More doors open for women

Dick Benoit

Thursday, March 17, 2005 | 8:19 a.m.

Army Sgt. 1st Class Janice Hill, Clark High School class of 1982 and daughter of Lonnie Sanders of Las Vegas, recently returned to Schofield Barracks, Wahiawa, Hawaii, after a deployment to Iraq.

Hill, a senior construction equipment repairer, is one of more than 270 troops of the 84th Engineer Battalion (Heavy) (Combat) that deployed on a mission of force protection, peacekeeping, stabilization, security and counter-insurgency operations.

She is also one of more than 215,000 women serving in the military, and there are more than 1.7 million female military veterans, according to the U.S. Census Bureau's most recent statistics.

According to Air Force Tech. Sgt. Scott Sturkol with the 416th Air Expeditionary Group Public Affairs office at Karshi-Khanabad Air Base, Uzbekistan, those statistics are no surprise to women serving with the Air Force there.

"If it weren't for the women before us, we wouldn't be holding the positions we have today," Tech. Sgt. Emily Green told Sturkol.

Green, who is in charge of the proper ground handling of aircraft of all sorts transiting the base, added "They put themselves in danger and showed that they were able to handle what was given to them."

Green, who when not deployed works as a C-17 Globemaster III crew chief at McChord Air Force Base,Wash., said from her experiences in more than 14 years of military service that what she does today might seem an every day normality for some, but it did not come about without many women making sacrifices for the betterment of the future.

"Women's roles have changed greatly over the years," Green said. "There are more women doing jobs today that years ago you would have never seen them doing."

Some of the jobs that have changed, particularly in the military, include those women flying planes in combat environments.

Lt. Col. Carol Timmons, an aircraft and mission commander serving with the 774th Expeditionary Airlift Squadron here from the Delaware Air National Guard at New Castle, said she understands and appreciates the progress that has been made.

"Opportunities are everywhere (for women)," she said. "When I first started my military career, many jobs were closed to women. I was enlisted in the Delaware Air National Guard and could not fly the C-130 (Hercules) because of the combat exclusion."

At the time, Timmons said she was told "no," and she never thought she would see women flying C-130s, or any other aircraft, in a combat environment.

"I have always believed every individual should be allowed to perform a job that (he or she) can qualify for," she said, and added, "We also have to be careful not to lower standards -- everyone should meet the necessary requirements for a particular job.

"Also, I am honored to have been able to fly for my country for (more than) 20 years, and I am thankful for those who came before me to help open the doors to women."

In brief