Photo By Mark Olsen | Soldiers with the 3-112th Field Artillery, New Jersey Army National Guard, watch as...... read more read more
JOINT BASE MCGUIRE-DIX-LAKEHURST, N.J. - Soldiers are initiated into the military during basic combat training. They are galvanized as warriors and leaders through their training with the resolve that they can be all that they can be.
Second Lt. Jennifer Wain believed she could a combat arms leader. And she realized her dream.
Wain, a fire direction officer with the 3-112th Field Artillery Battalion, is now the first female combat arms officer in the history of the New Jersey Army National Guard.
She is well aware that that the contributions of tens of thousands of military women who came before her made that possible.
“Women have been in combat roles for years, and now we are able to recognize it,” said Wain.
For nearly two decades, women have served as pilots, truck drivers and direct support personnel during war and in support of military efforts overseas.
Now, as the Department of Defense slowly begins opening nearly all of the combat specialties to women, female Soldiers are being given opportunities for even the most rigorous combat training. For example, last month, two female officers became the first women to graduate from the grueling nine-week Ranger School.
In New Jersey, Wain is not the only woman making history.
Capt. Sarah Bernal, who served for 17 years as a leader in a combat service support role, now serves as the first female staff officer in a field artillery battalion.
Bernal said women helped pave their own way to combat leadership roles by performing combat support roles well.
“We haven’t gotten to this point over night,” said Bernal, who started her military career as an enlisted soldier knowing that there were certain things that she couldn’t do.
New Soldiers won’t know what it is like not to have these opportunities, said Bernal.
Giving more opportunities to women also gives commanders to build stronger units.
“This gives me a wider pool of candidates,” said Lt. Col. Rob Hughes, Field Artillery battalion commander. “It’s about putting the best person in the job.”
| Date Taken: | 08.27.2015 |
| Date Posted: | 08.27.2015 15:33 |
| Story ID: | 174458 |
| Location: | JOINT BASE MCGUIRE-DIX-LAKEHURST, NJ, US |
| Web Views: | 338 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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