Barriers broken
The rise of female commanders in combat arms
ninja sends this article from Stars and Stripes.
Capt. Candice Bowen took command of Bravo Company, 3rd Battalion, 116th Infantry Regiment, 116th Infantry Brigade Combat Team, last month. She is one of the first black women to take command of a rifle company in the National Guard and the first female infantry commander in Virginia. The company’s history traces back to Confederate general Stonewall Jackson’s brigade.
…
Bowen, 31, commissioned as a military police officer in 2012. She deployed to Qatar with 3rd Battalion in 2016 and after her return, immediately went to Afghanistan with the 3rd Cavalry Regiment, where she earned her combat action badge. She made the switch to infantry in 2019 after Virginia scaled-down military police forces.
…
Capt. Amie Kemppainen, an Iraq War veteran, 46, took command of B Company, 3rd Battalion, 126th Infantry Regiment, in March. She is the first woman in the Michigan National Guard to command an infantry company. She joined the infantry after 25 years of service in support units.
“I probably wasn’t what people thought would be the ideal candidate. Physically, you’ve got to hold your own, male or female, and lead from the front,” she said.
Some impressive ladies. Takes a brave soul to jump into leading an infantry company in your mid-40s.
Brown formally installed as 22nd Air Force Chief of Staff
AF.mil reports on Friday’s ascension of General Charles Q. (CQ) Brown to the position of CSAF. He’s the first black person to serve as the chief of staff of a service branch (though Colin Powell served as Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, he never held the position of Chief of Staff of the Army).
General Brown’s CV shows he’s a career Viper (F-16) driver with 2,900 hours behind (or beside in the case of the 16) the stick, including 130 combat hours. He’s served in a variety of assignments including tours in Korea, Germany, and Italy.
Good luck in the new job, General.
CMSgt Bass installed as the Air Force’s 19th Chief Master Sergeant of the Air Force
With a new CSAF comes a new CMSAF, the service’s top enlisted rank and advisor to the CSAF on enlisted affairs. Chief Master Sergeant JoAnne Bass has been selected for the role and was also installed on Friday. Her ascension breaks a couple of milestones. She’s the first Asian to serve as a branch’s top enlisted leader and is also the first woman to serve in that role.
Chief Bass is a 27 year career command post airman who has spent nine and a half of those years at Ramstein AB in Germany. Her most recent assignment was the Command Chief of the 2nd Air Force at Keesler AFB, MS. Her awards and decorations show multiple deployments including SW Asia, Iraq, and the Global War on Terror.
She’s replacing Chief Master Sergeant of the Air Force Kaleth Wright. She’s got big shoes to fill. He’s so beloved by the enlisted force that junior airmen have taken to calling him “Enlisted Jesus.” I’m sure she can forge her own path and will do an excellent job.
Welcome to the Pentagon, Chief!
Category: Air Force, Army, Army News, Guest Link, ninja
On the Stars and Stripes article:
Oh, the irony about The Hill’s article reference the All Male Draft versus the Stars and Stripes article on more Females holding Command positions in the Combat Arms field.
*grin*
😉😎
Congrats to General Charles Q. Brown on being selected as the new CSAF and Chief Master Sergeant JoAnne Bass being selected as the new CMSAF.
Three articles that address Diversity in our Military.
The Left can’t accuse our US Military of being “Racists”. Unfortunately, some in Military Leadership positions want to wipe away our history.
KoB: Did you catch this in the Stars and Stripes article?
“Capt. Candice Bowen took command of Bravo Company, 3rd Battalion, 116th Infantry Regiment, 116th Infantry Brigade Combat Team, last month. She is one of the first black women to take command of a rifle company in the National Guard and the first female infantry commander in Virginia. The company’s history traces back to Confederate general Stonewall Jackson’s brigade.”
Good for CPT Bowen.
What is the Left going to say or do now based on CPT Bowen taking command of a Company that traces its history to Stonewall Jackson?
*doublegrin*
😉😉😎😎
Yes I did catch that. I would like to say FIRST of all, Congratulations to all of these Warriors who are advancing in their chosen line of work. I have NEVER had a problem with anyone having the same equal opportunity to succeed in what they want to do.
With all of these new Historical Precedents being set, it would be my desire that the Historic Lineage of these units is not erased. Somehow, I don’t see that as happening. Probably would be no one prouder than “Old Blue Fire” himself that this Lady has the Command of one of the Companies tracing its lineage to the Stonewall Brigade. He did, after all, arrange for a church to be built for Blacks and for a school when it was against FEDERAL LAW to do so. This company would of been one of the ones that marched on and occupied Washington DC in July of ’61 if Davis had of given Jackson permission after FIRST Manassas.
Excellent articles! Thanks!
rtr/gabn/hbtd 😎
Side bar on The Stonewall Brigade. Of the 6000 men that served in that Brigade during the War, there was only about 200 at the Surrender, none higher ranked than Captain.
The Stonewall Brigade at Normandy and St Lo was too busy kicking ass to take many names.
Political correctness will do away with any and all units that trace ANY lineage back to Southern Units in the WBTS. The 48th Brigade, a round out unit of the GANG, traces lineage to the WBTS.
5/77th FA as a Sergeant Missile Unit lost out to the 1st/333rd designation when we converted to the Lance System.
#allhistorymatters
gabn/hbtd/rtr
Who the fuck re-classes Infantry?
Oh, the NG.
My bad.
Whatever. A fucking side show. I hope these Commanders have their shit straight because one day it going to be for real. All their PL time in another CS / CSS branch and now “POOF”, IN command.
And IN command with no Tab? Yeah. Uh. No. Good luck with making MAJ. Oh, but its the NG. My bad.
And 46? Can we say retirement? Jesus, that’s fucking ancient in the Infantry. Oh, the NG. My bad.
It ain’t a game.
So, let me see if I got this right.
After expending their career in another MOS, these people decided to change to infantry, and without experience in the infantry, get assigned to a command position?
Just, wow.
Yeah.
I made this observation years ago, when I read that women would fill combat arms positions at all levels. I looked at it through an NCO’s eyes wondering how effective a female 1SG or CSM would be coming into the Infantry from another branch. Same Army but vastly different worlds.
Barriers broken my ass.
The guys in that unit will pay with blood for this. And even the guys in other units, when they have to cover the slack.
Do you want a leadership position in any given MOS? Start from the bottom.
But no. They need female commanders right now. Because diversity makes us strongerestz….
I wonder how diverse the Chinese military is.
Slow Joe:
You made the following comment:
“They need female commanders right now.”
When you say “they”, are you only speaking of the Combat Arms?
Realy appreciate your and Green Thumb’s assessments.
Always great to read other folks persectives,especially those in the Combat Arms who are facing these changes.
Heck, I remember the uproar when West Point admitted Women to the Corps in 1976.
And even though I was not alive then, I am aware of the story of Benjamin O. Davis, Jr. West Point Class of 1936. He was shunned by his Classmates during his four years at the Academy. All because of the color of his skin.
Today, folks don’t think much of Women or Blacks going to the Military Academies.
I imagine 10-20 years from now, folks would not care if a Woman held a leadership position in the Combat Arms.
Again, thank you both for your input on the topic. TAH would be a boring Blog if we all agree with one another on any given subject.
😉😎
It seems to me that equating African-American integration with that of women is a flawed comparison.
There is nothing inherently different in a white man or a black man serving in any given military position, as their respective differences are entirely based on cultural norms. If the trainers (are allowed to) do their job, then every candidate – black, white, etc. – should integrate into that distinct and collective military culture. This is a fairly common phenomenon throughout human history and across a broad spectrum of human societies. While our own military community is not free of baseless prejudice, I’ve yet to see any actual evidence of systemic racism.
Women and men, however, present an inherent, physiological dichotomy. There is ample evidence that women are capable of meeting the male standards (yet, rather than developing true standards of quality, political priorities lower the requirements across the board); yet, on a biological level, we all react differently to the other sex than we do to our own. No amount of cultural adjustment can completely counteract biological programming. Even among the small (but growing) percentage of homosexual service members, while they don’t necessarily react to the different genders in the same way as their straight peers, they still react differently based on that dichotomy.
Now, history is full of examples in which exceptional individuals are able to be effective in the face of this distinction – but they are the exception rather than the norm.
I’m not saying it can’t be done on a systemic level (a focus on optics certainly won’t get it done), but black integration into the armed forces is simply different than female integration, on a fundamental level.
“It seems to me that equating African-American integration with that of women is a flawed comparison.“
Understatement.
Agree 100%
I can’t speak for everyone, but only to my experience in a decade of Infantrying. Leadership is inextricably linked to the prowess of said leaders’ ability to get to the fight, ie PT studdery is the most sure fired way to gain the respect of subordinates.
When rucking 90 lbs to the last phase line with barely a glint of sweat on brow, the in shape body will allow the mind to perform better. Period.
Combat Arms, specifically Direct Action, requires physical acumen. Are there PT Gods who sport non-traditional tackle? Sure. But the average woman is barely at the lower fringes of male physical ability.
Ability vs prowess: injury, tiny hearts, nonperformance happens. Quite frankly there were a many; fat bodies, sand baggers, non runners, weak bodies when I served on the line.
But men can heal and gain strength quicker, when all else fails, guilting and shaming into performance works, that fails wall-to-wall into compliance.
War is a deadly enterprise and a turd that can’t/won’t ‘get right’ is a turd that can get you or someone else deaded.
Testosterone is one hellofva drug, and for good reason too.
It makes the field an uneven one, a very conditionally harsh one.
Anyone that doesn’t like it, I’m not the complaint department, ask the Great Designer why.
Roh-Dog and Hate_Me:
Sincerely appreciate you both providing your insights and perspectives on women serving in the Combat Arms field.
That would be fine if the women in question did it the right and the only legitimate way. Get the MOS, begin from the most basic level AND EARN IT. But Big Army doesn’t seem to feel it necessary to do it that way, because they are politicians in an Army uniform.
I would not even want to be in a unit with an unqualified, untested, crack troop captain running it. She didn’t earn it, and people may bleed for Her ambition and Big Army’s PC.
That is the very definition of wrong.
“Some impressive ladies.”
Really?
“She joined the infantry after 25 years of service in support units.” 46 year old Captain.
“She made the switch to infantry in 2019 after Virginia scaled-down military police forces.”
So now the infantry is a dumping ground for flagrantly unqualified officers with no where else to go, probably because nobody else wants them.
Then again, it’s the NG, not the real Army.
Word.
46 year old CPT with 25 years.
High fucking speed…
With all this “first black woman” or “first woman” in (insert occupation here), when and why did that become more important than “most qualified for the job”? I give not a single fuck about the color, race, gender, sex, sexual preference, or favorite dessert of my leaders. I want the best person available in that position. That’s equality.
THERE IT IS.
Word.