A 25-year-old Louisiana woman made history this week after becoming the first female to enlist in the US Army Infantry School.
Tammy Grace Barnett, a former police officer, took the oath of enlistment on Thursday at the Military Entrance Processing Station in Shreveport.
Barnett initially planned to join the military police, before deciding she wanted to serve her country on the front lines.
Barnett, a former cop, initially planned to join the military police, before deciding she wanted to serve her country on the front lines
'I want to deploy, see action, and I definitely want to go to Airborne school,' she said in a release obtained by Army Times.
'I have served the front lines in my hometown... and now I am going to serve the front lines of my country.'
Barnett will begin basic training at Fort Benning in Georgia in June 2017
Barnett hopes that her enlistment will inspire other women to follow suit.
'I hope that I give them the courage, because I'm a small female, if I can do it, they can do it too,' she told KSLA.
'This could give them the courage to step out of their comfort zone.'
Barnett will begin basic training at Fort Benning in Georgia in June 2017.
Roger Harmon, the public affairs chief of Army Recruiting Battalion Baton Rouge, said the 14-month-delay is for necessary preparation time.
'(It will) allow the Army to properly prepare for new trainees by having trained female officers and (non-commissioned officers) in position,' he said.
'This allows female soldiers the opportunity to attend training and serve in (the infantry) previously only available to male soldiers.'
All military occupations and positions were open, without exception, to women in January 2016.
The Department of Defense announced that women would be allowed to contribute to Defense Department missions with no barriers in their way.
'They'll be allowed to drive tanks, fire mortars and lead infantry soldiers into combat,' Defense Secretary Ash Carter announced in December.
No comments:
Post a Comment