 

The CST program was operational from 2010 until the Afghan withdrawal in 2021. There are approx 310 CSTs that successfully passed and were selected as CSTs and then deployed into combat. These CSTs, upon their return from war, did not receive the access to healthcare and treatment as their male counterparts. 

Many CSTs were required to seek treatment for injuries related to Traumatic Brain injuries, post-traumatic stress (PTS), and even Military Sexual Trauma (MST) on their own. Most of these females are still battling with Veterans Affairs (VA) to receive proper access to care and a disability rating. 

The Special Operations Association of America (SOAA) is the first nonprofit that provides advocacy for Special Operators at the congressional level. Today, they are working with congressional leaders on the hill to develop legislation to help address the unique healthcare challenges CSTs face. 

This site was created to draw more awareness around female operators' unique challenges when seeking treatment and healthcare access. The form provided below allows CSTs to submit their stories and unique challenges to SOAA, which SOAA then shares with congressional leaders to help support and drive legislation.