thedrifter
05-14-08, 07:55 AM
May 14, 2008
WOMEN IN THE SERVICE
Gunnery Sgt. LeTonya Sullivan a retired Marine
Editor's note: Each day this week, we'll profile a woman serving her country in the armed forces as part of Women Veterans Week, designated by the Department of Defense program "America Supports You."
After retiring from the Marine Corps, Gunnery Sgt. LeTonya Sullivan, a 40-year-old mother of one and native of Biloxi, Miss., now is an ROTC instructor at Jefferson Davis High School in Montgomery. She worked in supply logistics until coming to Montgomery to work at the Marine Corps Reserve Center for three years and then the Marine Corps recruiting station for another three years.
Q Why did you join the military?
A Because I wanted to travel, see the world and just have a better life, a better quality of life.
What did it mean to you being a woman in the military?
It was a challenge, because the Marine Corps is already the smallest branch and there aren't very many of us, and that's another reason I joined -- there weren't very many female Marines, or many that look like me.
How has the role of women in the military changed during your career?
It has changed tremendously. From the time I came in we were basically administrative, they called us women Marines, and our training was totally different than the men's. They taught a lot of ladylike qualities, they still do that now, but our training is exactly the same. But the Marines are still the only service where men and women don't train together. But now the training is the same, they didn't lower the bar for the men, they just raised the bar for the women.
We were kind of like the aliens, we're accepted a lot more. Since we were so segregated before, nobody accepted us as much because they've never worked with us. How can you accept something you know nothing about?
When I went through recruit training, we were the first females required to qualify with a weapon. That was 1985. (We were also the) first ones to stay in the field for more than overnight. Now, they're required to do everything that the males do. It's kind of like that separate but equal.
How do you balance being a mom and a Marine?
I'm a mother and a grandmother. Even at an early age (my son) always understood. I think he was just proud of me. I had to leave him for an entire year, for a deployment. Anytime you leave your child, there's always that mothering instinct -- you miss things, but you have a job to do. But I think that as women, we tend to take it a little bit harder, because we're really close to our children.
-- Jenn Rowell
Ellie
WOMEN IN THE SERVICE
Gunnery Sgt. LeTonya Sullivan a retired Marine
Editor's note: Each day this week, we'll profile a woman serving her country in the armed forces as part of Women Veterans Week, designated by the Department of Defense program "America Supports You."
After retiring from the Marine Corps, Gunnery Sgt. LeTonya Sullivan, a 40-year-old mother of one and native of Biloxi, Miss., now is an ROTC instructor at Jefferson Davis High School in Montgomery. She worked in supply logistics until coming to Montgomery to work at the Marine Corps Reserve Center for three years and then the Marine Corps recruiting station for another three years.
Q Why did you join the military?
A Because I wanted to travel, see the world and just have a better life, a better quality of life.
What did it mean to you being a woman in the military?
It was a challenge, because the Marine Corps is already the smallest branch and there aren't very many of us, and that's another reason I joined -- there weren't very many female Marines, or many that look like me.
How has the role of women in the military changed during your career?
It has changed tremendously. From the time I came in we were basically administrative, they called us women Marines, and our training was totally different than the men's. They taught a lot of ladylike qualities, they still do that now, but our training is exactly the same. But the Marines are still the only service where men and women don't train together. But now the training is the same, they didn't lower the bar for the men, they just raised the bar for the women.
We were kind of like the aliens, we're accepted a lot more. Since we were so segregated before, nobody accepted us as much because they've never worked with us. How can you accept something you know nothing about?
When I went through recruit training, we were the first females required to qualify with a weapon. That was 1985. (We were also the) first ones to stay in the field for more than overnight. Now, they're required to do everything that the males do. It's kind of like that separate but equal.
How do you balance being a mom and a Marine?
I'm a mother and a grandmother. Even at an early age (my son) always understood. I think he was just proud of me. I had to leave him for an entire year, for a deployment. Anytime you leave your child, there's always that mothering instinct -- you miss things, but you have a job to do. But I think that as women, we tend to take it a little bit harder, because we're really close to our children.
-- Jenn Rowell
Ellie