Staff Sergeant Ashley Chilson

On October 7, 2009, Staff Sergeant Ashley Chilson was riding through the desert in Helmand, Afghanistan when her vehicle was struck by an Improvised Explosive Device (IED). She sustained injuries to her left leg along with a concussion and mild traumatic brain injury. MMAF was honored to award Ashley with a $2,000 grant check, which she used to make renovations in her home. Ashley said, “Receiving the grant from MMAF was an amazing feeling. It’s wonderful knowing there is so much support out there! MMAF had done so much for me.” Ashley has been in the military since September 2001, when she was only 17. She graduated from Bemidji High School in 2003 and was initially deployed to Tikrit, Iraq with Bravo 434th BSB in 2004. Today, she is a member of Field Artillery Support Unit Golf Company 134th BSB in St. Peter, MN. She’s finishing up a nursing program in Rochester.