Op-ed: Our military is stronger because women serve
Retired superintendent Curt Dubost.
– Women have served with honor and distinction in the armed forces of our nation throughout our history. Prior to World War 2, there were many instances of women serving in combat disguised as men or in non-combat roles. In WW2, over 350,000 women served directly in the military, and of them, some 150,000 served as non-combatant WACs in the Women’s Army Corps. Another 1100 served as Women’s Air Service Pilots (WASPS), ferrying B-17s from the United States to England. One of my favorite teachers, Becky McSheehy of Coronado, flew hundreds of WASP missions and served on the ground in Berlin at the end of the war, helping German girls who soldiers in the Red Army had raped.
Currently, almost 18% of active service members are women, including 165 female soldiers who have become Rangers. Just this week, you may have noted that of the two West Virginia National Guards heinously ambushed by a terrorist, the soldier who tragically didn’t survive was female. Relatedly, since 9/11, at least 153 servicewomen on deployment to the wars in the Middle East have been killed on duty.
During my school career, I have been proud to have graduated many girls, frequently first-generation immigrant high school seniors, who want to serve their new country. Several have gone on to service academies and successful careers in the service of our nation. Perhaps most memorable are the many highly qualified, highly patriotic Filipino-American former students who have gone to Annapolis. Some are now nearing retirement and have children following them to the Academy.
One former student, who is male, commanded a warship in combat during the recent missile exchanges with the Houthis off the coast of Yemen. He graduated with my son and stopped by recently for a visit on his way to speaking at the Defense Language Institute. When asked, he stated the women on his ship met the same exact standards as the men, exhibited supreme professionalism, and performed their duties flawlessly. He added that their presence on the ship raised the professionalism and performance of the male crew members.
My mother’s partner till she passed, Sandra Snodderly, was a retired naval officer whose first assignment following graduation from the University of Tennessee NROTC program was as an aide in the White House during the Kennedy administration. While stationed there, she delivered tuna sandwiches to the Oval Office during the Cuban Missile Crisis. Later, she served as an intelligence officer on the ground in Vietnam. In 1973, she was assigned to assist with the repatriation of POWs, and her returning prisoner was John McCain, for whom she had immense respect. I never met a more loyal, patriotic American who, despite the prejudice she sometimes faced, loved the Navy and her country (even more than her beloved Tennessee Lady Vols Basketball Team).
I hope young female and immigrant high school students are not deterred from applying to academies and careers in the military by recent policy changes and remarks by leaders questioning their qualifications and disparaging their potential service. Our country benefits greatly from them.
-By Retired Paso Robles Joint Unified School District Superintendent Curt Dubost
Our country would be greater served by having more women in all lecels of our government.
In general, I believe women have a more realistic approach to problems and are less likely to do things just for photo-ops or to serve someone in a higher position.
This obviously excludes certain female members of the current administration.
Our country would be greater served by having more women in all lecels of our government.
In general, I believe women have a more realistic approach to problems and are less likely to do things just for photo-ops or to serve someone in a higher position.
This obviously excludes certain female members of the current administration.