After a decade of being in the military myself, I never realized how much of a challenge it was to be a mom on active duty. After I gave birth to my daughter my whole life changed. With a baby, everything was a little harder, and I was brainstorming ways to make my life easier at work and at home.

Continuing to breastfeed after I returned to work was very important to me so I had to figure out how I was going to be able to squeeze in time to pump during my jam-packed day. I started looking for a nursing shirt to wear under my uniform and had no luck. Through my research, I realized there was in fact a nursing shirt authorized in regulation but the military stores did not sell these shirts. They all carry maternity uniforms but no t-shirts for underneath! I then decided to have this shirt made. I perfected the prototype and set off to return to work. On my first day back to work I used my new shirt to pump throughout the day and by the end of that day, I realized I had just made something great here and it was too good not to share.

I even wore my regular old t-shirt one day after that to see if the nursing shirt really made a difference and let me tell you, I have never worn that old shirt again! The difference was evident. It provided comfort, coverage, and convenience for me.

I know the military is not the only uniformed service job where women are facing this challenge. We are growing and nourishing the future leaders of America, give us a darn shirt to do so!

Tactical AF was born as a result of this shirt and I hope it makes a difference for the other moms out there trying to tackle it all.