![]() Courtesy of Eduardo Alomar CW3 Pressley seen in dress blue uniform late in her career. The aviators believe they flew the first all-female AH-64 Apache sortie in Iraq. At the time, Pressley was Air Mission Commander (AMC) with the 1st Battalion, 4th Aviation Regiment, 4th Infantry Division. ![]() Army Women’s Museum This photo from January 2009 shows (L-R) CW3 Pressley, CW3 Stephanie Rose, CW2 Jenny Neason, and MAJ Tammy Baugh. In 2003 she was part of C Company, 6th Squadron, 6th Cavalry Regiment. Army Women’s Museum CollectionĬW2 Pressley standing in front of her AH-64 Apache helicopter at Tactical Assembly Area Vicksburg early in the Iraq war. Next to her is SPC Mike, the unit medic, who also was awarded a Silver Star for actions on March 20, 2005. Army Women’s Museum SGT Hester seen wearing this type of brassard along an Iraqi highway. Army Photo (DVIDS 4355) SGT Hester (far right) with her team. Army Women’s Museum Collection SGT Hester standing by captured weapons on March 20, 2005. SGT Leigh Ann Hester served with this unit when she was awarded the Silver Star. Army Women’s Museum Military Police Brassard – This brassard is part of a group of artifacts donated by Soldiers of the 503rd Military Police Battalion. Army Photo (DVIDS 6996) SGT Hester standing in her Humvee. Army Women’s Museum SGT Leigh Ann Hester standing in formation after having been awarded the Silver Star for her actions on March 20, 2005. Raven 42, a National Guard Heritage Painting by James Dietz, courtesy of the National Guard Bureau SGT Hester holding a captured AK-47 after the ambush on March 20, 2005. Army Photo This painting called Raven 42, shows the firefight between Hester’s squad and insurgents on March 20, 2005. which may be contacted at ticker BMTM.SGT Hester with her fellow Soldiers of the 617 Military Police after their award ceremony for repelling the insurgent ambush on March 20, 2005. The content of this webpage may not be reproduced or used in any manner whatsoever without the express written consent of Bright Mountain Media, Inc. Regardless of how much they weighed or size.” 1st Class Karen Carter, a senior drill sergeant. “A lot of the females, when they started, in the beginning- I would think one way, I’ll be honest with you,” said Sgt. Still, the fact remains that over half made it through the training, ushering in a new era for the United States Army. Leadership attributed the high female attrition rates in the class -nearly fifty percent- to a private’s size and stamina when carrying the standard 35-pound rucksack and combat loads, with most of the women only around or under 5’4 and weighing less than 125 pounds. The females graduated from the 1st Battalion, 19th Infantry Regiment last Friday, stepping off Benning’s grounds as the first female junior enlisted infantrymen.Īccording to the Army Times, the new breed have been sent off to new assignments, with some heading to Fort Hood’s 1st Cavalry Division and others awaiting airborne school for their eventual transfer to Fort Bragg’s 82nd Airborne Division. “No way,” one soldier told Popular Military when asked if women were held to the same standards. However, some sources who graduated from within the unit -whom requested concealed identities to protect their new careers- claimed a clear double-standard between males and females in their training cycle, including lighter rucksacks and lower expectations. But certainly by the end of the cycle, I was doing more push-ups, because I had her chasing me.” It was something that definitely made me better, and maybe kept me up nights a few times. “Speaking as the person who had the second-highest PT score- she had me looking over my soldier the whole cycle. “There was even one female that did better than 90 percent of the males on the PT test,” said one 22-year-old male trainee, who reportedly had high PT scores. That said, there were some women who certainly gave their male colleagues a run for their money. While the attrition rate doesn’t seem all that alarming, it strikes a more concerning tone when factoring in that the females needed only to meet the much-lower female standards for physical fitness that separate them from their previously all-male counterparts. In fact, only eighteen of the thirty-two female infantry recruits made it through the One Station Unit Training (OSUT) program at Fort Benning, Georgia. Albright, Maneuver Center Photographer)Īmerica’s first female Army Infantrymen are here, but not all of them made it through. Army Infantry soldiers-in-training assigned to Alpha Company, 1st Battalion, 19th Infantry Regiment, 198th Infantry Brigade, conduct their ‘Turning Blue Ceremony’ where they put on their distinctive blue cords identifying them as infantrymen May 18, 2017, at Sand Hill’s Pomeroy Field.
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