In the image titled, "New Dawn, June 22, 2003," one of the most powerful and sensitively composed images in the exhibition, Pearsall positions herself beneath the wing of a transport plane; a silent observer cloaked in the veil of night as she captures the solemn movements of US Air Force personnel transferring a soldier from an ambulance to the plane. The dark figures in the middle ground are deeply silhouetted against an orange and yellow sky in the background; her composition a study of lights and darks, angles and lines, figures and forms.
This photo by soldier/photographer Stacy Pearsall, is titled, "Breaking Dawn, June 22, 2003." It portrays the transfer of a wounded soldier from an ambulance to an Air Force transport plane. Pearsall took the photo during one of her three tours of duty in Iraq. An exhibition of Pearsall's photos remains on view at the SUArt Galleries through January 24, 2016.Stacy Pearsall served three tours in Iraq, but the shots she took were with a camera.
(Stacy L. Pearsall)
She was one of the first women in United States military history to reach the level of full colonel.An Oswego County woman has been sentenced for stealing thousands of dollars from an Air Force veteran's pension fund.
At one point in her career she oversaw over 3,000 troops in Germany, and she was instrumental in negotiating the release of United States Senator John McCain from the North Vietnamese Army in 1973.
During the course of the trial, which included testimony from more than two dozen witnesses, prosecutors presented evidence that beginning in 1997, the defendants befriended Colonel Irene Dennison when she rented a house to David Tetro, Jr.
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The competition is “a place for us to be fully woman and fully warrior with great camaraderie with our fellow sisters-in-arms,” said competitor Kerri Brantley
There are evening gowns, a talent competition, an interview question, a tiara and a sash — but don’t call Ms. Veteran America a beauty pageant. The judges don’t consider age, marital status or how a woman looks in a swimsuit when determining a winner.
COURTESY OF ADAM STERNBERG/HIGH PERFORMANCE PHOTOGRAPHYContestants in the Ms. Veteran America pageant take a stroll in downtown Las Vegas.
Money raised during this year’s pageant will pay for housing and prevention programs for female veterans, including financial assistance for utility bills and groceries. In four years, the Ms. Veteran America competition has helped Final Salute raise more than $1 million to combat homelessness among female veterans.
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“The Marines who were a part of the GCITF did a great a job…they worked their tails off,” said Neller. “The people that made it to the end deserve our gratitude for their discipline and strength and fortitude to make it to the end.”Newly instated Marine Commandant Gen. Robert Neller made some pointed comments regarding women in combat Thursday, following a public back and forth between the Marine Corps and the Secretary of the Navy over whether the Marine Corps would allow women into previously closed ground combat roles.
First woman to wear Blue Angels numberJust no words other than WTF were they thinking?
San Diego Union Tribune
By Jeanette Steele
Sept. 30, 2010
Navy Lt. Cmdr. Amy Redditt Tomlinson, Blue Angels No. 8, grew up knowing how to pronounce Batiquitos Lagoon and where to find the best North County surf breaks.
Navy Lt. Cmdr. Amy Tomlinson — U.S. Navy
She was a Carlsbad girl and a 1996 graduate of San Dieguito High School.
She’s also the first woman ever to wear a Blue Angels number, one of eight coveted positions on the Navy’s elite flying team.
Marine woman flies Blue Angels to new heightsThe Thunderbirds were ahead of the Blue Angels back in 2005
First female pilot on team performs this weekend at Miramar Air Show
San Diego Union Tribune
By Gretel C. Kovach
Oct. 1, 2015
Higgins downplays her fame as the “Lady Blue Angel.”
“I wouldn’t say I’m a celebrity. No way. I’m a Marine,” she said in an interview before the San Diego show.Marine Capt. Katie Higginsis the first female pilot with the U.S. Navy Flight Demonstration Squadron, or Blue Angels. The Severna Park, Md., native, is now the newest pilot of "Fat Albert," a C-130 Hercules flown by the Blue Angels. (U.S. Marine Corps photo by Lance Cpl. Olivia G. Ortiz/Released)Becoming the first woman to perform as a Blue Angels pilot has definitely been a high point for Capt. Katie Higgins. It is an honor to wear the famous blue and gold flight suit, she said, but it might surprise some people to learn that it hasn’t been the pinnacle of her career as a Marine aviator.
Higgins will be sitting in the left seat of the cockpit this weekend when she makes her debut at the Miramar Air Show, serving as flight commander of the team’s “Fat Albert” C-130 support plane. During more than 50 performances across the country so far this year, she has been mobbed by fans who appreciate how she #flieslikeagirl with the Blue Angels. read more here
Capt. Nicole "Fifi" Malachowski at a deployed location in Southwest Asia. She's the first female demonstration pilot on a U.S. military high performance jet team, the Thunderbirds. [USAF photo ]June 17, 2005 (by Lieven Dewitte) - The U.S. Air Force Air Demonstration Squadron,"Thunderbirds," have announced their new pilots for the 2006 demonstration season which includes the first female demonstration pilot in the 52 year history of the Thunderbirds.
Tavern on the Green refused to serve an Iraq war veteran who brought along her service dog — saying it allows only dogs that accompany blind people, according to a new lawsuit.Tavern on the Green Photo: Robert Miller
“The app will allow you access to one touch call for the III Corps Hotline, touch to call for Army OneSource, the local ER, Military and other local police stations,” she said. “Where ever they are at, if they need help all you have to do is push the icon.”FORT HOOD – It is a new weapon in the war against sexual assault within the military, and the creator is right here at Fort Hood.
Amber Clark, 27, is a two-time combat veteran of Iraq and KosovoROCK HILL The new VFW commander in Rock Hill is just 27, is still in school and goes by the name Amber.
She becomes one of just a few female post commanders statewide, and is the youngest in the state
Clark juggles being a full-time student at Winthrop University with her Army National Guard duties
“The problem is we are coming home to a society and, unfortunately, a VA that still defines veterans as male — that’s what Americans picture when they think ‘veteran,’ ” said former Army medic Joy Ilem, who focuses on VA’s women’s health-care policy for the advocacy group Disabled American Veterans (DAV).ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — Every morning for more than two years, retired Army Sgt. Brenda Reed had the infuriating chore of screwing on what she calls her “man foot.”
VA hospitals and clinics don’t offer prenatal care; instead they outsource it. And they don’t deliver babies. Dozens of VA facilities don’t have full-time gynecologists, and some don’t have any gynecological staff. Even for basic female wellness services, such as mammograms, some facilities have to refer women elsewhere.
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More than 214,000 women now serve in the military, account for about 14.5 percent of the force. The Marine Corps has the lowest percentage – slightly less than 7 percent. More than 280,000 women have served in Iraq and Afghanistan.
"As of April 2015, 161 women have lost their lives and 1,015 had been wounded in action as part of Global War on Terror (GWOT) operations" since the 9/11 terror attacks, according to the Congressional Research Service. The Army alone reported 89 women killed in the line of duty in Iraq and 36 in Afghanistan. "In addition, in modern combat operations, over 9,000 women have received Army Combat Action Badges for ‘actively engaging or being engaged by the enemy,'" the CRS said.
Through 2012, the Army reported that 437 women earned awards for valor to include two Silver Stars, three Distinguished Flying Crosses, 31 Air Medals, and 16 Bronze Stars.
In some instances, the women earning awards for valor led men in firefights. Then-Army Capt. Kellie McCoy, a West Point graduate, earned the Bronze Star with "V" device for her actions on Sept. 18, 2003, for leading 11 male paratroopers from the 82nd Airborne Division in breaking up an enemy ambush between Fallujah and Ramadi in Iraq's Anbar province.Oh but let's not forget the Medal of Honor as well as even more,,,,,,,,,
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“These ladies inspired me to join the Marine Corps, and here they were after 20 years. That was full circle.”
Gunnery Sgt. Francine Jarrett is joined by the Marines, then noncommissioned officers, who inspired her to enlist: from left, Marialena Bridges, Suzanne Gemignani and Eborah Johnson.At her recent retirement ceremony, Gunnery Sgt. Francine Jarrett came face to face with the women who inspired her to join the Marine Corps 20 years ago, though they'd never met.
(Photo: Courtesy John Bridges)
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| New York Army National Guard Staff Sgt. Marlana Watson. |
Army Staff Sgt. Marlana Watson received the Medal of Valor, the state's highest military award for heroism, at a ceremony Wednesday in Farmingdale. She was recognized for her response to an incident on Nov. 5, 2014 in Syracuse.
Mother-of-two Amanda Hurst, from Florida, was deployed to Iraq in 2009
Left her son and daughter, then seven and eight, in the care of their father
But she moved care to her stepmom after father got in trouble with the law
Stepmom illegally took children to New Jersey where they went into care
The pair, now 12 and 13, are still in care as Hurst fights to get them back
Hurst's lawyer told Mail Online that a hearing is due to take place today
Court battle: Amanda Hurst, from Florida, was deployed to Iraq in 2009 and left her children with their father, but transferred their care to her stepmom after her ex-husband was jailed
Hoping that her worries were now behind her, Hurst traveled back to Iraq and was then deployed to Afghanistan, where she continued serving her country.
However, back in Florida things were far from well. Estranged from her other family members, the stepmom took the extraordinary step of illegally moving to New Jersey with the children.
Once there, they developed severe emotional problems, and began lashing out.
Eventually the problems became so bad the children were taken into foster care, where they remain to this day, now aged 13 and 14.
According to News 13, judges in both Florida and New Jersey have agreed that the children should be with their mother, but only if Florida agrees to provide them with the same level of care they have been receiving in New Jersey.
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The women, both officers, started the Swamp Phase on Aug. 1 after three tries at the school's first phase, known as the Darby Phase, at Fort Benning, Georgia, and one try at the second phase, known as the Mountain Phase, in Dahlonega, Georgia.
The Army on Monday announced two women and 94 men met the standards of the course's third and final phase, also known as the Swamp Phase. Two women will graduate from Ranger School on Friday, becoming the first women to earn the Ranger Tab.
Two women will graduate from Ranger School and earn the tab, the Army reported.(Photo: Sgt. Sara Wakai/Army)
On Sept. 11, 2001, Desma Brooks was a single mother of three in her mid-20s who served part-time in the Indiana Army National Guard. Watching the attack, she wondered if she might be assigned to a support role on the home front. Instead, she served two yearlong deployments – one in Afghanistan and one in Iraq. During the second, while driving a military vehicle, she hit a roadside bomb. Brooks returned home with a mild case of traumatic brain injury and a serious case of post-traumatic stress disorder.The 94th Annual Veterans Day Parade in New York City, 2013.Credit Ozier Muhammad/The New York Times
Disabled American Veterans, an advocacy and assistance group, recently issued a report called “Women Veterans: The Long Journey Home,” which includes a list of recommended changes. Among them are establishing a culture of respect for women, providing access to peer support networks, requiring every Veterans Affairs clinic to have a gynecologist on staff, removing barriers to mental health services, and adding gender-sensitive mental health programs aimed at women. “One of the most perplexing problems is a culture in V.A. that is not perceived by women as welcoming, and does not afford them or their needs equal consideration,” said Joy J. Ilem, the group’s deputy national legislative director, at this year’s Senate hearing. read more here
"Women veterans are one of the fastest growing segments of the veterans’ population. Of the approximately 22 million living veterans nationwide, about 1.9 million are women."And it is one of the reasons why we showed up at the VFW in Orlando. Too often we all forget "she" served too.
Marine Maj. Bridget Guerrero (ret.) ran 160 miles around the Puget Sound in Washington from Thursday through Sunday. Each mile represented a female service member who lost her life in Iraq or Afghanistan.When veteran Marine Maj. Bridget Guerrero set out to run a mile for each of the 160 female troops killed in Iraq and Afghanistan, she never thought that one of their moms would show up to support her along the way.
(Photo: Courtesy of Marine Maj. Bridget Guerrero (ret.))
Mary Ludwig, who would go down in history as Molly Pitcher, was born circa October 13, 1754, near Trenton, New Jersey. In 1768, she moved to Carlisle, Pennsylvania, where she met William (also known as John) Hays, a local barber. They married on July 24, 1769.
Pitcher witnessed her husband collapse at his cannon, unable to continue with the fight. She immediately dropped her water pitcher and took his place at the cannon, manning the weapon throughout the remainder of the battle until the Colonists achieved victory. According to the National Archives, there was a documented witness to Pitcher's heroic acts, who reported a cannon shot passing through her legs on the battlefield, leaving her unscathed:
"While in the act of reaching a cartridge ... a cannon shot from the enemy passed directly between her legs without doing any other damage than carrying away all the lower part of her petticoat. ... She observed that it was lucky it did not pass a little higher... and continued her occupation."
Only Woman Medal of Honor Holder Ahead of Her Time
Department of Defense
By Rudi Williams
American Forces Press Service
WASHINGTON, April 30, 1999. He told her Mary Walker was the first American woman to be a military doctor, a prisoner of war and a Medal of Honor recipient. She was also a Union spy and a crusader against tobacco and alcohol.
"He told me she was always imitating men, and if she had dressed like a lady, she would have had a larger role in history," said Walker, a resident of Washington's Georgetown Aged Women's Home. A retired free-lance journalist, Walker said she's working on a book, "Woman of Honor," to tell the story of her aunt's Civil War exploits and her controversial life thereafter.
Through the family friend and research, Ann Walker learned her aunt was born on Nov. 26, 1832, in Oswego County, N.Y., and graduated from Syracuse Medical College in 1855. She married fellow medical student Albert Miller, but declined to take his name. The couple set up a medical practice in Rome, N.Y., but the public wasn't ready to accept a woman physician. The practice and the marriage foundered.
When the Civil War started, the Union Army wouldn't hire women doctors, so Walker volunteered as a nurse in Washington's Patent Office Hospital and treated wounded soldiers at the Battle of Bull Run in Virginia. In 1862, she received an Army contract appointing her as an assistant surgeon with the 52nd Ohio Infantry.
The first woman doctor to serve with the Army Medical Corps, Walker cared for sick and wounded troops in Tennessee at Chickamauga and in Georgia during the Battle of Atlanta.
Confederate troops captured her on April 10, 1864, and held her until the sides exchanged prisoners of war on Aug. 12, 1864. Walker worked the final months of the war at a women's prison in Louisville, Ky., and later at an orphans' asylum in Tennessee.
The Army nominated Walker for the Medal of Honor for her wartime service. President Andrew Johnson signed the citation on Nov. 11, 1865, and she received the award on Jan. 24, 1866. Her citation cites her wartime service, but not specifically valor in combat.
Walker's citation reads in part that she "devoted herself with much patriotic zeal to the sick and wounded soldiers, both in the field and hospitals, to the detriment of her own health. She has also endured hardships as a prisoner of war for four months in a Southern prison while acting as contract surgeon."
Maj. Lauren Edwards led more than 150 Marines and several vehicles in defensive maneuvers during the invasion of Iraq.And more Warrior Women from the Army report
Sgt. Sherri Gallagher is one of the top long-range rifle marksmen in the country, and was named Soldier of the Year.
Sgt. Leigh Ann Hester killed several enemy combatants while under attack in Iraq, saving American lives.
Lt. Gen. Patricia Horoho is the U.S. Army Surgeon General—the first non-male, non-physician to take on this role.
As a military correspondent, Staff Sgt. Lindsey Kibler covered Army development and outreach in one of the most dangerous regions of Afghanistan.
v Cpl. MaryBeth Monson maintained the security of her base during an attack by Afghani insurgents disguised as American soldiers.
Air Force 2nd Lt. Samantha Morrison is the fastest woman triathlete in the armed forces.
Air Force Lt. Col. Susan Pangelinan orchestrated a disaster response mission during the California wildfires.
Spec. Ashley Pullen saved the life of a squad member by shielding him with her own body while under attack.
Spc. Elizabeth Wasil overcame combat injuries to become an all-star Army athlete.
Margaret Woodward commanded the entire U.S. air campaign in Libya during Operation Odyssey Dawn.
Cpl. Erica Gunter
2015: The first woman of 13M Military Occupation Specialty to become a launcher chief
Maj. Chrissy Cook
2014: The first female Bradley commander to lead her crew to "Top Gun"
Maj. Gen. Nadja West
2013: The first African-American female major general of the Army's active component
Lt. Gen. Flora D. Darpino
2013: The first female judge advocate general of the Army
Spc. Jessica Jones
2013: One of the first female Soldiers to graduate the artillery mechanic course and recognized as her company's honor graduate
Spc. Alexandra Seccareccio
2013: The first woman to obtain the multiple launch rocket system crewmember specialty
Maj. Gen. Laura J. Richardson
2012: The first female deputy commanding general of a maneuver division
Brig. Gen. Margaret W. Burcham
2012: The first woman to be promoted to a general officer in the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers
Maj. Gen. Marcia Anderson
2011: The Army's first-ever female African-American reserve officer to obtain the rank of major general
Sgt. Sherri Gallagher
2010: The first female to be selected as Best Warrior's Soldier of the Year
Lt. Gen. Patricia Horoho
2011: The first female and first nurse to become surgeon general of the Army
Seriously?
There are even more you can find with a simple search online. Ok, now back to the article and it should be easy to be able to decide who is right and who is wrong.
Current and Past SOCOM Commanders Split on Women in Combat
Military.com
by Richard Sisk
Jul 28, 2015
U.S. Army Soldiers use teamwork to scale an obstacle during the Ranger Course on Fort Benning, Ga., April 21, 2015. Soldiers attend the Ranger Course to learn additional skills in a challenging environment.
(U.S. Army/Pfc. Antonio Lewis/Released)
The current and former heads of U.S. Special Operations Command (SOCOM) split last week on lifting the restrictions on women in combat in special operations and throughout the military.
Army Gen. James Votel, who has led SOCOM since last August, backed the policy of the Obama administration and the Pentagon in stating that women who can meet the standards should be allowed to serve in previously restricted Military Occupational Specialties.
Standards are "absolutely the bottom line," Votel said at the Aspen Security Forum in Colorado last Friday. "This is about meeting the standards for the task that the nation expects us to be able to do. If people can meet the standards, then we should be able to integrate them."
In a separate panel at Aspen, retired Adm. Eric Olson, SOCOM commander from 2007 to 2011, said that the military and the nation must look beyond standards in making the decision and view women in combat in another context.
"I think that we are only having part of the discussion on women in combat," Olson said in a separate panel discussion at Aspen. "I think that we need to ask ourselves as a society if we are willing to put women in front-line combat units to take the first bullet on target."
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