Understanding Government

Another in Understanding Government’s “Public Service Announcement” series profiling the careers and challenges of notable government employees

By Norman Kelley

The United States Army is one of largest organizational components of the federal government, and even older than the Republic itself and its Constitution, which it is pledged to protect and defend. The Army joins the Navy, Marines and the Air Force to make up the U.S. Armed Forces, headquartered in the iconic Pentagon.

The Army has often been seen as the most democratic of the armed services – a melting-pot of sorts, bringing in people from different walks of life and training them to work as a team for the common defense of the nation.

Lt. Col. Jennifer Sirois

With the end of the military draft in 1972, the Army maintained this reputation, but its makeup changed most markedly with the decision, in 1978, to allow women to join this all-volunteer force, integrating female soldiers into all services (except combat units).  So the untold story of the contemporary modern army is the inclusion of another pool of talent: women. Women now serve in 91 percent of all Army occupations and make up 14 percent of the active Army (see also WITA) and it is already hard to imagine the U.S. Army without a strong female contingent.

The Making of an Officer

No better example of this is Lt. Col. Jennifer Sirois, U.S. Army Reserve, who because of a mandatory Congressional policy, called “up or out” by Army officers, will be required to leave the service since she hasn’t moved up in rank in the proscribed time. Despite that, Sirois treasures her time in the Army and the privilege to serve her country. Her career has been a dramatic illustration of what a woman can do in her nation’s defense. (more…)