Photos: Here comes Ms. Veteran America

Allaina Guitron, 31, Syracuse, N.Y. Staff sergeant, on active duty. Duty stations include VIPER Team, Combat Maneuver Training Center out of Hohenfels, Germany; Defense Language Institute, out of Lackland Air Force Base, Texas; White House Communications Agency. She was the winner of the 2013 competition. Sheri Manson for Al Jazeera America

Keisha Jackson, 35, Marlboro, Md. Served in the Army Reserve as a military police officer with the 372 MP, including 19 months in Iraq. Sheri Manson for Al Jazeera America

Juanita Murillo Garcia, 29, San Diego. Staff sergeant. Served at Fort Lewis, Wash., with the 51st and 29th Signal Battalion; White House Communication Agency, Washington, D.C. Sheri Manson for Al Jazeera America

Mitchelene BigMan, 48, Lodge Grass, Mont. Sergeant first class. Served in Germany; Korea; Fort Hood, Texas; Iraq; Fort Stewart, Ga.; Aberdeen Proving Grounds, Md. Retired from the 68th Support Battalion, Fort Carson, Colo. Sheri Manson for Al Jazeera America

Denyse Gordon, 40, Brooklyn, N.Y. Master sergeant. Serving with Joint Staff J7, Suffolk, Va. Duty stations include Kadena Air Base, Okinawa, Japan, with the 18th Operations Support Squadron; NATO AWACS, Geilenkirchen, Germany (Mission Support Squadron); Camp Doha, Kuwait, during Operation Enduring/Iraqi Freedom; 36th Fighter Squadron, Osan Air Base, Korea. She is the 2012 winner. Sheri Manson for Al Jazeera America

Elizabeth Luras, 32, Portland, Ore. Served in the Army, military intelligence. A National Women Veterans advocate. In the competition, she won first runner-up and was honored with the Ms. Resilience Award. Sheri Manson for Al Jazeera America

Marissa Strock, 28, Lansingburgh, N.Y. Specialist. Served with the 170th MP in Iraq. Lost her legs after her vehicle was hit by a roadside bomb in Baghdad on Thanksgiving Day in 2005. Sheri Manson for Al Jazeera America

Karin Evelyn, 28, Cape May, N.J. Lieutenant, Coast Guard. Served in Philadelphia and Nassau, Bahamas. Currently assigned to Sector San Juan, Puerto Rico. Sheri Manson for Al Jazeera America

Tonya Rupe, 23. Staff sergeant. Serving with the Vermont Army National Guard, 86th Brigade Special Troops Battalion, Rutland, Vt. Sheri Manson for Al Jazeera America

Kerri Brantley, 30, Boise, Idaho. Captain. Served with the Missouri Army National Guard in Kuwait and with the 35th combat aviation brigade out of Sedalia, Mo. Sheri Manson for Al Jazeera America

Katelynn Falcon, 23, Zebulon, N.C. Navy petty officer second class. Served in Construction Battalion Maintenance Unit 303 in San Diego and as a torpedo tech in Yorktown, Va. Sheri Manson for Al Jazeera America

LeeAnna Gregaitis, 41, Glennville, Ga. Senior airman. Service included duty as a flight medic at K.I. Sawyer Air Force Base, Mich. Currently a senior advocate for the Department of Veterans Affairs. Sheri Manson for Al Jazeera America

Ann M. Curtis, 38, Kearny, N.J. Lieutenant colonel. Duty stations include 490th Missile Squadron, Great Falls, Mont.; Cyber Warfare Current and Future Operations, Colorado Springs, Colo.; Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Office of Warrior and Family Support, the Pentagon. Sheri Manson for Al Jazeera America

Carla Renee Moss, 42, Alexandria, Va. Specialist. Duty stations included Camp Nimble, Korea, with the 702 Main Support Battalion/Bravo Company; Fort Campbell, Ky., with the 584th Ordnance Maintenance Company; Fort Eustis, Va., headquarters of the 6th Transportation Battalion. Sheri Manson for Al Jazeera America

Ronnette Purnell, 43, Salisbury, Md. Petty officer third class. Service included duty aboard the USS Canopus, with the VC-6, out of Norfolk, Va.; with the VC-6, out of Patuxent River, Md., and Kings Bay, Ga.; Naples, Italy; and Keflavic, Iceland. Sheri Manson for Al Jazeera America

Nekishia Cole, Orlando, Fla. Sergeant first class. Serving as an executive assistant at the Pentagon. Sheri Manson for Al Jazeera America

Sara Sharp, 55, Anderson, Calif. Sergeant first class. Service included duty in Korea, in Japan, in the United States and in Iraq with the 18th MP brigade at Camp Victory, a tactical control unit at FOB Fort Sykes, and other units. Sheri Manson for Al Jazeera America

Stormy Michele Knowles, 39, Havana, Ill. Sergeant first class. Serving at the Kimbrough Ambulatory Care Clinic, Fort George G. Meade, Md. Sheri Manson for Al Jazeera America