Column: Salute to veterans — Females in the military — sisters in arms

Our Veterans Day section this year has, by design, a female perspective to it.

Women make up about one-fifth of the armed forces, and they are integral to the success of the Army, Navy, Air Force, Marines and Coast Guard.

Over the course of my nine years in the Army National Guard, I served alongside a host of women who performed their jobs with every bit of selfless service, courage and leadership as their brothers in arms.

Not a good start

Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, 2003-2004.

Lt. Col. Pamela Vines and I had something of a rocky start.

The colonel was the commander of the public affairs staff for Joint Task Force Guantanamo, and she was going to continue as commander when our unit arrived in late summer 2003. Back then — and I figure to this day — the folks in charge of the task force were, let's say, suspicious of media folks. And that went double for media folks who didn't praise everything about the mission at GTMO. I fell into that category, as a commentary writer for an Arkansas newspaper.

Unbeknownst to me, in advance of our unit arriving at GTMO, the colonel had the public affairs unit on the ground create profiles of at least some of us incoming folks.

I was one of the people she wanted to know more about.

Turns out, she wondered if I might be a security risk, someone who might tell my media contacts what was or was not going on within the walls of that Caribbean prison.

The morning after we arrived at GTMO, we were to meet our new commander. As it happened, I was sitting a few feet from her and our unit commander for the introduction.

She leaned over to him and whispered, "Which one's Fahr?"

The major grinned and pointed at me.

Over time, I earned the colonel's trust, and we've been friends since.

She was a great leader and represented our task force as well as anyone could. Always calm, encouraging, a true professional. She cared about her people and listened to us. Admirable.

She went on to serve in Washington and has had a great career, military and otherwise.

Another GTMO story ...

That deployment was my first overseas, and as Thanksgiving approached, I was kinda missing home.

Enter the Michigan Army National Guard.

A unit from Detroit was serving as the headquarters staff for the task force, and there were a half-dozen or so women in that unit who were good soldiers and good people. Several of us worked with them regularly and got to be friendly outside of the office.

The week before Thanksgiving, they invited a group over for a full day — big meal, football, movies.

We showed up, and the women — the ladies — were dressed to the nines. Sparkling. And there we goofballs were in T-shirts and shorts.

They put on a spread that rivaled anything we would have had back home — turkey, dressing, pies — but I particularly appreciated the moments before we dug in. They asked that we go around the table and express what we were thankful for. I don't remember what I said, but I hope I noted I was thankful for them making a holiday on that rock as normal as it could be.

Sgt. 1st Class Tammy Treat of C Troop, 1st Squadron, 151st Cavalry Regiment, inspects gear prior to a 2008 convoy escort mission in southern Iraq. Treat served as the troop's tactical operations center supervisor for most of the unit's tour of duty.Rick Fahr ~ Headquarters and Headquarters Troop, 1st Squadron, 151st Cavalary Regiment

Serving where needed

Iraq, 2008.

Back then, the Army's official position was that females didn't serve in combat roles.

I was there. I know otherwise.

A young woman in my unit, Sgt. Crystal Clark, had been attached to an infantry battalion, and her job was as a gunner for convoy escort missions in the western half of the country.

A gun truck gunner is the person between the good folks and the bad folks with the firepower necessary to end whatever disagreement might arise. If the time comes, it's that person's job to eliminate whatever threat there is, and gun truck gunners did that in Iraq. Day in. Day out.

If that sounds like combat, that's because it was.

Another woman in my unit, then-Sgt. 1st Class Tammy Treat, had gotten attached to the same cavalry squadron I had been sent to, and her job was running a troop's tactical operations center at night, supervising convoy escort missions in the southern and central parts of the country.

The timing of her shift is particularly important, because our squadron worked at night. Our missions began when the sun went down and ended not long after it came up the next day. My friend was in charge of her troops when the rubber was literally meeting the road and all hell could break loose at any moment — and sometimes did.

On her watch, no one died. Well, no one wearing our uniform. Well done.

She was a sergeant first class at the time and eventually rose to the rank of sergeant major. She kept getting important assignments because the folks in charge knew she could handle whatever they threw at her. She's retired now, enjoying the mountains of North Carolina.

I worked alongside many women in the military, privates to colonels. They performed their jobs with the same can-do, will-do attitude required of any soldier, male or female, and they have the thanks of a grateful nation.

As we mark Veterans Day this year, I tip my cavalry Stetson to every veteran, my brothers and sisters, and wish them peace.