Dunwoody shared the honors with Marillyn Hewson, executive vice president, Electronic Systems, Lockheed Martin Corporation.

At the beginning of the presentation, Dunwoody spoke with Ann Curry, co-anchor of NBC’s “TODAY” show about what our service members have accomplished in the last decade and the challenges faced by today’s generation of veterans .

“It has been a tough decade, fighting on two fronts, while responding to contingencies around the globe. When we remind ourselves that only one percent of Americans serve in uniform you can understand the kind of heavy lifting we’ve asked our service members and their families to do.” Dunwoody said. “I absolutely think today’s service members and veterans will be remembered as our next greatest generation.”

One female service member from each of the branches of the armed forces also received Military Leadership awards from the USO during the luncheon. Those awards were presented to Air Force Capt. Gina Fasciani, U.S. Marine Corps Sgt. Sheen Adams, Army Sgt. Julia Bringloe, Coast Guard Lt. j.g Katherine Ustler, and Navy Lt. Katherine Worstell.

“Today, what was once a band of brothers truly has become a band of brothers and sisters and you don’t have to look any further than these five great American service members to see why,” said Dunwoody.”

Read the entire story at www.army.mil

On May 14, the Army will begin implementing the new Defense Department policy.

The new DoD policy opens up an additional 3 percent of Army jobs to women.

About 30 percent of Army jobs will remain restricted to men.

“The last 11 years of warfare have really revealed to us there are no front lines,” Brig. Gen. Barrye Price, director of human resources policy at the Army G-1 (personnel) told Army Times. “There are no rear echelons. Everybody was vulnerable to the influence of the enemy.”

(Read the article in its entirety at Marine Corps Times)

Gen. Joseph Dunford, assistant commandant of the Marine Corps, told the Marine Corps Times on Wednesday that the service is in the process of soliciting volunteers to attend the Infantry Officer Course in Quantico, Va.

All Marine infantry officers attend the 10-week course after completing The Basic School. Dunford and other Marine officials have not said what the next steps will be for women who volunteer to attend the school.

The Marine Corps is expected to release a service-wide message soon about expanding career and training opportunities for women. The message will include information about women attending IOC.” (Read the whole story here)

Air Force officials announced the confirmation of Lt. Gen. Janet C. Wolfenbarger to the rank of general with assignment to the position of AFMC commander, making her the Air Force’s first female four-star general. Officials also announced the Senate confirmation of AFMC Vice Commander Lt. Gen. C.D. Moore II for appointment as commander of the new Air Force Life Cycle Management Center, to be located here.

Wolfenbarger was previously Military Deputy, Office of the Assistant Secretary of the Air Force for Acquisition at the Pentagon in Washington D.C.

As commander of AFMC, she will oversee 83,000 people with a budget of $60 billion annually for research, development, test and evaluation. The command provides the acquisition management services and logistics support required to develop, procure and sustain Air Force weapon systems.

(Read the entire story here)

The changes are included in a report the department submitted to Congress today, based in part on findings the Military Leadership Diversity Commission reported in March.

Today’s report includes a “vision statement”: “The Department of Defense is committed to removing all barriers that would prevent service members from rising to the highest level of responsibility that their talents and capabilities warrant.”

A Pentagon news release accompanying the announcement quotes Defense Secretary Leon E. Panetta as saying women have proven themselves in and out of battle.

“Women are contributing in unprecedented ways to the military’s mission,” he said. “Through their courage, sacrifice, patriotism and great skill, women have proven their ability to serve in an expanding number of roles on and off the battlefield.

“We will continue to open as many positions as possible to women so that anyone qualified to serve can have the opportunity to do so,” the secretary added.” (Read the entire article at the Department of Defense website)

And from Stars & Stripes:

“American Women Veterans founder Genevieve Chase echoed that sentiment, saying she has heard from numerous commanders who couldn’t use highly qualified female servicemembers for certain jobs because of the rules.

“The nature of war has changed and battlefield commanders have found value in the contributions of women in combat, and especially counterinsurgency operations,” she said, pointing to the use of Female Engagement Teams in Afghanistan today.

“Our military has realized that we have the ability to field the best America has to offer and all those who volunteer to serve our country should receive equal training and career opportunities, regardless of their gender.”

The change will also eliminate rules that prohibit women from living alongside combat units, and spur the development of gender-neutral standards for a variety of military positions.” (Read the entire story at Stripes.com)

What this means for American Women Veterans:

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Echoing Green sent official notifications to all applicants this afternoon.

The Semifinalists will have the opportunity to submit additional information about their big idea, and the Finalists for both Fellowships will be invited to our Finalist Weekend in May 2012.

We thank all the 2012 Fellowship applicants and wish everyone success in their efforts to solve the world’s biggest problems.”

See the entire 2012 Echoing Green Fellowship Semifinalist list here

“It was an unusual job even for the Seabees, the U.S. Navy’s construction forces trained to hold a hammer in one hand and a Beretta M9 in the other.

First, the team selected to build barracks high in the mountains of Afghanistan consisted of eight women, who are all stationed at Naval Base Ventura County. And second, the women completed the job far ahead of schedule.

Beating deadline made up for long days and freezing nights in tents without plumbing, building four 20-by-30-foot structures, said Gafayat Moradeyo, the mission commander. But when the women returned to Bagram air field, their Afghanistan base, they learned that they had nailed another achievement: a place in naval history.

Military officials say they are the first all-female construction team to take on a construction job from start to finish in the Seabees’ 70-year history. And they did it in record time in the barren rocky mountains of Helmand province, a Taliban stronghold and the focus of recent combat efforts.”

(This is just an excerpt, please read the entire story at The Los Angeles Times)

Lt. Gen. Patricia Horoho, first woman and first nonphysician to become the Army’s surgeon general, was promoted and assumed her new duties at Joint Base Myer-Henderson Hall, Va., on Dec. 7.

She took command of Medical Command at a ceremony on Fort Sam Houston, Texas, two days earlier.

She succeeds Lt. Gen. Eric Schoomaker, who is retiring after more than three decades of service.

“We are dedicated to identifying and caring for soldiers who have sustained physical and psychological trauma associated with a protracted war,” Horoho said at the Dec. 7 ceremony. “A focus on wellness and prevention will ensure that our soldiers are ready to heed the nation’s call.”

Read the entire story at Armytimes.com

UNITED STATES SENATOR ROBERT MENENDEZ

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

November 10, 2011

CONTACTS:

Menendez Press Office 202-224-4744

Senator Menendez Reiterates Call for Timely DoD Report on Women in the Armed Forces

Outdated policies may cause Servicewomen to lose the ground they’ve gained as a result of their role in current conflicts

Washington, DC – In anticipation of the Department of Defense’s review of the laws, policies, and regulations that restrict the service of female Servicemembers as required by the Ike Skelton National Defense Authorization Act for FY2011, Senator Menendez reiterated his call for the Department of Defense (DOD) to detail the capacity in which the 255,000 women who have deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan have served, and discuss ways to reconcile its combat exclusion policy with the realities on the ground whereby female Servicemembers are being “attached” to combat arms units that consistently engage the enemy on the ground with weapons.

“Female servicemembers have made tremendous contributions to our national defense, and the fact that 174 servicewomen have been killed and 845 have been wounded serving our country in Iraq and Afghanistan tells me that we need to make sure the Defense Department’s policies reflect the critical role women are playing in today’s armed forces,” said Menendez. “Only if we acknowledge their present engagement will they be eligible for the advancement opportunities they deserve, and will we ensure that in the future, the most qualified troops are fielded, regardless of gender.”

This past June, Senator Menendez and his colleagues sent a letter to the Secretary of Defense requesting more details about whether the training, opportunities for promotion, and medical treatment of female servicemembers reflect their increasing role in combat situations. In a response from Clifford Stanley, Under Secretary of Defense for Personnel and Readiness, Senator Menendez was informed that his concerns would be addressed in the pending DOD comprehensive review.

Genevieve Chase, of American Women Veterans, a non-profit organization that advocates for women in the military said: “The nature of war has changed and battlefield commanders have found value in the contributions of women in combat and especially counterinsurgency operations. Examples of this are the creation of the Marine Corps’ Female Engagement Teams and the U.S. Army Special Operations Command’s Cultural Support Teams. These women are trained for and expected to live among all-male combat arms units in austere conditions as integral parts of the units’ operations. This concept evolved over the past several years as a result of the value that women who were “attached” to combat units added on the battlefield. The creation of these highly skilled teams of women and their integration into special operations forces and combat arms units reinforces the need and expanding roles of women in the military. This alone is evidence that re-evaluation of the outdated and misrepresentative policy is long overdue.”

The Department of Defense “combat exclusion policy” precludes women from being assigned to ground combat units and being recognized as “combat troops”, yet women have served for years in ground combat operations as “attached” units that expose them to the same danger. This policy keeps women from being recognized as combatant troops, which is one of the most direct ways to rise through the military ranks. This inconsistency has a direct impact on military women’s chances of having access to adequate training before deployment, proper recognition upon their return, and fair promotion opportunities. Today, 80 percent of general officers come from career fields that are closed to women, and only 24 of the Army’s 403 general officers – or 6 percent – are female, though women make up roughly 15 percent of the force.

FULL TEXT OF LETTER:

June 17, 2011

The Honorable Robert M. Gates

Secretary of Defense

The Pentagon

Washington, DC 20301-1155

Dear Secretary Gates:

The Military Leadership Diversity Commission’s report, From Representation to Inclusion: Diversity Leadership for the 21st Century Military informed the nation that the Armed Services should systematically develop a demographically diverse leadership that reflects the forces it leads and the public it serves. Additionally, the Commission recommended that the Services expand their diversity to include the range of backgrounds, skills, and personal attributes that are necessary for enhancing military performance. One issue the Commission highlighted that we would like more information about is the effect of the Department of Defense’s combat exclusion policy on women in the Armed Services.

The Department of Defense’s current policy as it relates to women in the Armed Services states that “women may not serve in units that (1) engage an enemy on the ground with weapons, (2) are exposed to hostile fire, and (3) have a high probability of direct physical contact with personnel of a hostile force,” yet 134 female service members have been killed, and 721 have been wounded in the conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan. The Commission’s report highlights the inconsistency of DOD’s policy with the reality of deployments, stating: “the current conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan have been anything but conventional. As a result, some of the female Servicemembers deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan have already been engaged in activities that would be considered combat related, including being collocated with combat units and engaging in direct combat for self-defense.” The Commission subsequently recommended eliminating the combat exclusion policy for women.

We respectfully request additional information regarding the inconsistency of the current combat exclusion policy, whereby women are being “attached” to combat arms units that consistently engage the enemy on the ground with weapons, repeatedly encounter hostile fire, and frequently expose them to direct physical contact with personnel of a hostile force, yet women are not being adequately recognized for having served in combat arms functions when it comes to documenting these experiences in their military records and DD214s. Additionally, we are concerned that this policy unnecessarily restricts combatant commanders from selecting the best personnel to participate in missions solely based on gender.

We hope you will provide a more comprehensive explanation of the capacity in which the 255,000 women who have deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan have served, specifically those that have been “attached” to combat arms units during their deployments. In accordance with the current combat exclusion policy, what roles are open to women and from which are they precluded? Does the policy inhibit commanders from effectively engaging in counterinsurgency operations?

Given the fact that women are now serving alongside and collocated with combatant troops, what measures are being taken to ensure they receive appropriate training prior to deployment? Finally, when non-combat arms troops engage the enemy on the ground with weapons or are exposed to hostile fire, how is this being reflected in their military records other than the issuance of a combat action decoration?

In summary, we hope you will provide more details about the increased capacity in which women are serving and how the Department is working to ensure that the issues of training, equal opportunities for promotion and career advancement, and proper treatment upon redeployment are addressed.

We look forward to your timely response to this inquiry and to working with you to update the Department’s policies in a way that fully reflects the critical role women are playing in today’s armed forces, ensures that women receive the much-deserved credit they earn during their military careers, and makes certain that our nation fields the most qualified troops regardless of gender.

Sincerely,

Senator Menendez

Senator Gillibrand

Senator McCaskill

Senator Cardin

Senator Wyden

Senator Franken

Senator Merkley

Senator Hagan

Senator Lautenberg