TOPEKA (KSNT) – Refusing to stand on the sidelines, retired Air Force Brigadier General Deborah Rose worked hard and made history in the Sunflower State. Rose joined the U.S. Air Force in 1983 as a nurse. Early on in her career she spent 30 days in Saudi Arabia where the American service women had to abide by the same rules set for the women who lived there. “We couldn’t drive,” she said. “If we wanted to go down to the souk, we had to have a male go with us.