Iowa Guard signs on to recruit, train more women
BY LIFT IOWA STAFF | @LiftIOWA
Maj. Gen. Timothy Orr, leader of the Iowa Army and Air National Guard, signed on last week to take the NEXUS Executive Women’s Alliance’s EPIC Challenge, WHO TV in Des Moines reported.
“What the EPIC Challenge is, is an opportunity for organizations to commit to making progress within their organization. Our partnership is allowing us to really take a look at the recruitment, retention and advancement rates of females within the Iowa National Guard,” Iowa National Guard equal employment opportunity specialist Amanda Wicker told WHO.
Currently, women make up 15 percent of the Iowa Army National Guard, and 18 percent of the Air National Guard. However, those numbers are likely to increase in the future, thanks to a couple of trailblazers.
The Department of Defense lifted restrictions on women in combat in 2013, and now two northwest Iowa recruits are leading the way as the first women to enlist and serve in Iowa National Guard combat arms units, said guard spokesman Col. Greg Hapgood.
Cheney Spaulding, 18, of Fort Dodge enlisted in September as a survey meteorological crew member, and Dakota Doocy,17, from Lone Rock enlisted in October as a field artillery firefinder radar operator.
Watch the WHO-TV video.
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