The Trump administration gave transgender troops an ultimatum this spring when it announced that it wanted them all out of the military. Leave voluntarily and get an honorable discharge and extra separation pay, or wait to be forced out and potentially face negative repercussions.

Now, the deadline for making that choice is here, and many trans troops say they will stay and fight.

Katie Benn is a captain in an Army air defense battalion at Fort Campbell, Ky., and a recipient of the Bronze Star. This spring, she briefly considered giving in and taking the separation pay — worth about $60,000 for her. But then she remembered a part of the Soldier’s Creed that she had repeated many times in her career: “I will always put mission first, I will never accept defeat, I will never quit.”

“Those are not just words to me — I’ve lived them,” she said this week. “I’ve been in the Army for 12 and half years. I’ve deployed all over the world. I can’t just quit.”

Captain Benn decided to stay. She plans to apply for a waiver that would allow her to keep serving. If she is turned down, she said she would demand to go in front of an Army review board and have it explain why a decorated officer and a top graduate of the captains’ career course should be thrown out.

“I love my country, I love the Army, I love my soldiers that I work with every day,” she said. “I will continue serving so long as I am able — end of story.”