Megan Welter, Arizona Cardinals Cheerleader And Iraq Veteran VIDEO: Welter Ditches Guns For PomPoms

Arizona Cardinals cheerleader, Megan Welter may walk around with her pompoms during the NFL games but she is no stranger to carrying military weapons in Iraq.

 The United States Army veteran served as a platoon leader in Iraq.

After graduating in 2007, Welter decided to head into the Amy and serve her country during the Iraq war, "The war was going on at the time when I graduated college," she told ABC15. "I wanted to take a job that was going to be meaningful, so I decided to join the Army."

After completing she enrolled in Officer Training School. "I was commissioned a second lieutenant at the end of April in 2007," she continued, "And from there I became cable platoon leader and I deployed a month later from Henning Air Force base] to my unit to Iraq."

In an 2012 interview with azardinals.com Welter said, "I was deployed to Joint Base Belad which is about an hour north of Baghdad. At first, it was, it was scary you know, but...it's what I signed up to do." She added, "It was definitely a sink-or-swim type of experience."

While in Iraq, NFL cheerleaders flew over to entertain the troops, "I remember talking to them, getting information, seeing if it was even a possibility," she said. Welter waited 3 season before auditioning and in 2011 she made becoming one of the oldest on the team, "It's just been such an amazing experience, and to be at this age and still be able to do this," she said, "and to do it...taking such a long break, it's been really exciting."

Wekter admitted that she can't help the overwhelmed feeling she gets when the National Anthem and the American flag is plastered across the field, "When you see the flag, it means a lot, you know, because our country has given us so many freedoms, and to be a part of fighting for that and maintaining that, it, it means a lot. So yes, it gives me goosebumps, I can't help it."