They Are Women, Hear Them Roar
I've talked about publishing a "Women in the Military" issue since I became editor-in-chief of Proceedings two and a half years ago. Something always intervened to forestall it. Part of it was simply learning the language, skills, and rhythms of a magazine after more than three decades as a newspaperman. But there was something else, a far stronger potential impediment, the curious resistance of the women whose problems I planned to highlight and whose achievements I hoped to honor.
My idea was greeted not by the cheers I expected, but by expressions of negativity, the kindest something along the lines of, "Are you sure you want to do this?" Male officers and enlisted men who I knew to be highly supportive of women offered similarly cautionary advice. I remember particularly Captain Gerry Roncolato, until recently the avuncular chairman of our Editorial Board, who some years earlier had commanded The Sullivans (DDG-68) and a crew in which women were well represented at every level. "I think maybe women just want to be left alone to do their jobs," he said, or words to that effect.
I persisted, continuing to discuss the matter with women, and several men, trying to understand the reason for the resistance. It took awhile. There was a complexity to the wariness I was encountering. Only after I decided that, yes, we were going to do it and do it now did I finally get it. I was a creature of the past. The world of women in the military had passed me by and I had a lot of catching up to do to avoid a fiasco.
This is what I learned about women in the services today. The problems and obstacles that have confronted them for decades have not gone away, but in most cases they are manageable, so much so that the women I commissioned to write for this issue didn't even want to discuss them.
"Then what do you want to write about?" I asked.
"We want to write about what we do, what we've done, what we hope to do, and what our service means to us," was essentially their response. "We've done a lot of things, you know?"
In other words, they didn't want to whine. They wanted to roar.
The stories in this issue will surprise many of you, as they did me. I also feel confident that you will enjoy reading them. And I'm willing to bet that you will have to remind yourself from time to time that the writer is a woman.
Our special section begins with a fine overview by Holly Yeager, a veteran Washington journalist who often writes about women's issues. There follows an engaging and illuminating interview with Navy Vice Admiral Ann Rondeau, a candidate to become the first woman four-star.
After that we hear from a Navy captain, a Coast Guard captain, a Marine major who became known as "The Benzene Queen" in Iraq, and the unsinkable Command Master Chief Petty Officer Jackie DiRosa. Shorter but no less compelling stories follow from a Navy chopper pilot, a Marine captain, and an Air Force captain, Charity Winters, who ran convoys during two tours in Iraq.
Captain Winters' piece is different from the others. There was some resistance to including it, but I loved it, so . . . . It's called "Not home yet . . ." I think of it as "Charity's Song."
We had some indispensable volunteer help pulling this issue together. Marine Lieutenant Colonel Roberta Shea, a member of our Editorial Board, and Laura D. Johnston, a Naval Institute Press book acquisitions editor, each came up with two promising authors and shepherded their stories to completion.
We lead off this issue with a tribute to the late Admiral William Crowe, former Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and U.S. Ambassador to the Court of Saint James's. His funeral here at the Naval Academy in October was an unforgettable event, punctuated by extraordinary eulogies from former President Bill Clinton and Admiral Mike Mullen, the current Joint Chiefs Chairman. We could do no better than to present edited versions of their remarks in celebrating a life of most distinguished service.
Happy Holidays from all of us to all of you.
Robert Timberg, Editor-in-Chief