To many people it is something happening in a far-distant land, but for the mother-of-three from Garstang, it is far closer to home.
Major Stewart will be among a 207 Field Hospital (Volunteers) team of Territorial Army medics from the North West which will be heading out to Camp Bastion in the war zone later this year, to provide medical care for the forces in action in Helmand Province.
After a three-month stint in Iraq five years ago, the acting general manager at Euxton Hall Hospital in Chorley has an idea of what will be facing her, but admits there are still plenty of unknowns.
"I am a bit anxious," she says, "but every theatre you go out to is like that and everyone out there has to pull together to get through whatever comes our way. The camaraderie is phenomenal.
"Whenever you see that another soldier has been killed, it is obviously a very sad time, but they are out there to do a job and my job is to look after them when they are injured.
"For me it is about doing something worthwhile for your country. Not everyone has the opportunity to be called upon to do something for their country and to support our soldiers out on operations."
She confesses that being away from her children will be one of the hardest tests the latest deployment will bring, but this is familiar territory.
When she returned from Iraq in 2004, the desire to get back into the Army was there, albeit tempered by her family commitments.
Major Stewart, 44, says: "My grandfather was in the Second World War and I think it is just something which is within me and joining the TA was the best of both worlds.
"There was a point when I got back from Iraq where I did fancy it again, but, having children, it just did not fit for me."