'Sisters In Arms' Help Empower Female Soldiers by U.S. Army Master Sgt. Miriam Espinoza
December 29, 2020
On June 12, 1948 the Women’s Armed Services Integration Act
created regular and reserve status for women, although women had
already been an integral part of the Army since the Revolutionary
War when women served in traditional roles such as seamstresses,
cooks and nurses. Some courageous women served in combat alongside
their husbands or disguised as men, though not in uniform. Today
women serve proudly in all jobs offered in the Army including combat
military occupational specialties.
2nd Armored Brigade Combat Team leadership understands that with
women in combat MOSs there are challenges and they are leading the
way in giving these female Soldiers a platform to interact and learn
from other women by starting "Sisters in Arms", a Brigade Female
Mentorship Program.
December 17, 2020 - 2nd Armored Brigade Combat Team leadership kicks off “Sisters in Arms” a Brigade Female Mentorship Program at Fort Hood, Texas. The program's intent is for young female Soldiers to find a mentor, offer coping mechanisms, help them build resilience and help them understand all the resources available to them. (U.S. Army photo by Master Sgt. Miriam Espinoza)
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“A lot of Military Occupational Specialties in the military are
very male dominant and sometimes females don’t have females in their
leadership and events like this would help us find a mentor,” said
Spc. Arushi Arya, who came into the Army as an Allied Trade
Specialist (91E), a predominantly male MOS.
By bringing
female Soldiers together to interact with senior female mentors it
allows each Soldier to find someone who has achieved the goals they
aspire to achieve and learn from their experiences and to have
someone they feel comfortable with to ask questions outside of their
organization.
“As a minority in male-dominated units we felt
it was necessary to reach out to our female Soldiers, especially
younger Soldiers, and make sure that they know we appreciate their
unique challenges and we offer them some experience with our senior
female officers and non-commissioned officers,” said Col. Ian
Palmer, commander, 2ABCT. “In the brigade every Soldier matters,
every teammate matters, so we want to make sure that everyone has a
voice.”
December 17, 2020 - Col.
Ian Palmer, commander, 2nd Armored Brigade Combat Team,
speaks to Soldiers across his formation to introduce
"Sisters in Arms" a Women Mentorship Program Dec. 17 at Fort
Hood Texas. (U.S. Army photo by Master Sgt. Miriam Espinoza)
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The program has been developing for several months and its intent
is for young female Soldiers to find a mentor, offer coping
mechanisms, help them build resilience and help them understand all
the resources available to them.
“We are trying to help empower the female population to help them
speak out, so they don’t feel like they are in the shadow of males,
so that they know we are equal,” said 1st Sgt. Wendy Talton, 2ABCT.
The topics covered during this event, the first of its kind
in the brigade, were; Dual Military Life, Parenting, Domestic
Violence, Coping with Deployment, Healthy Relationships, and Sexual
Harassment and Assault, among other common topics that affect
Soldiers within the formation.
“This program will help
people speak up more, it’s empowering females and the more empowered
we are, the more comfortable we are to speak up,” said Arya.
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