USNORTHCOM hosts multinational discussion on the future of women, peace, and security

WASHINGTON - After the evacuation of nearly 75,000 people from Afghanistan, U.S. Northern Command (USNORTHCOM) assisted efforts across the federal government to support vulnerable Afghans, including those who worked alongside American forces for the past two decades, as they safely resettled in the United States.

One of the most critical objectives of the operation was ensuring all guests had the support they needed to integrate into American communities. Understanding the unique role of women in Afghan culture is how Tiffani Phillips came to lead one of the first-ever operationalizations of gender advisory during a defense support of civil authorities mission.

As director of human security and resilience at North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) and USNORTHCOM’s Security Cooperation Division, Phillips understands that solutions across the peace and security enterprise must account for the needs of all members of society. Her work in helping with the resettlement of Afghan evacuees is, in part, what made her the right fit to lead the discussion on the North American Defense Framework for Women, Peace, and Security during a forum at Fort McNair, Washington, D.C., Feb. 27-29, 2024.

“NORAD is the perfect example, the epitome of security cooperation,” she said. “So we asked what are ways we can bring together expertise and collectively defend and understand our populations?”

The forum, hosted at Fort McNair’s Inter-American Defense College (IADC), brought together experts from the U.S., Canada, Mexico, and the Bahamas to develop actionable recommendations founded in three lines of effort: integration of women, peace, and security concepts in professional military education; increased prevention of and response to gender-based violence in the military, and integration of gender perspective during military operations.

“In order for us to experience human security in the U.S., we have to ensure there’s that same paradigm in Canada and Mexico,” Phillips affirmed, discussing the inclusion of partner nations. “We should never be doing things that are duplicative.”

Advancement in these areas is critical, Phillips says, especially with USNORTHCOM’s unique mission.

“You can’t defend what you don’t understand, and we are charged with homeland defense,” she said. “If we don’t understand the populations we’re protecting and we don’t understand the teams we assemble, then we can’t effectively employ that team and achieve our military objectives.”

Maj. Gen. Richard Heitkamp, IADC director, said hosting this event was a natural fit for the college as it aligns perfectly with its mission to develop strategic advisors and national leaders committed to democracy, human rights, and collaboration through a hemispheric perspective.

Heitkamp encouraged participants to take a similar approach to the lines of effort, crediting his personal life with seeing first-hand the unique perspectives women bring to military operations.

“I’ve got three daughters, two of them in the Air Force … my wife is also a retired-Army officer,” he said. “I’m a true believer in diversity of thought and it’s amazing the different solutions you come up with when you allow that to happen.”

“I’m proud of this effort and I want to see it succeed.”

Phillips, an Air Force veteran, said that while uniformity is a valuable asset in the military, building teams that share a common worldview can cause them to take a myopic approach to their mission.

“We bring people into the ranks and we teach you to walk the same, talk the same, dress the same, and think the same because we all go to the same professional military education,” she said. “Those are necessary for discipline and command and control to achieve operational effectiveness, but it exacerbates the risk of groupthink.”

Where many events like this stop at just admiring a problem, as Phillips puts it, the goal of this forum is to leverage the unique perspectives from across North America to take a more active approach.

“Those events are great, but they take a lot of time and energy to put on, and then it’s rare to sustain that momentum” she said. “If we’re going to convene people in this kind of venue, we wanted to create momentum to accomplish the things we identify [at the forum].”

Phillips hopes these discussions will have far-reaching effects, including an impact on Army families, specifically when looking through the lens of recruiting.

According to U.S. Army recruiting data, 83% of young men and women coming into the Army are from military families.

“We are literally relying on our current generation of warfighters to create our next generation of warfighters,” she said. “Any policies that make military service compatible with family life will improve the experience of our current warfighters, both mothers and fathers, and make our military stronger now. It’s also making it better for the next generation.”

At the end of the forum, the attendees will take all recommendations back to their respective militaries for further development, approval, and implementation. Recommendations that Phillips believes can transcend discussion on diversity and improve U.S. and its allies’ ability to deter or defeat adversaries at home and abroad.

“It’s not just about women or gender, it’s really about having teams that are resilient and able to address complex problems.”