{"id":77109,"date":"2023-03-04T17:04:51","date_gmt":"2023-03-04T17:04:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/armytimes\/uncategorized\/2023\/03\/04\/women-in-the-military-moving-beyond-firsts\/"},"modified":"2026-08-08T15:26:09","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T15:26:09","slug":"women-in-the-military-moving-beyond-firsts","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/armytimes\/opinion\/2023\/03\/04\/women-in-the-military-moving-beyond-firsts\/","title":{"rendered":"Women in the military: Moving beyond \u2018firsts\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Not many know this, but I grew up around planes. My parents owned a small flying business, so my chores were a little different than most my age, but I loved every minute of it. I remember when I wasn\u2019t sweeping the hangars or cleaning spark plugs, I would daydream of jumping in an airplane, taking the controls and soaring through the clouds. I couldn\u2019t even see over the dashboards, but that never stopped me from pressing every button I could reach or turning every knob I could. I wanted to know everything about flying.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

By the time I was a teenager, I had flown many different aircraft. I got my pilot\u2019s license before I got my driver\u2019s license. My passion for aviation, and the science and physics behind it, was stoked by my time as a Civil Air Patrol cadet<\/a> and led me to a career in the Air Force. I set my sights on the Air Force Academy, graduating with a degree in aeronautical engineering. My dream was to fly fighter jets; I wanted to fly Mach 1 with my hair on fire.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Fast forward to now, I\u2019ve logged more than 4,200 hours of flight time in more than 30 different military aircraft. I have been wearing the uniform for more than three decades and I have loved every opportunity my service has given me, but success has not been inevitable.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Multiple times I was directly confronted by those who thought less of women in male-dominated roles. Whether it was my time as a civilian flight instructor in the early 1980s, pressure from an officer in my chain of command at the academy, or a particular fighter aircraft flight instructor, my response and recovery from those events remained steadfast. I doubled down and strived to be better than my male peers, trying to pay it forward to those that would come after me. But it didn\u2019t come easy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As I face these obstacles, I always think about the three most important people on this journey with me: those who came before me, the people beside me, and the people behind me.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Even as a senior leader, I look up to those who paved the way. Personal and public role models who led by example, faced adversity, and didn\u2019t give up.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This year marks the 75th anniversary of the Women\u2019s Armed Services Integration Act<\/a>, which allowed women to serve in the U.S. Armed Forces. While a step forward, this legislation severely restricted the capacity for women to serve and greatly limited the number of those who could enlist, capping female enlistees at only 2% per branch.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Yet, that did not stop women from answering the call to serve and pushing the limits.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Korean War began two years later. More than 120,000 women signed up for active duty positions, serving as medics, caretakers, logisticians and communications operators.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And as time passed, the women before us continued to blaze trails. I am grateful for the 97 women of the Air Force Academy\u2019s graduating class of 1980. When they walked up the ramp at the academy on their first day in 1976, they did so beneath a large sign with two-foot aluminum letters boldly stating, \u201cBRING ME MEN.\u201d Those were words from a Sam Walter Foss poem<\/a> to describe American leaders. These words no longer encompassed the description of all the leaders at the academy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

These courageous women had the strength and perseverance to challenge the status quo and help rebuild the armed forces in the challenging days following the Vietnam War.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Because of them and the \u201cfirsts\u201d in every service, we can now set new examples for future generations, breaking barriers while leading forces from the ground, air, sea, space and cyber.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As I stood in the stadium at my own Air Force Academy graduation in 1988, about to throw my cap in the air, I never imagined that I would become a four-star general. But I did it, in part, because of the grit and determination of those who came before me, but also because of those that stood beside me going through what I was going through.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Together we shared information, skills and techniques, and helped each other overcome personal challenges.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And today, I walk the path of service alongside four-star leaders like Coast Guard Adm. Linda Fagan<\/a>, Army Gen. Laura Richardson<\/a> and Navy Adm. Lisa Franchetti<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I am honored and excited to sit down with them on March 6, at the Military Women\u2019s Memorial in Washington, D.C., to celebrate Women\u2019s History Month. We will look \u201cbeyond firsts\u201d and discuss how we can continue normalizing women in senior leadership roles across services.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It is critical that the next generation, those behind me, not only have an opportunity to sit at the table but that we keep them there. We must go beyond acceptance to inclusion, truly listening and valuing everyone\u2019s voice.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Additionally, we must encourage women to turn their passion into their power, distilling in them the understanding they are as competent as others know them to be.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It takes different perspectives to provide better solutions; it will take the best ideas from the brightest minds to prevail in tomorrow\u2019s fight. We cannot afford to limit anyone.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Simply put, this is a warfighting imperative.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We have come a long way to overcome gender-based discrimination, but there will always be room to grow. This March serves as a reminder to find inspiration in those who advocate for change and aim to shift our culture.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Be intentional about encouraging your peers and mentoring those following your path. It will take continuous engagement to reach a place where there are no more \u201cfirsts\u201d or \u201conlys\u201d left \u2026 where women are simply a foundational part of every team at every level \u2014 before, beside and behind each of us.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Air Force Gen. Jacqueline D. Van Ovost is the commander of U.S. Transportation Command, headquartered at Scott Air Force Base, Illinois. She is a graduate of the U.S. Air Force Test Pilot School and a command pilot with over 4,200 hours in more than 30 aircraft.<\/i><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Have an opinion?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

This article is an Op-Ed and as such, the opinions expressed are those of the author. If you would like to respond, or have an editorial of your own you would like to submit, please <\/i>email us<\/i><\/a>.<\/i><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Want more perspectives like this sent straight to you? <\/i>Subscribe to get our Commentary & Opinion newsletter<\/i><\/a> once a week.<\/i><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Women’s History Month is celebrated annually in March.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":106993,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-noindex":"","_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-nofollow":"","_yoast_wpseo_canonical":"","_acf":"","_yoast_wpseo_primary_category":14,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","_smg_distribution_targets":[]},"categories":[78,100,23,93,25,14],"tags":[],"coauthors":[6960],"class_list":["post-77109","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-commentary","category-daily-news-roundup","category-home","category-middle-column","category-newsletters","category-opinion"],"acf":{"subheadline":"","legacy_arc_id":"ER3KK4NJQFHZVBUSWWE5PS4SC4","arc_canonical_url":"\/opinion\/commentary\/2023\/03\/04\/women-in-the-military-moving-beyond-firsts\/","remove_feature_photo":false,"is_sponsored":false,"subtype":"","redirect_url":"","disable_inline_ads":false,"native_logo_pretext":"Presented By:"},"yoast_head":"\nWomen in the military: Moving beyond \u2018firsts\u2019 - Army Times<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Women's History Month is celebrated annually in March.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"noindex, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Women in the military: Moving beyond \u2018firsts\u2019\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Women's History Month is celebrated annually in March.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/armytimes\/opinion\/2023\/03\/04\/women-in-the-military-moving-beyond-firsts\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Army Times\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2023-03-04T17:04:51+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-08-08T15:26:09+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Gen. 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