Her father fled the Taliban by boat. She became the first Afghan woman in the Australian army

At age nine, Kbora Ali arrived in Australia as an Afghan refugee after her family fled Taliban rule. Less than a decade later, she became the first Afghan woman to join the Australian Army. In this deeply personal conversation, Kbora reflects on her journey from Afghanistan and Pakistan to suburban Adelaide, the challenges of growing up Hazara, and her determination to serve the country that gave her family safety and a future. She speaks to Hamish Macdonald and Waleed Aly candidly about belonging, identity, military life, and the deeply difficult choice she made to remove her headscarf when she first arrived at Kapooka. Now an Air Force fly…