When he mocks the idea of a woman as commander in chief — "to think of her being their boss?" — Trump is only reinforcing a dangerous culture of misogyny that is still dominant throughout the military. While I was in the Army, there were countless incidents that made me feel like I somehow didn’t belong simply because I was a woman. I was subjected to constant sexual harassment, and when I tried to speak out, it only made things worse.

One day, I was assaulted by a male soldier from my unit while off post. He pushed me into a bathroom and started groping and kissing me. Luckily, I was able to shove him into the bathtub and run away. But when I reported the incident to my chain of command, they discouraged me from taking legal steps. "But, what do you think his wife will think if you go through with it?" they asked me. "He's a good soldier, and you don't want to mess up his career."

Unfortunately, my experience is far from the exception. All too often, women in the military who report sexual harassment and assaults are ignored, punished, and ostracized by their unit and the men in their chain of command. Donald Trump's disparaging comments about a female commander in chief only reinforce the idea that women are less valuable than men, and therefore shouldn't be listened to or respected.

Even if female soldiers don't necessarily agree with Hillary Clinton's policies, we can respect how hard she has fought to come this close to holding the most powerful position in the world. We can recognize the discrimination she has faced. We female service members and veterans can recognize how hard she has to work to prove her merit versus every man she is up against because we, too, have had to prove ourselves this way.

So yes, Donald Trump, America's men and women can fall into line behind a female commander in chief. In fact, it would be harder for us to take orders from a man who has zero experience, doesn’t pay his taxes, has a frighteningly cozy relationship with Russia, and brags about being a sexual predator. And yet, because Trump is a rich man, he has been able to run for the highest office in our country and use his platform to continuously insult our nation's veterans and service members.

I took an oath to defend this country from threats, foreign and domestic. And that's what I'm doing by speaking out against hatred and sexism, and turning up at the polls on Tuesday.