When I hear Martha McSally speak, when I see her interact with people, I feel hopeful. She is a real person.

She understands what it means to serve on the front line. She was tested in battle and survived. As a woman, she didn’t survive by being demure or soft spoken. She did what she had to do, said what she had to say and got the job done.

While I served as a medical officer in the U.S. Navy, this is the kind of leadership that I appreciated and the kind of leader that I aspired to be. Martha McSally is strong and confident, knowledgeable and capable. She speaks her mind clearly. She leads by example.

This is the kind of leader that she was in the Air Force and has proven to be in Congress. This is the kind of leader that we desperately need in the Senate.