Women in Missouri Guard already know combat role

'Every soldier is a rifleman first'

First Sgt. Heather Javersak works in the field with other members of her engineer company.
First Sgt. Heather Javersak works in the field with other members of her engineer company.

Traveling inside an up-armored vehicle on convoy missions to deliver supplies in Iraq, 1st Sgt. Heather Javersak was equipped with individual body armor, advanced combat helmet, weapons and ammunition.

In case of ambush, she was given a combat role - just like the male soldiers.

The difference was her MOS, or her military job title, was a non-combat role. She was the unit and battalion supply sergeant for the 110th Engineer Battalion headquarters and headquarters company.

But she also was trained with basic soldier's skills.

When the Department of Defense in January announced women would be integrated into combat roles, the Missouri National Guard was ready.

Women in the Missouri National Guard, like Javersak, have been in combat for decades.

"In the last 15 years, Missouri National Guard women have been in combat; they have combat patches and combat action badges," said Maj. Sandy Stover, public affairs officer.

Similarly, Staff Sgt. Cheryl Dinges was deployed with a public affairs unit in Kosovo, but while in the country, she served with a line unit.

"Our daily missions were as infantry in Kosovo," Dinges said. "I was a female serving in combat arms. Now, it's just official."

While on deployment, soldiers may have a job title they fulfilled on the roster, but when they arrive for duty they fill whatever need arises.

"There's no front line anymore," noted Capt. John Quinn, public affairs officer. "That's why so many were saying, 'Take away that last barrier.'"

Javersak and Dinges are among the first Missouri National Guard female soldiers to take advantage of the integration, attending the combat engineer 140th Regiment, Missouri Regional Training Institute at Fort Leonard Wood this spring.

For both women, the opening of combat jobs allows them greater career mobility and the opportunity to do what they would like.

They agreed they knew this day would arrive eventually.

"The only females doing this are the ones who want to," Dinges said. "They have the drive to do it."

The combat engineers were the first of the combat-specific areas in the Missouri National Guard to integrate women, Stover said. Next will be infantry and artillery.

The engineers have a broad range of jobs, including building tall buildings, constructing bridges and operating heavy equipment.

"I've been with the engineers a long time," said Javersak, who joined a South Dakota engineer unit in 1993 with a signal job.

In December, Javersak became first sergeant for the 35th Engineer Brigade headquarters and headquarters company, which requires a 12-series qualification. The March combat training qualified her as a "12B."

Javersak acknowledged she could have pursued another non-combat avenue.

But, she said, "I've spent 10 years blowing up stuff with other guys."

Javersak deployed with the 110th Engineers to Iraq in 2005. Both Javersak and Dinges deployed to Kosovo in 2008.

Staff Sgt. David Wandel was an instructor for the recent combat training Javersak and Dinges attended.

He has been instructing the two-week combat-specific training, which draws attendees from surrounding eight states, at Fort Wood for four years.

The main reason soldiers take this training is if their unit changes mission task, Wandel said. They also take it for promotion opportunity or to change their MOS, he said.

At basic training, each soldier is given the equivalent of college's "general education requirements," so everyone is on the same page, he said.

"Every soldier is a rifleman first," Wandel said.

The additional combat engineer course focuses on combat-specific mobility, counter mobility and survival, he said. They deal primarily with demolition, obstacle placement and obstacle removal.

"They pick up infantry tasks like urban environment situations," he said.

In March, when the first class included females, Wandel said he specifically did not note the fact to the participants until the end of the two weeks.

"We made absolutely zero changes," Wandel said. "Our baseline for a mission is the same, regardless of gender."

Both Javersak and Dinges found their combat trainers treated the women as soldiers and held everyone in the course to the same standards.

"That was my expectation," Javersak said. "Because, it doesn't say male or female on my uniform."

In addition, new MOS-specific physical standards were in place and everyone in his combat training has passed, he said.

The seven new physical standards for combat engineers include a 12-mile road march, dragging casualty weight and grenade throwing.

"This is a positive," Wandel said. "We do need to be a lot more physically prepared.

"Now, it's in our doctrine for training; we can identify who is physically ready and put our best soldiers forward."

From his observation of the course participants, Wandel said having females in the training didn't make a difference because they could perform the tasks.

"It's not just to make sure women can do the job, but men too," Dinges said.

The Missouri National Guard implemented the integration on a tiered method, first female officers and then female non-commissioned officers, like Javersak and Dinges, and finally enlisted.

"We wanted senior leadership in place before we brought enlisted into the unit," Stover said.

This month, the first female recruit was enlisted in a combat job, she said.

"When I enlisted (in 2006), the biggest upset was there were certain things I could not do because of my gender," Dinges said. "Now, I'm able to compete on an even playing field, only skills and proficiency counts."