For 16 years, Patricia King was indistinguishable from the platoon of male soldiers around her.

She served three tours as an infantryman for the US army in Afghanistan in 2001 - 2002, 2003, and most recently in 2013 - 2014, rising to become staff sergeant and squad leader.

King has worked across Afghanistan's mountainous regions, as well as in the busy streets of Kabul: her roles ranged from processing detainees destined for the hell of Guantanamo Bay, to providing security for generals travelling across the war zone.

Back home in Colorado, King had a wife and sons. King was born with the biological characteristics of a man, but a sense of body dysmorphia had tormented her since she was eight. Nevertheless, she appeared to flourish in what she calls the "hyper-masculine" environment of the US army.

Things suddenly changed last June, when staff sergeant Patricia King became the first infantryman in the US army to come out as transgender.

To understand how courageous this decision was, it is important to be aware of the fact that her employer — the US army — maintains that it is a "dischargable offence" to be openly transgender.

However, in July 2015, in an unprecedented move for the US army, Defense Secretary Ash Carter announced a rethink of the policy in a statement to the press:

"At a time when our troops have learned from experience that the most important qualification for service members should be whether they're able and willing to do their job, our officers and enlisted personnel are faced with certain rules that tell them the opposite. Moreover, we have transgender soldiers, sailors, airmen, and Marines - real, patriotic Americans - who I know are being hurt by an outdated, confusing, inconsistent approach that's contrary to our value of service and individual merit."

Nearly one year on, a formal change of rules has yet to be announced. According to the rules, King could still be fired from her job for living true to her identity — though in practice this is unlikely.

Business Insider caught up with King to find out more about life as a transgender soldier in the US army, and her expectations for the future.

King grew up with both of her parents and no siblings by the coast, in Cape Cod, Massachusetts.

"I had a fairly average childhood," King told Business Insider. "I was about eight years old when I was first aware I felt out of sorts in my body."

It was while watching the '80s NBC sitcom "Punky Brewster" that King first realised that she felt like a woman inside a man's body.

"There was an episode where the main character and her friends were beginning to go through puberty and talking about breast growth," she said. "As an eight-year-old kid, I became very aware that it was not going to happen to me and I felt a sense of sadness or loss."

From this moment on, King was deeply confused by her gender.

After the onset of puberty, her sense of body dysmorphia intensified. The problem was exacerbated by a lack of awareness, stemming from limited education on gender issues in 1980s America. King did not know the term "transgender" and she did not have the anonymous omniscience of the internet to find it out. So, King made the assumption that her confusing feelings would simply pass.

In high school, King tried hard not to allow her feelings of confusion dominate her existence. She was an "average student" and managed to avoid "any really negative experiences."

Nevertheless, King's confidence was bruised by these early episodes.

At high school, Gay-Straight Alliance meetings (safe spaces for students to discuss issues relating to sexuality and gender), King sat at the back of the class for an entire year, "hoping that someone would describe what I was going through."

This never happened.

"Simply no one was talking about being transgender back then," King said, "I found myself feeling awkward in my skin."

At the end of high school, King felt lost, unsure of her own identity and uncertain about what to do with her adult life.

King decided to join the army immediately after graduation in the hope that doing so would somehow cure her from feeling like a woman.

"I decided I would join the army as an opportunity to maybe 'man up,'" King said. "I thought if I was in a hyper-masculine environment, it would actually help me to feel more at home in my body."

King added: "I thought that the army was an opportunity for me to go and explore and also explore who I was and, maybe, come into my own."

She quickly became engrossed in army life and enjoyed "doing great things" like "jump[ing] out of airplanes."

However, deep within her consciousness, remained the feeling that she was in the wrong body.

A selection of military photos that you might have missed this month.

Candidates at the Officer Candidate School (OCS) conduct the Fireteam Assault course aboard Marine Corps Base Quantico, Virginia.

Marines from the 1st Marine Division wait to board a CH-53E Super Stallion prior to a night raid at the Marine Corps Air Ground Combat Center, Twentynine Palms, California.

Soldiers assigned to the 3rd Infantry Division carry equipment through a pond during the team obstacle course at the French Jungle Warfare School near Yemen.

Lt. Col. Scott Mann is a retired Green Beret in the US Army as well as the president of MannUp Leadership Training. He describes how the Green Berets and the US Navy SEALs are different.

Some of the differences may surprise you.

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Michael Hayden is the former director of the CIA and the NSA, as well as the author of "Playing to the Edge." He reveals what CIA operatives are actually like after visiting more than 50 CIA stations and bases throughout the world.

Produced by Eames Yates

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In the 240 years since the US declared independence from the English in 1776, the uniforms of those serving in the US Army have changed drastically. 

Over the years, as the nation grew, uniforms too have evolved to fit the times and take advantage of changes in tactics and technology. In some cases, as this paper from US Army History notes, the changes were minor affairs, while in other cases, the look of the US Army was radically changed. 

We have highlighted some of the major advancements in US Army uniforms in the graphic below. 

SEE ALSO: 24 military movies to watch over Fourth of July weekend

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NOW WATCH: See 240 years of US Army uniforms in 2 minutes

Serving in the military isn't a prerequisite for becoming president. Nonetheless, out of the 44 presidents of the United States, 29 had some military experience in their background, according to the US Department of Veterans Affairs. 

These are the presidents who served in the armed forces in some capacity, from the modern day to the American Revolution: 

SEE ALSO: America's 9 Greatest War Hero Presidents

George W. Bush

Service: Texas Air National Guard

Rank: First Lieutenant 

Conflict: Stateside during the Vietnam War

George H. W. Bush

Service: United States Naval Reserve

Rank: Lieutenant (junior grade)

Conflict: World War II 

Awards: Distinguished Flying Cross 

Ronald Reagan

Service: United States Army Reserve, United States Army Air Corps

Rank: Captain

Conflict: Stateside during World War II 

There’s almost no way getting around it — if you’re serving in the US military, maintaining one’s physical fitness is a duty that you have to fulfill, unless you’d prefer to struggle to catch your breath.

In order to accommodate both the fluctuation of the average person’s physical traits and the demands of modern warfare, the US Army’s Training and Doctrine Command (TRADOC) is constantly honing its physical fitness standards. Taking a look at this evolution of physical standards with Whitfield B. East's, "A Historical Review and Analysis of Army Physical Readiness Training and Assessment" provides not only the insight to the demands of what was needed on the battlefield back then, but also answers the highly debated question of whether servicemembers back in the day could be considered fitter.

Starting in the early 1800s, United States Military Academy (USMA) cadets neglected physical exercise and merely practiced military drills — even recreational activities were frowned upon. After realizing their mistakes, Congress and Army leaders sent officials to Europe to determine the best course for implementing a physical education program for their future officers.

Tasks within this new program included scaling a 15-foot wall without using tools, vaulting on a horse 15-hands high, leaping a ditch 10-feet wide, an 8-minute mile run, and a 3-mile march carrying a 20-pound knapsack in one hour. Also recommended in this new program was the ability to dive and remain underwater for 45-seconds.

Shortly after the Civil War, the USMA appointed its first pedagogically-trained instructor, Herman Koehler, as its “Master of the Sword.” As the new head of West Point’s Department of Physical Education, Koehler focused on gymnastics as a key element for fitness, and brought into existence the first Army-wide training manuals for physical training in 1887.

In 1906, the Army then implemented its first unit-wide physical training program. Tasks included a weekly 12-mile march for the infantry and 18-miles for horse-mounted artillery and cavalry units. Even the President at the time, Theodore Roosevelt, was obsessed about starting a physical regimen for the military — as a sickly kid during his childhood, he developed a philosophy of strenuous exercise.

World War I then brought new fitness requirements for the Army — the first manual to identify quantifiable physical objectives was developed. This Individual Efficiency Test measured combat physical readiness with the following requirements: running 100 yards in 14 seconds, a 12-foot broad running jump, an unassisted 8-foot wall climb, throwing a hand grenade for 30 yards into a 10’ diameter circle, and an obstacle course run.

Shortly before the attack on Pearl Harbor and the US’ involvement in World War II, the US was seen as a complacent country that neglected physical activity due to the 20 years of peace and continued innovations to make life easier — over a third of the military’s inductees were considered to be in “miserable shape”, and half of them weren’t even able to swim well.

This proved to be a harrowing precursor to the landing of D-Day, when it was determined that a significant number of deaths were attributed to the fact that many servicemembers had drowned in waters that were 10-15 feet deep.

To address these inadequacies, in 1944, the Physical Efficiency Test Battery was created. This battery of tests included pull-ups, 20 seconds of burpees, squat jumps, push-ups, a 100-yard pig-a-back run, sit-ups, and a 300-yard shuttle run. Normative scales were included during this examination to provide participants with the added incentive to score higher and to incite a "competitive spirit" amongst themselves.

Finally, in the 1980s, testing requirements shaped into what it currently resembles within the Army. The gender-integrated Army Physical Readiness Test (APRT) evaluated soldiers on their ability to do push-ups, sit-ups, and a 2-mile run in that order, with 10-20 minutes of rest time between each event.

After receiving initial data on the results, research teams concluded that about 5% of soldiers should be able to score the maximum points allotted for the test. During the beginning of this era, there were no scoring standards for soldiers over the age of 40, and those that were were only authorized to be tested on the 2-mile run.

Since then, there has been much debate with the current scoring system in the Army’s physical fitness test — many scorn the “corporate fitness” model and it’s detraction from its more combat-oriented roots. It remains to be seen if the Army implements a more functional assessment to meet the demands of today, such as the Marine Corps’ Combat Fitness Test.

Whichever way the Army decides to keep rolling along, you can be sure that servicemembers will be profusely sweating.

SEE ALSO: RECEPTION DAY: Here's a look at what awaits fresh West Point cadets

SEE ALSO: How US Army uniforms changed over the 240 years since independence

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NOW WATCH: These are the favorite weapons of the Army Special Operations Forces

"Incoming!" 

That one word will draw a knee-jerk response from any service member. It's also the word you don't want to be hearing if you're on the receiving end of an artillery barrage. 

During an exercise in Rovajärvi, Lapland, Finnish Army soldiers placed cameras in the areas of impact from their Model 130 K 54 cannons. The devastation wrought from these machines can not only be seen, but heard, as sounds of shrapnel ping the surrounding atmosphere.

Be sure to turn your sound on; or in some cases lower it.

Watch the entire video from Puolustusvoimat - Försvarsmakten - The Finnish Defence Forces:

SEE ALSO: RECEPTION DAY: Here's a look at what awaits fresh West Point cadets

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NOW WATCH: FORMER GREEN BERET: Essential survival tips that could save your life

Lt. Col. Scott Mann is a retired Green Beret in the US Army as well as the president of MannUp Leadership Training. He says that Hillary Clinton's behavior while Secretary of State may have compromised her reputation in the special operations community.

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HBO’s World War II miniseries “Band of Brothers” follows the men of Easy Company, part of the 506th Parachute Infantry Regiment, 101st Airborne Division, from their training at jump school, to the airborne landings in Normandy, the Siege of Bastogne, and all the way to Hitler’s mountain retreat.

Based on the book with the same name by Stephen Ambrose, the show is a dramatized retelling of actual events and follows a group of elite and battle-hardened paratroopers as they fight across Europe, far behind enemy lines, with only each other to rely on.

The critically acclaimed 10-episode miniseries won a slew of awards including a Golden Globe for Best Miniseries or Motion Picture Made for Television, and inspired a second “Band of Brothers” series in 2010, which follows the US Marines in the Pacific theater of the war.

To ensure historical accuracy, the series drew from Ambrose’s story, as well as memoirs and personal accounts from Easy Company soldiers. Each episode opens with interviews from the men who fought in some of the war’s most brutal and unforgiving battles.

Here are 10 things you didn’t know about HBO’s World War II war drama:

SEE ALSO: 24 military movies everyone should watch

1. This show made a lot of people’s careers

This cast is full of actors who have gone on to become major stars since it came out. From Tom Hardy to Michael Fassbender, Simon Pegg, Damian Lewis, and James McAvoy, “Band of Brothers” introduced audiences to a whole host of talented actors.

2. Creating 'Band of Brothers' was an enormous and expensive undertaking

The miniseries, with a budget of $120 million, took three years to make and was filmed on a 12-acre set that was continually modified to represent 11 different European locations. If you want a comparison for scale: That’s five times the size of the set for “Saving Private Ryan.”

3. HBO had an army of extras

According to the behind-the-scenes film, “The Making of ‘Band of Brothers,” there were 10,000 extras, 500 speaking roles, and a massive wardrobe department that supplied detailed and authentic uniforms, including 500 pairs paratrooper jump boots manufactured to fit the original Army specifications.

Michael Yon has lived an interesting life — he graduated from the US Army’s Special Forces school near the top of his class, became part of Michael Jackson’s security detail, and spent time hunting cannibals in India. 

However, none of those experiences amounted to what happened when he decided to become a war correspondent and embedded with the US military during two concurrent wars.

After covering soldiers of Deuce Four battalion in Iraq for around five months, he became intimately acquainted with the soldiers — some of them even jokingly offered their rifles to him in tense situations. In a sense, he was accepted into their pack.

But whether or not this was a good pack to be accepted into could depend on your preference for danger — one-third of the soldiers in Deuce Four became casualties during the war in Iraq. Even the senior ranking soldiers went on patrols, and wouldn’t allow any newcomers into their unit without observing how they performed in combat.

In a scene that could only be described as a Michael Bay movie, Lieutenant Colonel Erik Kurilla, the commander of the Deuce Four Battalion, was wounded from gunfire in a crowded market. After one of the other soldiers engaged the enemy in close-quarters combat, Yon, the embedded journalist, found himself holding an M-4 rifle.

It wasn’t always like this — in fact, he didn’t even want to be in a combat zone at first. As he was pursuing work outside of the military, his buddies from the Army kept goading him to join them in the fray after the attacks on 9/11.

But it wasn’t until the death of Scott Helvenston, the youngest Navy SEAL in history, that his perspective changed. Helvenston was one of the contractors that was ambushed, killed, and hung from a bridge by insurgents right before the Battle of Fallujah in 2004.  

“We went to the same high school and played football together,” Yon told Business Insider. “I was really upset.”

After purchasing his own equipment and calling in some favors, he soon found himself documenting numerous firefights in Iraq and Afghanistan.

But the current firefight he was in was a bit different.

“I didn’t want to leave Erik,” Yon told Business Insider. “I’ve been with him for five months, mission after mission, and he’s one of the best combat leaders I’ve ever seen.”

Yon yelled for a magazine to one of the other soldiers near him. After receiving one, his Army training kicked in and he successfully locked a round into the rifle's chamber.

“This was one of those moments where your plane’s on fire and you’re without a parachute,” said Yon. “You just figure this s**t out as you go.”

As a non-combatant, his actions would potentially violate the Geneva Conventions, and at the very least, cause a huge headache for military officials due to liability issues.

Firing a round with his newly acquired rifle, he realized something was wrong. The bullet had hit a propane canister which started flying towards Yon’s face. Spinning uncontrollably, Yon recalls that he knew the propane canister had barely missed him after he was hit by propane gas in the face.

In the end, Lieutenant Colonel Kurilla recovered from his wounds and even deployed to another combat zone a year later.

After the dust settled, military officials were placed in an awkward position — how would one reprimand the man that had attempted to save a soldier’s life, and yet was possibly breaking international laws in doing so?

Yon merely ended up receiving a slap on the wrist and a gray-statement from the military.

“This was a delicate situation,” Yon continued with a chuckle. “But the troops loved it.”

Although he doesn’t embed with the military as he did back in the day, Yon continues to blog about his experiences and views about the military.

“Spending time with the troops was definitely the highlight of my life,” Yon explained to Business Insider. “I’m happy and honored to have covered the troops.”

SEE ALSO: Witness the moment US soldiers find themselves in close-quarters combat

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NOW WATCH: A Navy SEAL explains why he’ll never go skydiving as a civilian again

Thousands of transgender Americans serve in the United States military and armed forces, but until now, those in uniform served in secret. The Pentagon announced an end to the ban on transgender service members.

Produced by Jenner Deal

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Lt. Col. Scott Mann is a retired Green Beret in the US Army as well as the president of MannUp Leadership Training. He some people sign up for the military for the wrong reasons. 

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In the 1980s, the US Army needed to be able to rapidly deploy a sizable force to face off against heavy forces. But that requirement created two problems: Most light forces were little more than speed bumps against tanks, and it took a long time to deliver a heavy force – and their supplies – to a likely theater outside of Europe or South Korea. So the Army began to explore ways to create a light force that could hold its own.

Enter the 9th Motorized, a force that proved it’s utility in several big exercises during the mid-1980s, most notably in Border Star 85 when the 3rd Armored Cavalry Regiment lost badly to the 3rd Brigade of the 9th Motorized. The Army’s strategy seemed to be playing out in a good way.

But a change at the top of the Army detoured the promise of the 9th. The new Army Chief of Staff favored the light infantry division concept over the motorized division. Ultimately, four active light infantry divisions (the 6th, 7th, 10th Mountain, and 25th) were formed, with one more, the 29th, in the National Guard. Later, the 9th, as well as the 6th and 7th Infantry Divisions, were deactivated after the fall of the Berlin Wall as the budget ax fell.

The 9th Infantry Division first made use of Fast Attack Vehicles; basically, souped-up dune buggies that special operations units had used during Desert Storm. The Army later went with the M1114 High-Mobility Multi-Purpose Wheeled Vehicle, or HMMWV.

The signature tool used in the front-line battalions was the Mk 19 automatic grenade launcher. With a range of almost 2500 yards, the Mk 19 could send one grenade a second onto a target. The grenade blasted lethal fragments 50 feet from the point of impact. The Mk 19 was also able to take out light armored vehicles. While it might not have been enough to take out a BMP or T-72, the Mk 19 could wreak havoc on supply convoys or rear-area headquarters units. Depending on the table of organization and equipment, a front-line battalion with the 9th Motorized could have had almost 100 of these powerful weapons.

The 9th Motorized also made heavy use of the BGM-71 TOW missile to deal with the threat posed by tanks and infantry fighting vehicles. The TOW had a reputation as a reliable tank-killer, with a range of almost two and half miles and a 13-pound warhead. The TOW provided a heavy punch when the Army decided not to use a ground-launched version of the AGM-114 Hellfire. Infantry assigned to the 9th Motorized also made use of the FGM-77 Dragon anti-tank missile. With a range of just under a mile, the Dragon added to the firepower of the division, despite its drawbacks.

Would something like the 9th Motorized Division’s organization work today? With the FGM-148 Javelin, and the development of lightweight UAVs, it may be worth bringing back the concept – particularly in the fight against ISIS.

SEE ALSO: These 17 photos show how the US military trains for amphibious warfare

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NOW WATCH: These are the favorite weapons of the Army Special Operations Forces

It's summer and it seems like the perfect season for nations to begin training their troops with major operations. Australia is no exception as it launches its annual Army training, Exercise Hamel.

Named after The Battle of Hamel at France in 1918, the exercise takes its roots from its successful attack on German positions by Australian forces in conjunction with American units — paving the way for an allied victory of World War I.

Keeping up with this spirit, the Australians will host over 8,000 troops during its trilateral exercise in South Australia — including US Marines and soldiers, and the New Zealand Army.

Check out the photos of what went down down-under.

SEE ALSO: Incredible photos from the US Army's massive European airborne training operation

US Marines move to their first objective point during Exercise Hamel at Cultana Training Area, South Australia, Australia.

An Australian Army soldier moves across the mock battlefield in the early hours of the morning.

A platoon sergeant looks at a map of Cultana Training Area in order to complete his objective.

The 1930s and 1940s were a time of upheaval for the US and the world at large.

Reeling from the start of the Great Depression in 1929, the world soon faced a greater disaster with World War II, which lasted from 1939 to 1945. Though the US did not enter into the war officially until after Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941, the global war still affected the country.

The following photos, from the US Library of Congress, give us a rare glimpse of life in the US during World War II in color. They show some of the amazing changes that the war helped usher into the US, such as women in the workforce and the widespread adoption of aerial and mechanized warfare.

SEE ALSO: These amazing colorized photographs bring World War I to life

Mrs. Virginia Davis, a riveter in the assembly and repairs department of the naval air base, supervises Chas. Potter, a National Youth Administration trainee from Michigan, in Corpus Christi, Texas. After eight weeks of training, he will go into the civil service.

Answering the nation's need for woman-power, Davis made arrangements for the care of her two children during the day and joined her husband at work at the naval air base in Corpus Christi.

Jesse Rhodes Waller, AOM, third class, tries out a .30-caliber machine gun he has just installed in a US Navy plane at the base in Corpus Christi.

The human brain and body function differently under the extreme stress of combat than they do under normal circumstances. Former West Point psychology professor Lt. Col. Dave Grossman teamed up with the website Task & Purpose to explain how soldiers' bodies respond to the pressures of a war zone.

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Soldiers in South Korea's army don't just learn how to move across the battlefield. They also learn how to move on the dance floor. 

After a long, tense day of guarding the Demilitarized Zone on the border of North and South Korea, what better way is there to blow off steam than by lacing up ballet shoes and practicing pliés?

Being a soldier in the South Korean army involves training with firearms...

...tidying up the barracks...

...and taking dance classes.

Lt. Col. Scott Mann is a retired Green Beret in the US Army as well as the president of Mann Up Leadership Training.

He spent most of his adult life in the Special Forces and explains why he believes that the US military's strategy against terrorism is actually making the problem worse.

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