This week Paula Broadwell, my friend, announced her new book, All In: The Education of General David Petraeus (Penguin Press, 2012) which covers the transformational leadership of General David Petraeus. This book, Paula’s first, has been three years in development with much of that time spent embedded with Petraeus’ and his staff in Afghanistan. In…
This is the 25th installment in the Honored Role Series.” Nancy Reagan once said, “I think a woman gets more if she acts feminine.” That may be true for many of aspects of life and professional endeavors but does this theory hold up in the Army? During the last few months I read several pieces…
This is the 24nd installment in the Honored Role Series.” Reared around the military, Abby Griffin, a native of Cody, Wyoming, moved to Germany at nine year’s old when her mother was assigned as a nurse with the Department of Defense. In elementary school she showed an early interest in following her mom’s footsteps that…
This is the 23nd installment in the Honored Role Series.” Two disciplines thousands of years old; the profession of arms, fighting for and defending your nation, and yoga, an ancient practice whose purpose is enlightenment and union through physical, mental and spiritual movement and discipline. Both require strength and practice. Army Captain Kelly Peyton Howard,…
“Winning isn’t everything. It is the only thing.” Vince Lombardi They are a different team, but had the same goal, the FIFA Women’s World Cup Title. Inspired by, growing up and playing in the shadows of the 1999 U.S. Women’s World Cup Championship team, the 21-member 2011 U.S. squad wanted to create their own championship…
The month of June provided a myriad of exciting championships for athletes and sports fans. The Dallas Mavericks beat the Miami Heat to win the NBA Championship, the Boston Bruins handily defeated the Vancouver Canucks, on Canadian ice in game 7, to bring Lord Stanley’s Cup to Beantown, and Rory McIIroy walked onto the Congressional…
This week I witnessed something I hope my own daughter will see one day—a sea of women in military uniform. More than 1,300 U.S. servicewomen, and a few servicemen, gathered in San Diego, CA this week for the 24th Annual Joint Women’s Leadership Symposium. The two-day event centered on leadership and professional development. Focusing on…
Besides the certainty of taxes and death, we know sex sells. Americans are bombarded with images of women to sell everything from beer to cars. Meanwhile, young women and men searching for role models may have difficulty seeing past the “sex sells” mentality that ties a woman’s worth to her looks. The nearly ubiquitous publicity…
This is the 22nd installment in the Honored Role Series. Fed up with the constant media attention and hyper-promotion of tissue-thin fashion models and beauty queens with little between the ears, Valencia de la Vega entered the Ms. Latina Beauty Pageant in October 2009. This former Army Captain and combat veteran turned Intel engineer decided…
This is the 21st installment in the Honored Role Series. Not one to rest idly, less than six months after retiring from the Army, Colonel Debra Lewis is taking action on another mission. This one, accompanied by Lt. Col. (ret.) Doug Adams, her spouse, is a 16,000-mile yearlong cycling tour of the United States to…