{"id":767,"date":"2023-04-01T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2023-04-01T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/?p=767"},"modified":"2023-04-02T06:48:24","modified_gmt":"2023-04-02T06:48:24","slug":"the-women-of-the-minuteman-past-and-present","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/?p=767","title":{"rendered":"The women of the Minuteman: past and present"},"content":{"rendered":"
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WHITEMAN AIR FORCE BASE, Mo. (AFNS) — \u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

From Waco CG-4A<\/strong><\/a> gliders during World War II to the arrival of the U.S.\u2019s first stealth bomber, the B-2 Spirit<\/strong><\/a>, Whiteman Air Force Base<\/strong><\/a> has played host to a plethora of historic moments in military aviation.<\/p>\n

One milestone at Whiteman AFB was the first all-female Minuteman missileer crew.<\/p>\n

Retired Col. Linda Aldrich was one of the first women to break through the glass ceiling, or in this case glass floor, and serve on an all-female Minuteman II<\/strong><\/a> missile crew underground in the mid-1980s.
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As a missileer, she was responsible for managing and running the nation’s ballistic missile operations while developing plans for the weapon systems future.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe world was much different when I joined,\u201d Aldrich said. \u201cWhen the idea of a mixed gender or even all-female crew in the Minuteman came about, there was still a lot of bias that pushed back against us.\u201d<\/p>\n

Aldrich and the other female missileers were previously part of crews from other weapon platforms, like the Titan II<\/strong><\/a>, before coming to the Minuteman.\u00a0She said they experienced discrimination from the moment they arrived at Whiteman AFB.<\/p>\n

\u201cI would occasionally find notes stuck on my windshield when I would come off alert that were very unkind,\u201d Aldrich said. \u201cThey would say, \u2018We don’t want you here,\u2019 and other similar opinions, followed by name calling.\u201d<\/p>\n

She said most of the derision came not from her male counterparts but from their spouses, who didn\u2019t like the idea of women being underground in tight spaces with their husbands.<\/p>\n

The community sentiment was only one obstacle for Aldrich and her peers. All-female crews were at a disadvantage because both female crewmembers were new to the Minuteman weapon system. Aldrich said, the male missileers had previous experience with the system but women couldn\u2019t work in the silos with men, so they couldn\u2019t train together.<\/p>\n

Although the road was bumpy for Aldrich and other female trailblazers, she doesn\u2019t regret the journey.<\/p>\n

\u201cI may not have recognized it at the time\u00a0but I was extremely blessed to have been given that opportunity,\u201d she said, \u201cI say in jest, \u2018We were guinea pigs,\u2019 but it was a phenomenal opportunity that opened doors for me for the rest of my career.\u201d<\/p>\n

The path that the first female missileers blazed helped lead the way for the current generation of Strikers.
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\u201cI’m so proud of the direction that we’ve gone in,\u201d said Capt. Katelyn Woodley, 90th Operations Support Squadron, Operations Group liaison at F.E. Warren Air Force Base<\/strong><\/a>. \u201cWe\u2019ve gotten to the point where we push each other forward, so you can be the most professional Airman and the best missileer you can, regardless of gender.\u201d<\/p>\n

While mandated single-gender crews have become a thing of the past, the mission for missileers is the same, Woodley said. The focus is making sure the weapon system is being taken care of and that weapons in the field are safe, secure\u00a0and lethal.<\/p>\n

The addition of women to the career field has been a force multiplier, which has enhanced the missileer mission. That wouldn\u2019t have been possible with the work of Aldrich and other female pioneers.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe opened the door and created an opportunity that didn’t exist before,\u201d Aldrich said. \u201cWhat makes me proud is that the door didn’t close after us. A lot of people were able to serve in a career field that they wouldn’t have been able to before.\u201d<\/p>\n

With new opportunities presented to female Airmen, new solutions to accomplishing the mission followed.<\/p>\n

\u201cDiversity<\/strong><\/a> provides different communication styles, different perspectives, and different leadership styles that are needed to take care of our nation and our nuclear force,\u201d Woodley said. \u201cI’m proud to serve within our career field. We know the gravity of our mission, and we\u2019re here to champion that.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

WHITEMAN AIR FORCE BASE, Mo. (AFNS) — \u00a0 From Waco CG-4A gliders during World War II to the arrival of the U.S.\u2019s first stealth bomber, the B-2 Spirit, Whiteman Air Force Base has played host to a plethora of historic moments in military aviation. One milestone at Whiteman AFB was the first all-female Minuteman missileer […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":769,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-767","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/767","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=767"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/767\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":770,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/767\/revisions\/770"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/769"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=767"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=767"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=767"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}