CAMP ARIFJAN, KUWAIT - When Chief Warrant Officer 5 Susan Johnson, a native of Wilton, N.D., enlisted in the Army National Guard in 1980 she never envisioned herself being a pioneer in womens' history. But on Nov. 2, 2010 she did make history when she became the first woman to achieve the rank of Chief Warrant Officer 5 in the North Dakota National Guard.
At the time of Johnson's enlistment, there was a sea of change in the opportunities for women in the U.S. Military.
Since congress had authorized women to attend the U.S. service academies, enroll in Reserve Officers' Training Corps; non-traditional Military Occupation Specialties were opened to women and the Womens' Army Corps was discontinued in 1978.
These policy changes assimilated women into the structure of the Regular Army and as a result of recruitment and opportunities opened to women, the number of women in the Army increased from 12,260 to 52,900 from 1972 to 1978.
It was after this increase in women military personnel that Johnson began her career as a trade utilities specialist, and climbed the enlisted ranks and achieved the rank of sergeant first class. She then applied and was accepted to the Warrant Officer Candidate School and continued her career of overcoming challenges, working hard and earning the respect of fellow Servicemembers.
"It was a little harder for some of the older guys to accept that they had a female working with them on drill weekends, but they got over it," Johnson said about being the only woman in her unit during the early 1980's.
Although she experienced no outright discrimination, she always felt as though she had to prove herself before being accepted.
"Nobody approached me to talk to me ... but after a month at different units all the Soldiers would say 'aw man, we never talked to you. I don't know why we didn't'," Johnson said.
Acceptance no longer seemed to be a problem for her.
"She motivates her Soldiers," said Master Sgt. Wayne Reynolds, a 24-year veteran, from Upper Marlboro, Md., a Third Army property-book noncommissioned officer who works alongside Johnson.
"[With Chief Johnson] you have a mother figure leading you," Reynolds said. "She's picky, but she listens to you."
Johnson's other Soldiers feel she is a great leader as well.
"There are so few female CW5s in the National Guard. It's really great to have someone with her experience," said Staff Sgt. Hunter Isley, a logistics noncommissioned officer in the Nebraska National Guard from Lincoln, Neb.
"She really took me under her wings and has given me the benefit of all her years in the National Guard," Isley said.
Female Soldiers have been a pillar in the U.S. Army for decades and are now reaching the peaks of the military profession. Johnson is now a part of that history.
She expressed what it means to her to reach such a milestone.
"It's nice to be the first for something," she said.
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