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11:00 p.m. Thursday.....Part of the 147th Air National Guard is flying out of Ellington Field at midnight tomorrow, in about a dozen F-16's, for an "undisclosed location in Southeast Asia." I have no doubt there are brave people in the group. But there are apparently some stupid ones, too. It is such a shame that adults can't just act like mature adults. Instead some have to act like immature little children. This isn't the first I've heard of such an "award" as this (if you can call it that), but it is wrong. Humiliating people is wrong.
I know it is suggested as a "cure" for a problem of complaining women. But I'm going to say something that will sound really harsh to some....those who suggest it are being stupid little boys, rather than grown-up men. And this was carrying it way to far. It goes hand-in-hand with some men only thinking in a sexual nature. More than once, I've heard men say (or know it was said to someone) that, "Her problem is she just needs to get laid." Yeah. ...that'll solve everything. (That was even said to a woman at our church, when she was grieving over the death of her husband. No...it was not a church member that said it to her.)
And for the record, no....I don't think all men think like that. That would be equally demeaning in the other direction.
No doubt there will be men (maybe some I know) complaining about these women making this subject public. But unfortunately, the squeaky wheel doesn't get the grease unless you turn it into a really big squeaky wheel.
Is the Texas Air Guard shooting down women's careers?
10:00 PM CST on Thursday, February 22, 2007, Mark Greenblatt - 11 News Investigates
They’re decorated military officers who have protected our country, so why do they claim the military is forcing them out?
They say it’s because they’re women.
That’s what 11 News Investigates has found might be happening in the Texas Air National Guard with more about a possible sex discrimination scandal in the making.
They’re trained, they’ve served and some have even fought protecting our country. Now all these women in the Texas Air National Guard say they want to know is why they’re being humiliated and pushed out by their male commanders.
As long as she can remember, service was the most important thing in Adrion Bell’s family. “My grandfather was in for 42 years,” Bell said. “My dad was in for 23.”
So she enlisted with the Texas Air National Guard, and one day she was invited to a mostly male leadership camp. “It’s the transition from being a follower to a leader,” she said.
But what she saw happen to a fellow female airman has shaken her belief in the Texas Guard. “I guess they found her too outspoken,” Bell said. “I can’t believe they’re doing this.”
“This” was the Vagisil award: a foam tiara with the Vagisil product label pasted on it. It was given by a group of instructors who forced the young woman to wear it.
“All three of them lined up in front of her, bowed down onto one knee in front of her as you would royalty, and presented her with a tube of Vagisil,” Bell said.
So why the so-called award? The military leader in charge of the camp joined the ceremony, announcing that the young woman “whined and bitched about everything,” Bell said.
Bell said the effect was devastating. “When we got back to our room she was crying, physically ill,” she said. And to this day, it angers her. “I was very offended,” Bell said.
Women in service. They train, they fight and sometimes die to protect their country. But 11 Investigates has found that in the Texas Air National Guard, instead of honoring these soldiers, a mostly male leadership may be simply driving them out.
Meet Col. Sue Hechinger. She was at Ellington Field when her country asked her to volunteer for duty in Iraq.
“I was a wing commander in a wartime environment,” Col. Hechinger said. She helped lead America’s air and troop movements there and got the Bronze Star.
“We did the mission,” she said. “We saved lives.”
But when she returned to Ellington and the Texas Guard, a boss she had met twice – Col. Lanny McNeely -- actually complained about her absence in an evaluation saying she left “the mission support group adrift during her long absence.”
11 News: “And what is the effect of that piece of paper?”
SH: “It’s a career killer.”
11 News: “So someone who has met you two times …”
SH: “Correct.”
11 News: “ … is all of a sudden evaluating you with a horrible performance report.”
SH: “Correct.”
11 News: “While all the while you are overseas?”
SH: “Correct.”
11 News: “Serving your country?”
SH: “Uh-huh.”
Rita Goudeau served for 33 years. “I’m hurt, and I’m angry,” she said.
And with two master’s degrees and three national awards, she was the top recruiter in the nation. But she said officers like McNeely had a problem with diversity.
RG: “He went as far as to tell me he didn’t want me to use that word in his presence.”
11 News: “Diversity?”
RG: “Diversity was something he didn’t like. He didn’t believe in it, and don’t use that around him.”
But Goudeau said it didn’t surprise her. “If you look at the stats, you will see — it is blatant,” she said.
And indeed, a report from the National Guard shows at Ellington, five colonels run the base. And underneath them? Twenty-four lieutenant colonels. Twenty-eight are men. That leaves one woman. But it turns out she’s part of a joint congressional complaint about events at the base alleging “discrimination” and the “relegation of females to second-class citizens.”
As for Goudeau, she said she too was driven out and is now a part of that congressional complaint.
“I tell you if I were a senior airman, I would be thinking twice before I put in a complaint in the Texas Air National Guard,” Col. Jill Collins said. “They’re not ever going to promote them or they’re going to demote them.
That’s called retaliation,” she said.
Collins investigated discrimination complaints and was part of the senior leadership team at guard headquarters and said little has changed.
“The cases I investigated 10, 20 years ago are still happening today,” Col. Collins said.
Part of the problem? She says there is a resistance to change. “Women are a very big part of our fighting forces, and it’s about time they stop being discounted and discredited,” Col. Collins said.
Meet Gen. Charles Rodriguez, the head of the guard.
11 News: “One airman was given this tiara to wear and awarded the Vagisil award. In your estimation, is this OK in today’s Guard?”
CR: “Anything that would demean an individual upon investigation will be dealt with very severely. Your statement is informative and helpful.”
But what about the lack of women leaders?
11 News: “Not a single female has ever been brought before the board to be considered for the position of general on the air Guard side.”
CR: “In order to be considered for general there are certain requirements to include schooling and to include command time.”
So what about Col. Hechinger? America’s top two air force generals in the Iraq war called her “an exceptional leader,” “extraordinary diplomat,” “consummate war fighter “and an “exceptional team builder.”
11 News: “What is it about those kinds of qualifications that might not qualify her to be brought before a board and considered?”
CR: “She’s a qualified air force officer.”
11 News: “But she was never brought before a board to be considered for the position of general?”
CR: “At this point what I’d like to do is let you know another consideration in addition to schooling and experience is performance, and I will stop there.”
11 News: “She’s a Bronze Star winner.”
CR: “I will stop there.”
But in the end, it all leaves women like Goudeau feeling dismissed. “It’s the culture of the Air National Guard,” Goudeau said.
The Guard said apparently, this wasn’t the first time “the Vagisil award” was given out but said it will be the last, calling the whole incident “deplorable.”
They said several senior instructors have already been reprimanded.
But as for that congressional complaint? Gen. Rodriguez said he’s ordered a formal investigation to begin and has asked a female general from outside Texas to lead it. | | | | | TRIPLES with EMMA | | | Posted 2/23/2007 12:07 AM - 2 views - 16 comments
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