Defense Department Honors Female ‘Firsts,’ Role Models

[NYVet]

http://www.defenselink.mil/news/newsarticle.aspx?id=49334


WASHINGTON, March 20, 2008 – The Defense Department honored Army Col. Valerie Ratliff last night for her efforts to break down barriers for future generations of women.

But Ratliff hopes the recognition, conferred on her and dozens of others here during the department’s 2008 Women's History Month Outreach and Observance Reception, will soon be made obsolete by virtue of future women’s continued success.

“This is just the beginning of the trailblazer recognition,” she told American Forces Press Service today. “And it will be a good thing when we won’t have to recognize it in the same manner.

“The history books will be written, the ‘firsts’ will be done,” she continued. “The doors have been opened.”

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Ratliff, an Operation Enduring Freedom and Operation Iraqi Freedom veteran, is the first African-American woman in Army history -- and the second woman in the branch’s history -- to command a battalion of the elite 82nd Airborne Division.

In July 2002, she led her troops to Afghanistan, and because of her outstanding leadership, was asked to lead a second element of her command to Iraq. As a result, five years ago from yesterday -- which marked the fifth anniversary of Operation Iraqi Freedom -- Ratliff found herself leading U.S. forces toward Baghdad.

In addition to attaining the rank of Army colonel and earning credentials as a “jumpmaster,” Ratliff said the award recognizing her work in paving the way for women in the military ranks high on the list of accomplishments and honors she’s accrued during her career.

Ratliff, who also served as the evening’s master of ceremonies, said the award was especially significant because it put her in the company of other great women.

“I had already read the great accomplishments by the other award recipients, so just to be in the midst of the company of fighter pilots and first women to command ships was a major accomplishment,” said Ratliff, who currently works in the Defense Department’s Personnel and Readiness office.

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“What makes it unique is that I was recognized along with several other women who (followed) similar paths as I have,” she said. “To be recognized for it and in the setting that it was for is what brought me the greatest honor.”

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“As each person’s small accomplishment was recognized, we each had a sense that we were part of it,” she said. “We were a part of what was being said about them; we were a part of the overall success and feeling that you got by breaking that barrier, so we all had that commonality amongst us all.”