The Afghan Female Tactical Platoon faces uncertain future in the U.S.

The special Afghan unit would deploy with U.S. troops and speak with women and children.

Behrouz Mehri/AFP via Getty Images

This story is part of NPR’s Main Character of the Day series, where we spotlight the people and things worth talking about — and the stories behind them.

After serving alongside the U.S., an all-female Afghan military platoon is in immigration limbo.

Who are they? The Afghan military’s Female Tactical Platoon — a unit deployed with U.S. and Afghan special forces to collect intelligence from women and children.

• After the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan in 2021, members of the platoon came to America under a temporary humanitarian program.

• In parts of Afghanistan, it’s culturally inappropriate for male soldiers to talk to women and children. While accompanying U.S. forces on raids, the Female Tactical Platoon questioned women and children, looking for the locations of Taliban targets and weapons caches. 

• After Afghanistan fell to the Taliban in August 2021, members of the platoon joined the tens of thousands of Afghans who evacuated to the U.S.
• Many are in the U.S. on humanitarian parole, a temporary program set to expire this summer. 

Families begin to board a U.S. Air Force Boeing C-17 Globemaster III during an evacuation at Hamid Karzai International Airport in Kabul in August 2021.

Sgt. Samuel Ruiz/AP

What’s the big deal? Members of the Female Tactical Platoon are struggling to obtain permanent residence in the U.S. And after…