FORT DRUM, N.Y. -- Members of the Fort Drum community gathered Aug. 27 to celebrate the achievements of women, past and present, during a special Women's Equality Day celebration at the Commons.
Each year since 1971, the U.S. marks the anniversary of the passage of the 19th Amendment, giving women the right to vote, with a Women's Equality Day celebration on Aug 26. The celebration provides an opportunity to reflect on the efforts of women's suffragists who worked tirelessly to achieve this right, and to promote awareness and equal opportunities for women.
"The 19th Amendment guaranteed women the right to vote and an equal voice in our nation's system of self-government," said Sgt. 1st Class Lamont Womack, 10th Combat Aviation Brigade Equal Opportunity adviser. "Achieving this milestone required a lengthy and difficult struggle."
Womack spoke of the countless women and their male supporters who worked tirelessly for more than 72 years to win this democratic right.
He also spoke of women's early involvement in the military, in organizations such as the Women's Army Corps, Women Accepted for Volunteer Emergency Service (WAVES), the Women's Air Force Service Pilots (WASP) and the U.S. Coast Guard Women's Reserve, the Marine Corps, Army Nurse Corps and the Navy Nurse Corps.
"These brave women successfully transformed their experiences into opportunities for future generations," Womack said.
"Women's Equality Day draws attention to the ways in which persistence can pay off and also set precedents, paving the way for others to follow," he said. "By observing this celebration and continuing the conversation on discrimination's harmful effects, we ensure that the fight for equality continues."
Col. Robert A. Culp, 10th Sustainment Brigade rear commander, introduced the event's guest speaker, Capt. Michelle Kelly.
He spoke of her hard work as provisional commander for 10th Special Troops Battalion, as a member of the Army World Class Athlete Program, as an Olympian and as a single mother.
"She's a proven performer, an outstanding leader and a standard bearer in every sense of the word," Culp said. "She's an exceptional role model."
"The reason I am here today, talking to you about gender equality, is because I am passionate about it," Kelly said. "I feel as though neither women nor men should have to face roadblocks in life simply because of their gender."
Kelly grew up in upstate New York, in a Family of seven children. With four brothers at home, she said the idea of not being able to do something simply because she was a girl never really occurred to her until ninth grade, when she decided that she wanted to play high school football. She was told by many people that girls could not be involved in the sport.
"There's a Spanish proverb that reads 'to tell a woman everything she cannot do is to tell her everything she can do,'" Kelly said. "I decided that very next fall I was going to try out for the boy's varsity football team."
Despite the uproar that followed and a lengthy review process that included special doctor's assessments and appearing before a board to explain her motivation, Kelly was allowed to join the team.
"Did I get a lot of playing time as a wide receiver?" Kelly asked. "No. Did I get to open the door just far enough to make it easier for the next female football player? Yes."
After receiving her commission in 2005, Kelly was accepted into the World Class Athlete Program, a unit based at Fort Carson, Colo., that allows military athletes to train and represent the Army in World and Olympic competitions.
Kelly competed in Modern Pentathlon, an event modeled after the challenges of a military courier carrying a letter to the front lines. Modern Pentathlon consists of five sports: horseback riding, shooting, fencing, swimming and running. The sport was open only to male competitors from its introduction in 1912 until 1977. While females were allowed to compete in the sport in 1977, they weren't allowed to compete on an Olympic level until 2000.
"Because of so many trail-blazing women who came before me striving for gender equality, I was fortunate enough to be able to be involved with the sport from 1999 to 2012, representing the United States, and from 2003-2012, representing the United States Army and the World Class Athlete Program," she said.
After a deployment to Afghanistan, Kelly returned to the WCAP in 2010 and qualified for the World Team. Shortly thereafter, she found out she was pregnant. She was informed that she would be released from the program due to her pregnancy.
"I requested a meeting with the director of the WCAP to discuss my case to remain in the program and return to international competitions right after giving birth," she said.
The director conceded, and just five weeks after giving birth to daughter Lillian, Kelly was competing again. Less than three months later, she was the only American female to qualify for the World Cup event.
Kelly competed all over the world, and her daughter accompanied her, traveling more than 6,000 miles in the first year of her life.
She also spent a great deal of time visiting schools to speak with students about the opportunities available to them in the Army. She said she was struck by how many girls were not aware of those opportunities, and she encouraged them to pursue their goals, no matter how impossible they might seem.
"Just like the courage I want for my daughter, I want to give females and males the courage to go after whatever they dream," she said.
Col. Gary A. Rosenberg, Fort Drum garrison commander, spoke about the need for continued efforts toward achieving equality for women.
"The Army continues to work on ensuring equality for all of our Soldiers, including women," he said. "As you're probably well aware, we're on the road to opening up the last few (military occupational specialties) and branches that were not open to them."
Rosenberg spoke about his experiences as a Special Forces officer in Afghanistan. He applauded the brave female officers who worked in missions where they were often the only women in a group of a dozen SF officers and several hundred Afghan males.
"Every time, they proved their worth to us, and they were worth their weight in gold," he said. "It's about time that we recognize that they ought to be allowed to compete on even footing with all the rest of us."
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