1-293rd adjusts to women in combat
By Kara Lopp
Special to The Journal Gazette
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By the numbers
3,400
soldiers from Indiana set to deploy by March
170
Indiana women set to deploy
12%
women in the National Guard nationwide before Sept. 11, 2001
18%
women in the U.S. Guard today
Contact us
Do you know someone who is deployed? If so, The Journal Gazette would like to know about you. Send your contact information to Assistant Metro Editor Joyce McCartney via e-mail at
jmccartney@jg.net ; fax 260-461-8893; or U.S. mail to The Journal Gazette, 600 W. Main St., Fort Wayne, IN 46802.
FORT STEWART, Ga. - Pfc. Cache Taylor stands 5 feet tall and weighs 105 pounds.
The machine gun she'll operate in Iraq is about 4 feet long and weighs 27 pounds.
When the 19-year-old from Chicago deploys next week, she'll be one of 39 women joining Fort Wayne's 1st Battalion, 293rd Infantry who find themselves trained for combat roles usually reserved for men.
The move is part of an effort by the Army to expand women's roles and recognize their value in combat, officials said. But being assigned to the 293rd Infantry, which can't enlist women because of Army regulations, has been a challenging transition for soldiers of both sexes.
Women did not deploy with the 1-293rd in 2003 when the unit was sent to Kuwait before Operation Iraqi Freedom began.
In March, about 3,400 soldiers from across the state will deploy, the largest deployment of Indiana National Guard soldiers since World War II, state officials said. The deployment also marks the first time a full Guard combat brigade will be sent to Iraq for a second tour.
About 170 of those soldiers are women.
The 1-293rd will be stationed north of Baghdad and will be mainly responsible for escorting convoys during their estimated one-year mission.
From supply to sharpshooter
The weapons the female soldiers - most of them from a coed transportation unit in Gary - will use are new to them.
Coming from jobs such as vehicle maintenance work, serving as nurses or medics and handling Army supplies, the women have an advantage over male soldiers because they don't have any preconceived notions from prior combat experience, 1st Sgt. Thomas Pesenecker said.
?These are brand-new skills for them ? they don't have any bad habits,? the 40-year-old Fort Wayne resident said.
Taylor, with the Guard for two years, was shocked when she was told she'd be in charge of the machine gun on a truck crew, especially when the two other soldiers with her will be men.
?I was thinking ?OK, gunner? Look at how small I am,' ? Taylor said.
On her own, Taylor practiced loading and firing her 240 Bravo machine gun. When it was her turn during training to shoot targets - some of them moving - from a moving vehicle, she was the only woman around.
It was awkward, and the training instructors laughed when they saw she was the one with the machine gun, she said.
?They were looking at me, like, ?What?' and were cracking jokes,? Taylor said. ?Then I guess they realized this is my job. They were wondering if I could handle it.?
So far, she's proved to herself, and her commanders, she can. Taylor is a business student at Purdue University and has custody of her 11-month-old goddaughter, Jordan.
She was nervous putting her finger on the trigger for the first time. But she thought of her goddaughter and things got better.
?I started thinking, ?I've got to make it home.' I just shot, and it was better than I expected,? she said. ?When I expect the worst, and it doesn't happen, it makes my day.?
Although women aren't allowed to join Army infantry units because of regulations, they can be tasked to deploy with one if needed, which is how the 293rd has women in its ranks now, said Capt. Lisa Kopczynski, Indiana National Guard spokeswoman.
This is the first time women who are part of Indiana National Guard's 76th Brigade have been asked to perform roles typically reserved for men, she said.
Despite Army regulations barring the enlistment of women in infantry units, the move to send them into combat this time comes, in part, because of a need for people to fill open positions.
?It truly makes this mission for us unique for the females,? Kopczynski said. ?The military says they will allow soldiers from any specialty to be placed in a position that fits the mission and it fits the Army.?
The increased use of women in convoys also comes because of cultural reasons. In Iraqi culture, men are not permitted to search women, Kopczynski said.
Army Guard recruiters already emphasize to potential female recruits the new roles they can have, said Maj. Wesley Russell, executive officer with the 1-293rd. For the past three years, Russell has served as the officer in charge of recruiting for the 76th Brigade.
?When we do talk to the females, it's not just ?come be a nurse, come be a clerk,' ? Russell said. ?It's, ?what do you want to do?' It's ?what challenge do you want?' There is no front line in Iraq, so there isn't such a thing that women aren't on the front lines anymore.?
Before Sept. 11, 2001, about 12 percent of the nation's National Guard was women. Now, about 18 percent of all U.S. Guard soldiers are women, Russell said.
?There's still that stereotype where women shouldn't be in the military. Well that's not true,? he said. ?The way the military is coming along now is they're realizing there is a place for females.?
?Not used to females'
When the four female soldiers now assigned to the 1-293rd Delta Company arrived for the start of training with the unit in September, not one male soldier talked to them, they said.
That's since changed. But the transition to having women in a historically all-male unit has been slow, soldiers of both sexes say.
The male soldiers watch what they say, apologizing profusely for cursing or telling off-color jokes. The men have probably heard stories of sexual harassment charges and are trying to be careful, said female Sgt. Stacy Glory, 38, of Chrisney.
?They always say things like ?I'm not used to females,' and it's just funny,? Glory said. ?They apologize 5,000 times a day, and it gets kind of annoying.?
