Photo By Staff Sgt. Priscilla Desormeaux | Mississippi Army National Guard Staff Sgt. Ashley B. Porter reassembles a weapon...... read more read more
PINELLAS PARK, Fla. – On August 21, 2015, Capt. Kristen Griest, a military police officer from Orange, Connecticut, and 1st Lt. Shaye Haver, an Apache helicopter pilot from Copperas Cove, Texas, became the first female graduates of the U.S. Army Ranger School. Their unprecedented accomplishment and the Army’s Soldier 2020 initiative, which seeks to provide women the opportunity to serve in positions from which they were previously excluded has sparked a national conversation that Soldiers have had for years—— that a Soldier’s capabilities are not based on gender, but rather his or her skills, tenacity and leadership abilities.
“The culture of the Army has changed significantly in my opinion since I joined in 2000; we are a diversified force focused on Soldiers and their Families,” said Lt. Col. Betsy Evans, commander 53rd Brigade Special Troops Battalion. “Regardless of gender, race, or religious beliefs, we all have one common goal and that is serving our country.”
Evans, an officer in the Army Corps of Engineers and a graduate of the United States Military Academy at West Point, is one of two female battalion commanders in the 53rd Infantry Brigade Combat Team, an organization where 89 percent of its Soldiers are male; most of whom serve in combat specific occupational skills. Evans is the first female to serve as the commander for the 53rd BSTB and does not see a difference between her capabilities and that of her fellow Soldiers.
“I do not see how my capabilities are any different than my male counterparts; we are all Soldiers trained to support our higher headquarters intent, whether serving stateside or overseas,” said Evans. “The basic concept remains the same — do the best that you can do and meet and exceed the standard — if you can do that, whether you are male or female is irrelevant.”
While the Army’s Soldier 2020 initiative is a recent effort, it can be traced back to the days of World War II, where women served in the Women’s Auxiliary Army Corps and later the Women’s Army Corps, or more recently, the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.
“I feel that Soldiers are more adaptable today because of what we have gone through over the last decade plus of conflict,” said Evans. “Soldiers see their brothers in arms, as just that, as a part of their family. In that same theme, male Soldiers had the opportunity to see their sisters in arms, be right there beside them, fighting against the enemy and having their back.”
During the most recent conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan, women were often assigned to combat units. Overall, more than a quarter of-a-million women served overseas, over 150 have been killed in action and 800 wounded.
“I believe that the increase of combat deployments has made Soldiers’ acceptance of gender integration easier because, in a way, Soldiers have been forced to adapt to the integration,” said Staff Sgt. Jennifer Flores, a supply sergeant for Company G, 53rd Brigade Support Battalion, 2nd Battalion, 116th Field Artillery Regiment. “In this conflict, there were no ‘front lines.’ Females [were] on the battlefield, regardless of [occupational skill]; female Soldiers have taken a more dominant role in combat.”
Flores, an Operation New Dawn combat veteran and a graduate of the United States Army Pathfinder School, also views her gender as inconsequential.
“I am a Soldier and my gender has nothing to do with how well or how poorly I do my job,” said Flores. “There is nothing within my career field that can’t be accomplished by a competent female or male logistics sergeant.”
But, truth be told, there would not be a national conversation if there hadn’t been obstacles for women in the past.
“I can honestly say that the only way my career has been impacted was the restrictions on females in the Corps of Engineers when I first commissioned in 2000,” said Evans. “I was assigned to the 20th Engineer Battalion at Fort Hood, where the only position I could serve was as the Support Platoon Leader.”
Like Soldiers before her, Evans turned what could have been an obstacle and used it to her advantage.
“I wouldn’t consider this a hindrance to my career, but rather a benefit as I learned quickly what it takes to support a combat engineer battalion logistically during field training exercises,” said Evans. “This position [is] very similar to the [tactical operation center] Support Platoon Leader position I have in the HHC, 53BSTB.”
While obstacles can be policy driven, such as gender restrictions for specific jobs, some stem from the reluctance to adjust to the ever evolving shift in the Army’s culture.
“There was a Senior NCO who would not call me by my name; he would only refer to me by my gender pronoun. The best part about this was, I didn’t even have to address it with him directly because my male counterparts would make him say my name and make him talk to me.” said Flores. “When he didn’t use my name, they would act like they had no clue who he was talking about until he addressed me by my rank and name. It was such a wonderful feeling to know that I had the support of my peers.”
All change takes time, but the rate at which the environment has changed in the military is remarkable and has not gone unnoticed within the ranks.
“The culture of the military has changed drastically since I first joined. When I first joined, I never saw a female First Sergeants or Command Sergeants Major in the National Guard and now I see several,” said Staff Sgt. Ashley Porter, a readiness non-commissioned officer, Company E, 106th Brigade Support Battalion, 155th Armored Brigade Combat Team, Mississippi Army National Guard. “I believe, as whole, we moved [past] the theory of ‘no women in combat’ because we realized that we should focus on the skillset of Soldiers and what they provide to the battlefield versus what gender they [are].”
Porter, an Operation Iraqi Freedom combat veteran, the current Non-Commissioned Officer of the Year for the Mississippi Army National Guard and the 2014 Army National Guard Instructor of the Year, believes the military is on the right path and wants to continue focusing on not being a female Soldier, but just a Soldier.
“The Mississippi National Guard [has] a very diverse and equal opportunity atmosphere, so I have not faced any career obstacles,” said Porter. “I believe the biggest obstacle anywhere is convincing Soldiers to be able to see female Soldiers as Soldiers and not solely their gender.”
Obstacles will be overcome. The military has continuously led the way towards equality and continues to be a success in those efforts.
“I honestly hope we just continue on the path that we are on and stop focusing on gender,” said Porter. “We have to get back to the basic training mentality of everyone is equal and everyone is a Soldier.”
While the current national conversation regarding gender restriction may portray the military as an archaic organization, in truth, the United States military offers equal pay for males and females, something not commonly seen in the United States. The White House has reported that women working full-time earn 23 percent less than their male counterparts.
“I feel that the military leads the country in [regards to equal pay],” said Evans. “Still in 2015, females in the professional workforce lag behind their male counterparts performing the same job.”
“If female Soldiers were less valuable than male Soldiers they would get paid less, but they do not,” said Porter. “We wear the same uniform, we do the same jobs, we go to the same training, and travel to various countries the same.”
Equality reaches beyond gender. To these leaders, giving Soldiers the opportunity to enhance their lives and prove to themselves they can accomplish anything is what drives them.
“I like to think that in the BSTB we treat Soldiers as part of our family. We invite families to events throughout the year, we take the time to counsel and mentor Soldiers,” said Evans. “We praise [Soldiers] publicly and we reprimand them privately, when need be. I feel that if you show Soldiers that you care about them and tell them what it takes to be successful, then we are giving them the tools they need to succeed and be positive members of our Renegade Team.”
“I have been blessed with the ability to mentor several Soldiers throughout my career,” said Porter. “When I worked at the schoolhouse teaching [the Warrior Leader’s Course], I was able to meet Soldiers who expressed their fears; I was able to help them overcome that obstacle and watch them grow.”
Soldiers are not the only lives they influence. As Citizen-Soldiers, Evans, Flores and Porter have many opportunities to encounter the youths of their communities throughout their day.
“I feel being a female in the military is a big empowerment and opportunity to be a positive role model for young girls and women,” said Porter. “I think being a female in the military helps reinforce that command presence and confidence to defeat the odds; it shows people that you can be whatever you set out to become and be successful at it.”
“When we’re out in public, I can tell that people just look at us differently,” said Flores. “They look at us with a different level of respect than they do others, like we are role models. And we have to live up to that; it’s part of being a Soldier.”
| Date Taken: | 08.26.2015 |
| Date Posted: | 08.26.2015 09:55 |
| Story ID: | 174278 |
| Location: | PINELLAS PARK, FL, US |
| Web Views: | 388 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
This work, Equally among Soldiers, by SSG Aidana Baez, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
No keywords found.
LEAVE A COMMENT