|
WASHINGTON,
March 2006
–
Women throughout history would be proud of
what today's community of DoD women has
accomplished, a top DoD personnel official
said.
DoD employees are among the nation's finest
visionaries, dream makers and community
builders, which coincides with this year's
Women's History Month theme, "Women:
Builders of Communities and Dreams,"
Marilee Fitzgerald, principal director of the
Office of the Deputy Undersecretary of Defense
for Civilian Personnel Policy, said during the
DoD observance of Women's History Month at the
Women in Military Service for America Memorial
here.
"Your distinguished military careers
and exceptional federal civilian service are
an inspiration to men and women around the
nation," she said.
That's particularly true, Fitzgerald said,
for those "who are making incalculable
sacrifices to preserve freedom and the
democratic principles that underpin a
peaceful, productive and dignified
society."
She said the ceremony honored "the
spirit of possibility and the hope set in
motion by generations of women in their
creation of communities and encouragement of
dreams."
"These women worked to ensure an
independent nation; they planted the fields,
taught the children, wrote the books, gave the
speeches, and insisted on an end to
inequality," she said. "And they
demanded liberty, the right to organize, the
right to vote, and the right to share equally
in the pursuit of happiness.
"These are the women who stepped
forward when needed," she added.
Fitzgerald said women of the past would be
proud of women like retired Air Force Brig.
Gen. Wilma Vaught, the driving force behind
building the women's memorial. "Her
vision to build this memorial will not only
ensure that women are forever recognized as a
critical and historic part of the woven
tapestry of military service, but will also
inspire others to dream and realize new
possibilities for generations to come,"
Fitzgerald noted.
Women have come a long way in government
since 1933, when then President Franklin
Delano Roosevelt -- at the strong urging of
his wife, Eleanor -- appointed the first
female cabinet secretary, Frances Perkins, as
secretary of labor. Perkins was the champion
for the national women's rights cause
"Equal Pay for Equal Work,"
Fitzgerald noted.
Fitzgerald said the hopes and dreams of
women in DoD are realized every day by the
contributions of more than 220,000 women
serving in civilian positions. This number
represents more than a third of the total DoD
workforce and more than 200,000 women serving
on active duty. "The great news in these
numbers is that women are given the
opportunity to achieve their dreams - and they
are achieving 'firsts' in many areas,"
Fitzgerald said.
DoD women serve in a remarkable array of
positions -- teachers, firefighters, human
resource specialists, air traffic controllers,
tugboat captains, information technology
specialists, scientists, engineers, prison
guards, weapons system designers, and
secretaries such as deputy undersecretaries,
Fitzgerald said.
For instance, Fitzgerald said, they include
women like Patricia Bradshaw, undersecretary
of defense for civilian personnel policy, who
presides over the personnel practices and
policies for more than 700,000 DoD civilians.
They also include women like Tina Jonas,
undersecretary of defense (comptroller) and
chief financial officer, who oversees DoD
financial management activities including a
budget of more than $400 billion dollars.
Fitzgerald also pointed to Sheila Widnall's
appointment as secretary of the Air Force in
1993, which made her the first woman to serve
as an armed forces secretary. In 1998, Lillian
Fishburne became the first African-American
woman to put on the Navy star to become a rear
admiral.
In June 2005, Sgt. Ashley Pashley, of the
Army Reserve's 40th Civil Affairs Battalion,
was one of five soldiers awarded the first
Combat Action Badge for her action during
Operation Iraqi Freedom.
"Last month, Defense Secretary Donald
Rumsfeld appointed Leslye A. Arsht as the
deputy undersecretary of defense for military
community and family policy," Fitzgerald
noted. "Leslye is one of the first DoD
civilian woman to have served as part of the
Iraq reconstruction effort. She was the senior
advisor to Iraq 's Ministry of Education. In
June 2005, Ms. Arsht was chosen to receive the
Good Housekeeping Award for Women in the
Government."
Noting that the percentage of woman serving
in non- traditional occupations since 1995 has
increased, Fitzgerald said, "In 2005, the
ratio of female scientists has proportionally
grown by about 20 percent and the ratio of
engineers by about 45 percent since
1995."
The percentage of women in grades GS-13
through senior executive service increased
from 18.9 percent in 1995 to 28.1 percent in
2005. The ranks of the women in the SES
positions grew by 62 percent since 1995, and
women now hold 20 percent of DoD SES
positions, Fitzgerald said.
"These achievements are possible
because as a community we are better
educated," Fitzgerald noted. "DoD
civilian women have demonstrated an increase
in the percentage of those holding bachelor's
degrees or higher from 23 percent in 1995 to
32 percent in 2005, with 62 percent more women
possessing masters degrees or above in
2005."
However, Fitzgerald said, even though those
numbers are encouraging and women's
accomplishments in DoD are beacons for others
to follow, there's much work to be done.
"Women are underrepresented in science,
technology, mathematics and engineering
fields," she noted. "This challenge
is exacerbated by the national shortage of
women studying these disciplines at the
university level and making careers in related
fields."
And women still are underrepresented in
DoD's senior executive service. Rumsfeld has
asked his leadership team to "get more
energy" into increasing the
representation of women and minorities in
general and flag officer positions and in
senior executive service positions, Fitzgerald
said.
"Today," she told the audience,
"we celebrate and give thanks for the
community of DoD women who have and are
forging paths and accomplished firsts for
those of us in this room and for our daughters
to come. We must be mindful that as a
community of DoD women we are but one part of
a greater whole necessary to accomplish the
DoD mission. We're part of the total force,
which is comprised of men and women in the
military and civilian work force."
|
