38 ARMY � March 2011

WAC Color Guard,1950s.

By LTC Jenelle RobertsU.S. Army retired

hroughout the Army’s nearly 236-year history, women have proventhat, when freedom is threatened,no obstacle will prevent them from

defending their families, their fellow soldiersand their country. When their country calls,they respond—not within gender-hyphenatedroles, but as U.S. Army soldiers. For today’swomen soldiers, it is important to understandthat the Army in which they serve is far differ-ent from that of their predecessors. Organiza-tions such as the Army Women’s Foundationand the U.S. Army Women’s Museum are dedi-

March 2011 � ARMY 39

USA

MHI

U.S. A

rmy

U.S. Army

WASPs make a last-minute check around a Curtis A25 “Helldiver.”

Actress Marlene Dietrich visits with WACs in France, November 1944.

Women’s Army uniforms.

cated to keeping stories—past andpresent—alive. This ensures thatthe soldiers of today’s Army learnto appreciate the trials, tribula-tions and triumphs of the womenwho have served before them aswell as embrace the legacy theywill leave for future generations.The Army Women’s Founda-

tion is a private, nonprofit organi-zation originally established in1969 as the Women’s Army Corps(WAC) Foundation. The missionof the foundation is to promotepublic interest in the Army andthe women who serve in it. It isthe only foundation devoted exclusively towomen who serve or have served in theU.S. Army—the “national network for to-day’s Army women and a dynamic ad-vocate for telling the history of Armywomen.”MG Dee A. McWilliams, U.S. Army

retired, current president of the ArmyWomen’s Foundation, wrote in herfall 2010 “President’s Message” that“our … mission is to remember thosewho have served and to support today’swomen soldiers as they serve, and be-yond. The foundation has joined with othersto tell the story of Army women and to provideongoing education to different stakeholders about theunique needs of women who serve.”Through programs, research, symposiums and scholar-

ships, the foundation recognizes and honors the service ofArmy women. One of the programs the Army Women’sFoundation recently cosponsored was “When Janey ComesMarching Home: Portraits of Women Combat Veterans,” amultimedia initiative that included a gallery show, bookand documentary film. Author Laura Browder and photog-rapher Sascha Pflaeging collaborated on this project becausethey believed that many Americans are unaware of howmany women have served in Iraq and Afghanistan and therange of roles they have taken on there. “The hopes, dreamsand experiences of all servicewomen—active duty, Reserve

and National Guard; mothers,daughters and wives—were seenby more than 75,000 viewers atthe Women’s Memorial [Womenin Military Service for AmericaMemorial] at Arlington Cemeterylast summer,” said Peggy Trossen,executive director of the ArmyWomen’s Foundation. “We werevery proud to join with TriWestHealthcare Alliance and the me-morial to sponsor this extraordi-nary exhibit.”The Army Women’s Foundation

also supports the U.S. Army Wom-en’s Museum at Fort Lee, Va., theonly Army museum dedicated toArmy women. The museum hon-ors women’s contributions to theArmy from the RevolutionaryWar to the present, telling theirstories with interactive exhibitsand videos. Its mission, accord-

ing to its web site, is “to serve as an educationalinstitution, providing military history train-ing and instruction to soldiers, veteransand the civilian community.” It serves as“the custodian and repository of arti-facts and archival material pertainingto the service of women across allbranches and organizations of the U.S.Army from inception to the presentday.” The museum not only containshistory—its very presence is a piece ofhistory. The U.S. Army Women’s Mu-

seum is a direct descendant of the WACMuseum, which opened in May 1955 at the

newly established WAC Center at Fort McClellan,

40 ARMY � March 2011

LTC Jenelle Roberts, USA Ret., was commissioned from theReserve Officers’ Training Corps in 1984 and retired in 2006.An employee of SRA Intl., she works at the U.S. Army Testand Evaluation Command.

African-American WACs march,with Charity Adams leading. Adams

was the first African-AmericanWAC commissioned officer.

U.S. A

rmy

Copyright © 2010 by the University of North Carolina Press

Ala., displaying WAC history in pho-tographs, uniforms and other memora-bilia.The first museum occupied one

room in the WAC Headquarters build-ing. As the museum grew, it becameobvious that a building was needed tohouse the artifacts and archives. Sincegovernment funding was not avail-able, the private WAC Foundation wasformed in 1969 to oversee the fundrais-ing. Over the course of several years,WACs, their families and their friendsworked tirelessly to raise money forthe museum. A new building was con-structed entirely with private dona-tions and dedicated in May 1977. Congress passed a law in 1978 that

disestablished the WAC as a separatecorps of the Army. The WAC Museumremained active on Fort McClellanuntil the post was closed in the late1990s as part of the Base Realignmentand Closure process. Officials at the

42 ARMY � March 2011

The U.S. Army Women’s Museum held its grand opening andribbon-cutting ceremony for its new expansion during theWomen's History Month Program, March 19, 2010, at Fort Lee,Va. From left, Francoise Bonnell, Army Women’s Museum act-ing director; William Moore, deputy to the commanding general,Combined Arms Support Command (CASCOM) and Sustain-ment Center of Excellence (SCoE); CSM Michele S. Jones,USA ret., special assistant to the Secretary of Defense WhiteHouse Liaison; MG James E. Chambers, then-CASCOM, SCoEand Fort Lee commanding general; MG Dee McWilliams, USAret., Army Women’s Foundation president; BG Jesse R. Cross,Quartermaster School commanding general; and PeggyTrossen, Army Women’s Foundation executive director.

CSM Brenda K.Curfman earned anArmy Commenda-tion Medal with “V”device for valor forher actions whenher convoy came

under attack in Iraqin December 2007.At the time she was

the commandsergeant major forthe 95th MilitaryPolice Battalion.

(From left) CSM Delice Liggon, SGMDonna King, SGM Andrea Farmer, SGML’Tanya Williams and SGM Jerry Finin.All are assigned to the Quartermaster

Center and School at Fort Lee, Va.

U.S. A

rmy/T. Anthony Bell

U.S. A

rmy

U.S. A

rmy

time considered closing the museum, but once again for-mer WACs and their supporters pulled together, deter-mined to save their legacy. The museum moved to Fort Lee with an expanded mis-

sion that includes all components (active, Guard and Re-serve) and branches. In 2000, the WAC Foundation becamethe Army Women’s Museum Foundation, and the newU.S. Army Women’s Museum was dedicated in May 2001.Some 40 years after their original support to the museumas the WAC Foundation, the Army Women’s Foundationorganized and entirely funded an $800,000 addition to themuseum. “The museum addition further enhances the history of

Army women and their contributions to our nation,” saidMG McWilliams. “The funding was raised through our For-ward March campaign. Donations ranged from $5 or $10 toseveral generous bequests from the estates of women veter-ans. We are very proud to facilitate honoring our Armywomen.” In March 2010, the addition was completed anddedicated for the purpose of conducting training for sol-diers, serving as a resource for the Fort Lee community andaccommodating museum programs and outreach.Visitors to the U.S. Army Women’s Museum

will learn that the contributions and service ofwomen in the Army are steeped in a long andeventful history. Women nursed the ill andwounded, laundered and mended clothing, andcooked for troops during the RevolutionaryWar, despite small compensation. They dis-guised themselves as men, bound their breastsand cut their hair to defend freedom during

the Civil War. Dr. Mary E. Walker received the Medal ofHonor, the only woman so honored during the war. Whenthe Women’s Army Auxiliary Corps was established inWorld War II, women did not receive the same benefits astheir male counterparts. They were not allowed in ReserveOfficers’ Training Corps (ROTC) programs until 1972, orthe U.S. Military Academy until 1976. The invasion ofGrenada in 1983 was the first American armed conflict inwhich women were allowed to fly helicopters. In 2008,Ann E. Dunwoody became the first female four-star gen-eral in U.S. military history. In 2009, CSM Teresa King be-came the first female commandant of the U.S. Army DrillSergeant School. More than 200,000 women have served inIraq and Afghanistan.In 2011, women no longer have to bind their breasts to

serve, they can receive an ROTC scholarship, and they canattain the highest rank—officer and enlisted—in the Army.Through the efforts of organizations like the ArmyWomen’s Foundation and the U.S. Army Women’s Mu-seum, we can appreciate the struggles of the women of thepast, be grateful for today’s opportunities and look tomake the future even better for those who serve. �

44 ARMY � March 2011

In 2008, LTG Ann E. Dunwoody became thenation’s first four-star female officer. She was

pinned by Chief of Staff of the Army GENGeorge W. Casey Jr. and her husband, CraigBrotchie, during a ceremony at the Pentagon. U

.S. N

avy/PO

2 Molly A. Burgess

SGT Dawn Cloukey,a signals systemsspecialist with theBrigade Troop Bat-talion, 1st StrykerBrigade Combat

Team, 25th InfantryDivision, tests thefunctionality of a

communication de-vice during a briefstop at Forward Operating BaseNormandy, Iraq.

PFC MichelleAlmeida measureswood framing ma-terial for the win-dows in the newclassroom facilitythe Hawaii NationalGuard, 230th Engi-neer Company,built jointly with theRoyal Thai MarineEngineer Battalionduring the CobraGold joint engineer-ing civil assistancemission in 2010.

U.S. A

rmy/PFC Jesus J. Aranda

U.S. A

rmy/SPC Joanna N. A

mberger