 and welcome to the Military Women's Memorial for an historic event. Welcome all. So I'm going to start with the formalities as we know we must do to welcome some of our VIPs in the room. So we want to welcome Ambassador Karen Williams and Ambassador Jean Mainz. Welcome here. All of our generals and flag officers that are in this room and ideally watching virtually. And of course, I could spend the next 10 minutes recognizing everyone in the room. So we're just going to leave it at and welcome to all of our distinguished visitors today. We're delighted to welcome you to America's only major National Memorial that honors the three million women that have defended this nation since the Revolutionary War. I'm Phyllis Wilson, an Army Chief Foreign Officer Five retired and the president of the Women and Military Service for America Memorial Foundation, the organization responsible for the operation and maintenance of this lovely building. The memorial is well positioned to be a leading voice and a resource in support of the US strategy on women, peace, and security. Now our approach is to place the perspectives and the experiences of service women at the forefront of the discussions with practitioners, scholars, and leaders from across the public and private sectors, as well as with our partner nations, to better understand the essential role of women in global security and defense efforts and to work towards equality for future generations at home and around the globe. Today's program, Beyond First, Powering the Future Force, will address one of the critical issues facing the Department of Defense today, recruiting and retention of the best and the most competent personnel, our most treasured and critical resource as we shape our force for the future and the critical national defense issues that it will bring. Joining us today are the Department of Defense's four most senior military women. I'm gonna give you a short bio of each of them, Admiral Linda Fagan is the commandant of the US Coast Guard. Admiral Fagan is the 27th commandant of the Coast Guard and she is the first woman in the history of our nation to lead a branch of the military. As commandant, she oversees all global Coast Guard operations and 42,000 active duty, 7,000 reserve, and 8,700 civilian personnel, as well as the support of the 21,000 Coast Guard auxiliary volunteers. Air Force General Jacqueline Van Oost, commander, United States Transportation Command. She is the 14th commander of Transcom, one of the 11 combatant commands. US Transcom's mission is to reject and sustain military power globally in order to assure our friends and our allies, deter potential adversaries, and if necessary, respond to win decisively. Army General Laura Richardson, commander, US Southern Command. She is the 32nd commander of the US Southern Command, another of the 11 Defense Department combatant commands. It's responsible for providing contingency planning, operations, and security cooperation for Central and Southern America, the Caribbean, and for the force protection of US military resources at these locations, and it's also responsible for ensuring the defense of the Panama Canal and the canal areas, and Navy Admiral Lisa Francketti, Vice Chief of Naval Operations. She is the 42nd Vice Chief of Naval Operations, the second highest ranking naval officer, and functions as the principal deputy of the Chief of Naval Operations, who is responsible to the secretary of the Navy for the command, utilization of resources, and operation of the Navy. Among her duties, if the Chief of Naval Operations is absent or unable to perform his or her duties, the vice would assume such, and I am proud to say that here, today, here at the Military Women's Memorial, it is the first time that all four of them have had the opportunity to be together in public. They did have a private dinner last night, so they kinda blew my quote, but in public, I'll say. So this is a great day, not only for all of you to hear from these extraordinary military leaders, but it's a great day as well for military women and a great way for the Military Women's Memorial to kick off Women's History Month. But that's not all. We have the distinct privilege to have join us today, one of America's leading television journalists and anchor of the CBS Evening News, Nora O'Donnell. Nora has covered presidential elections and interviewed some of the most influential world leaders. She's a frequent contributing journalist to 60 Minutes, the recipient of multiple Emmy Awards, and the list goes on and on. And today, she will be moderating the discussion of some of the military's most influential leaders, the four women, four stars joining us today. So without further delay, I welcome our distinguished panel and the moderator to the stage here at the Vaught Center of the Military Women's Memorial. And thank you all for joining us in person and virtual guests from across the country, including organizations like Air Force Women's Initiatives Team, University ROTC Programs, Service Academies, and Veterans Affairs Groups. We would love for you to share and engage with us on social media today and use the hashtag beyond first. Nora, please join us all. And Nora, we'll take over from here. Well, good afternoon and welcome, everybody. How thrilling it is to be here. Phyllis, thank you so much for your incredible leadership and your introductory remarks. We appreciate it. Isn't this a fantastic spot? I am thrilled to be here amongst so many of you as we mark 75 years of women in the United States military. Congratulations and thank you very much. It's important to recognize how far we've come and how far we still need to go. When all of our panelists signed up to serve their country, there were barriers in their way. Certain aircrafts, they couldn't fly certain ships that they couldn't beyond certain jobs that they were not allowed to have. That has changed, but there are still obstacles facing women in the military, obstacles that I know everyone wants to work together to try and eliminate. So the theme of today is beyond firsts. I've been thinking a lot about what that means. It means that it's no longer a novelty when a woman breaks a glass ceiling. But I must say, I think it's kind of awesome to be with these women who have done it. I know they don't want to continue to be the first, but it's great to be able to. This is history. You all are here. This is history, really, to be able to hear from all of them. So without further ado, let's hear from them. And also, I want to remind you, too, you will have an opportunity to ask them questions. So be thinking about what you would like to ask each of our distinguished guests here. So first, the Coast Guard Commandant, Admiral Linda Fagin. Thank you. Thank you, Nora, and for everyone that's helped put this event together. I can't think of a better location to be as we kick off Women's History Month. And I'm really excited to be here. I'm about to do one of the things that I like least, which is talk a little bit about myself. This generally is probably a trait we all share. But I just want to reflect a little bit on, one, how historic this is. It has truly been a journey for the nation, a journey for each of our services, and a journey for each of us individually. I reflected at my change command this past June that had the then Commandant, Owen Seiler, not taken the decision to bring women into the service academy, into the Coast Guard Academy. And so that first class graduates in 1980. I arrived as a young 18-year-old in the summer of 1981. I would not be here today had that decision not been made at that point in time. So it truly has been a journey. I also am a proud mom up here right now. My favorite Lieutenant, Lieutenant Fagin, is in. So she's here today, but one of the things she joined the Coast Guard that could not have been more different than the Coast Guard that I joined. And this just speaks to the journey. It's so many people that have made the opportunity for us here today. One of my primary focus areas as Commandant is around talent management and workforce management, making it easier for not just women, but all who want to serve in the Coast Guard, in the military, to find their way into the service and then to stay and be able to take advantage of all of the opportunity that is afforded. And we have many veterans in the audience and many people still in uniform. It's an incredibly exciting time to serve the nation and wear the cloth of our country. And so I just consider myself very fortunate to have been able to take advantage of the law changes and things, doors that were opened at the right point in time for me. And now I consider privilege, really, it's what excites me every day, is to create that opportunity for those that are coming up behind me. But thank you, thanks, Norm. Thank you, Admiral Fagin. And I did go up to Kate May recently and visit that facility there. And they're doing incredible work, all the invested members there, of course, training hard, training very hard. Yes. Next, please welcome the commander of the US Transportation Command, Air Force General Jacqueline Van Oost. So I want to say thanks to you, Nora, and thanks to Phyllis. What a tremendous opportunity it is to share the stage with these incredible leaders who represent the past, present, and future of our services. And again, right here in this amazing memorial. In the 75 years since we've had the opportunity to serve, we certainly have come a long way. Our progress has been accelerating. But we have a ways to go still. And we're working on that. You know, only 30 years ago, women were allowed to fly fighter aircraft, combat aircraft. And only 10 years ago were the restrictions on ground combat taken off of women. And now we serve in a military where if you are talented and qualified, you can go do that job. And that's amazing. Joe opens up real, real doors. So all of us here and you in the audience have inherited this legacy, this expanding legacy of those tenacious people who have turned back the tide of cultural lethargy and decided to serve their nation in many different ways. I said, well, they can send those before us, really, a tremendous influence on the opportunities that we have. And I think about beside us here on stage, we all had great supporters. Men and women provided opportunities for us and supported and encouraged us along the way. And now those behind us, you, your daughters, your mentors. I think about the opportunities that you have. It's awesome to see everyone here. It reinvigorates our commitment to continue to get after any remaining vestiges of concerns and barriers that there might be out there to someone fulfilling their purpose in life here in our service. And that's what really motivates us every day. Because let me be clear, all of these efforts to ensure true inclusion in the military is first and foremost about building a lethal, agile, and ready joint force. That is the first and foremost thing on our mind every day as we get to work. Are we ready? Are we ready today? And are we ready tomorrow? So historically, militaries reflected the societies that supported them. And we are at the 50th year of our all-volunteer force and our force should continue to evolve to incorporate all of the talents and demographics of America, right? And this is especially true as we enter this area of global strategic competition. We need diversity of thought, diversity of experience and capabilities, all pulled together because we're getting after some really wicked, hard problems in strategic competition. We need everyone at the table supporting us. And we are examples. Leadership matters, inclusion matters, and you see us now all generating results at the strategic, operational, and tactical level. So that's why we have to continue to recruit and retain talented women and men in our service capable of thinking creatively, differently, innovating with the technology that we have so that we can create new concepts and capabilities so that we can remain, first and foremost, the most lethal fighting force in the world. For this reason, I encourage you to interact with folks here. These are decades of firsts, say right here in this audience, network here, those online, and learn from each other. What a tremendous opportunity it is for us to learn from each other. Together we're gonna continue to push societal boundaries towards an area where beyond firsts, there are no more firsts or onlys, just professional military, ready to get after the needs of the nation with highly talented, diverse, and capable people before us, beside us, and behind us. So I'm pretty excited to be here. Thank you so much. And we wanna welcome everyone that's joining us online as well watching and you too can submit questions. Now please welcome the commander of the United States Southern Command, Army General, Laura Richardson. Well, thank you so much, Nora. Thank you for the time that you've invested today. We really appreciate it. Thank you, Phyllis. Thank you, Jan. Jan was a two star general when I was a Lieutenant Colonel right out of battalion command and had my first assignment to the Pentagon on the Army staff. And I watched a great role model in all the meetings and just really tremendous. I wanna thank you for your service, Phyllis. Thank you as well, leading the charge here. It's an honor to be here. And certainly as my colleagues have talked about and being on the stage here with all of them, it's about opportunities, right? And so now all of these laws and policies have been changed to allow everybody the opportunity. And we shouldn't be surprised what happens when the opportunities are there. This is what happens. And there's no surprise. And so just the opportunities in the military, the mention of the 50 years of the All Volunteer Force, that's very important to us this year. And we have a little bit of ways to go to connect with our population, our younger population, because our military is so very important. A very well-known fact in terms of the incorporation of women into military and security forces that make our security forces and our security stronger. And so I would say that it's all about the opportunities. There are tons of opportunities. 178 different skill sets. 178 different jobs you can do in the military. Where else can you be a helicopter pilot, work at the White House, work at the United States Capitol, work at the Pentagon, lead America's sons and daughters in combat? Do all of those things? I could have never imagined that I would be able to do that in the military. And talk about a challenge. You are impacting national security and global security every single day in the military. You wake up and you impact it just like that. You wanna have meaning to what you're doing in the military? This group does. Everybody here. And we gotta get out and talk about our United States military. The strongest fighting force in the world. But we gotta keep it that way. We gotta keep it that way. Everything is open now. All the opportunities are there. Again, we see what that does and what that affords everybody. And so just very honored to be here. And I look forward to everybody's question. Thank you. And please welcome the Vice Chief of Naval Operations, Navy Admiral Lisa Franchetti. Farah again for spending so much time with us. Phyllis, thank you Jan for organizing the event today. It's really wonderful to be here sitting up with these very inspiring leaders that I've had an opportunity to work with or watch from below for many years. You know, sitting here in the Women's Memorial, this is a pretty good reminder of why I look forward to March every year to celebrate Women's History Month. It's really a time to pause and reflect on those pioneers and leaders that went before us who were able to work hard, break down barriers and put in place the changes in law and policy and culture really that enabled all of us to be here today. I think it's the honor of a lifetime to be a witness to this history. And I think all of us have been part of the history and had an opportunity to pay it forward a little bit. I know when I came in the Navy in 1985, a lot of the doors for women were closed. I could not even have imagined being the commanding officer of a warship, a carrier strike group, a fleet or the vice-cheek of naval operations. But pretty soon after I got in the Navy, it started to change. We had the opportunity in 1993 when the combat exclusion law was repealed for women to serve on combatants at sea or fly combatant aircraft. And so I knew that the doors were starting to open. And once that happened, all of the firsts, they started to fall. We had our first woman CO of a combatant ship, our first woman CO of a fighter squadron. And then it went on and on and on. We have Admiral retired Deb Lower here today, who was our first warfare qualified female flag officer. Big shout out to one of my lifetime mentors. And then we had, and then we had rear Admiral Nora Tyson then that became Vice Admiral Tyson, who was our first carrier strike crew commander and numbered fleet commander. And then Admiral Michelle Howard, who was our first female four star. She was also our first vice chief and our first naval forces Europe and Africa, really leading the way. And now 10 years after the repeal of all combat exclusions, I can see that the doors are not just open, but they're completely gone. And I think the question for women today is no longer what can I do? It's what do I want to do? Because you can do anything in today's military. So when you think about the theme of today, which is beyond first, I am really happy to see us nearing an end of all the first. And most recently in my service, we have our first woman executive officer and a chief of the boat of a submarine, our first woman aircraft carrier CO, our first woman special warfare combatant crewman. And soon, right now this season our first woman blue angel. So very excited to see her out there this year. And again, thanks to the example of these pioneers that we're seeing today and Nora, Deb and Michelle before them, all 83,000 female sailors can make a difference every day in every single one of our communities. I think that they are our shipmates. There are their daughters, their spouses, their sisters. They bring from across America all the critical thinking skills that we need to be able to be the world's most formidable fighting force, ready to deter, fight and win whenever the nation needs us to do so. So again, I know there's a lot of folks in the audience that's online today. I would just like to offer one simple message, which is if you can see it, you can be it. And you can see it right here. So in today's military, I think it's a little bit of choose your own adventure. You can be your best, you can do your best. You can be part of an amazing team and make a difference every day. So I'm really excited to be up here and hear your questions today. Thank you so much. Well, thank you. In America's rich history, there have been hundreds of four stars and admirals, but there have only been 10 women. Today there are four. This is the first time they have ever been together in a public setting and you are here with them. This incredible moment. So thanks to all of you, just underscoring really how incredible this is and thank you for gathering us. Let me start with you, General Van O'Vost. What does it mean to be amongst so many of these incredible leaders? I know for the first time you guys had got together over dinner last night and then speaking in an interview with me that'll air on the CBS Evening News in part of a longer format that we have on CBS called Person to Person. What have you learned from them too, even after your incredible leadership on your own? And this is so amazing. The opportunity is now abound. It's, you think about when we first came in 35 years ago, 10 now, you know, Emil Fagan said it, this is not the Coast Guard I entered, this is not the Air Force, this is not the service that we entered. We helped create a service that's more inviting and to ensure that we are more ready and more capable. And so to hear their stories and you know, it's not all that different. We were talking about how we sort of had the same challenges early on and it got better and more doors open. We just blew open the doors, I like that. And then we found out we just blew them open so that folks come in behind us. So, but today's really not about us. It's really about just thinking about all the challenges that our predecessors had and how they, you know, paved that path, made it smoother, made it wider, provided us more options and then just kind of collecting and thinking about all the options that you can, all of the career fields. Everything is open to you and the fact that we have improved the quality of life and quality of service that is going to inspire for generations to come. And so it's just been very exciting to be a part of it all. General Richardson and I, we're talking about this earlier. For each of these women to reach this point, they have all been serving more than, of course, three decades. Maintaining and keeping the best and the brightest in our military is incredibly important. So, General Richardson, what would you say to a young woman looking at the U.S. Army or thinking about maybe has been in the U.S. Army and maybe like, well, I might wanna leave. What would you say? Well, I would just say, back to what I said earlier in terms of the impact that you get to have on national security. To our United States, but then also globally, all the positions that are available and open, the things that you get to do. I had no idea that I would get to do all those things that I've been able to do. And so certainly the, everything is there just for you to choose. I mean, you have a choice now of what you want to do. And so I think it's just a matter of being able to connect the dots for our younger generation. It's coaches, teachers, parents, everybody in the community helping to connect these big ideas and these dreams for our young people to the military. And folks that are in the military, we've gotta talk to them, right? Open communication. We can't do it on social media and things like that. We have got to do this investment of time with our younger generation to educate them on the opportunities that are there. Help them decide, okay, if you don't want to do or you don't like what you're doing, what do you want to do? You know, here's some options. And then connect those options if they're already in the service to those. But quite honestly, I mean, when I was a kid coming up in high school, okay, I want to be a pilot, I want to be a doctor, but how do I get there? It costs a lot of money to get there, both those routes. So how do I do that? Army ROTC and any one of our ROTCs opens that door. Oh my gosh, it's just amazing. If you're in college, you're not really sure about the military, whether it's an appointment to an academy, it's ROTC or enlistment. There are options and there are plenty of options. So we've got to connect with our younger generation. We got to tell them about the military because they don't know. 72% of our young generation does not know what resides in the military today. Those are the statistics and those are daunting and that's not good. Now, once they get in, our retention rate is over 100%. Once they get in, they're like, wow, look at all this. We can retain. It's just like we've got to recruit, we've got to retain, we've got to train and we've got to advance. So I think we have great opportunities. Thank you for the question. Admiral Fayin, as the nation's first female service chief, I know you faced many barriers in your career. What advice would you offer to those who may feel underrepresented, who are facing challenges? So I shared earlier, I was not welcomed on my first ship. So I was on the Icebreaker Polar Star, which is on her way back from her 26 feet freeze. This ship has not gotten younger, that's a different story. Neither have I for that matter. But I reported it in the XO, calls me into a state room and said, hey, we weren't sure we were gonna let your orders go through. We considered having your orders canceled. I was the only woman as part of the crew. In fact, for the two years that I was assigned, I was the only female on that ship. And at the time, I thought, oh, all right, well good. Good, they didn't do that. But then with more time and reflection, I'm like, why? Why did they think that that needed to be necessary? And of course, fast forward to today, where that ship has got a fully integrated crew, both officers, and it just creates opportunity for all. When it was announced, it was just about last year at this time that it was announced that I was being nominated to be the commandant. In fact, it was at Sierra Space. And the big announcement, and I'm leaving the venue, and this woman chases me down. And she's like, you have no idea who I am. I'm like, all right, I have no idea. We've all had this. As far as like, all right, what's coming next? And she works in the White House, budget in the White House. And she says, my daughter is 10. And she can be anything because of you. And of course, my inside voice is like, your daughter can be anything, not just because of me, but because of all of the change that we're talking about here and in all of the opportunity. And so what I would offer by way of advice, first, I never thought I would be a first. I don't particularly like talk about being a first. And this opportunity, and I see Vice Admiral Sally Brice-O'Hara here in the front row of former Vice Commandant, part three star, right? Those are the trailblazers and the trendsetters that created the opportunity that I've been able to benefit from. But the advice that I would leave for any of us, and I was speaking with our young cadets just a couple of days ago, and that is find your passion and then pursue it in persistence matters. And it's not gonna be easy work, but it is worth the endeavor and the commitment. And it takes time. You don't, I joke, like I didn't wake up one morning last March and the secretary called, hey, I'm planning on sending your name over to the president. There was a 35 plus year process that got each of us here to this point. And there's no shortcut in it. And so find your passion and then commit to the work, show up, work at it, endeavor to make it better for the people that you're leading and better for those that come behind you. And then all of a sudden 35 years go by, and here we are. Smell it. So thanks. Well, Admiral Francketti, we were talking about this. Legally, there are no barriers that should prevent women and others from pursuing what they want in the US military. But it is very different from when you joined as well as those and many of the people here. Can you talk about some of the challenges that you experienced in the Navy? Well, as I said earlier, there was a lot of things I couldn't do when I came in the Navy and that was very frustrating to me. I was a ROTC student. I felt like I should be able to do anything I wanted to do and then ran right into the barrier of not being able to go to sea right away. So my first challenge was actually going to fill it. One of the 17 a year that we had back then for women to go to sea. So when I finally got one of those, I got to my first ship and my chief engineer, who was my boss at the time, similar to Admiral Fagan, said, I don't think women should be on ships. I don't think you should be here and I think I'm going to make sure you fail. And for me, that was a pretty eye opening that someone would say that to me. But what I found through that adversity was that my team found out about it, my chief petty officers and all my colleagues in engineering and they basically set out to make sure that that didn't happen and that he was wrong. So I think that I was able to just sort of let it roll like water off a duck's back and just get to work. I knew that if I did my best, I worked hard. I couldn't control what he was going to do or say but I could make sure that we did our best. And so as a team, we rallied around my division, my efforts and we basically made it look like he was a failure for not wanting us to be there. So again, I'm really happy to say that that is the only time that I've run into that. That was back in 1987. So I'm pleased to say that I really haven't run into those challenges throughout the rest of my, now 37 years in the service. But that was a lesson right up front that you need to be able to just put your head down, don't really worry about what other people think and just do your best. And that will take you where you need to go. General Vanovoz, do you have a similar experience as an aviator? Yeah, so right after the women were began to allow to fly fighters, I was in test file school and flying the F-15. And indeed one of the senior instructors pretty much said that you shouldn't be here. There's no reason for you to be here. And so the thought was, hey, you could just get out of the school. Of course that was not my plan. And I was a little shocked. I was a little shocked by the incident and it took me about a day. But I tell you what, I really leaned on my peers. I was a captain, I leaned on the other captains, the male, my classmates. And it just encouraged me and said, you have every right to be here. You're a great pilot, you can wax people. And we're gonna help you, right? I didn't know basic fighter maneuvers because I'd flown a heavy airplane before I got there. And so I'm thrust into an airplane and all these maneuvers that everyone else already knew. So they worked with me on the side and I studied hard, put my head down, went out practice every time I can so the next time I flew with or against this person I was ready to wax him, right? Just to be your best, right? That's growth, that's change, that's internalization, that's being persistent and determined, having a goal. Not being afraid to ask other people about, hey, how did you do this? Have a mentor because people have been there. They may not have done exactly what you did but there are people that understand and have walked that path before. Find those people and have them help you and they absolutely will be excited to do so. General Richardson as Southcom commander, I know that you have traveled extensively to the Caribbean, Latin America. How would you describe the extent to which countries in that region embrace the integration of women and their military ranks? What have you learned? I would say overall, pretty good. Some are better than others as you can imagine. And so it's very, I could give great examples and then some examples where they need to do more work but I will say that in this region we've got two women presidents, we have two women vice presidents, we have two women ministers of defense, we've got the only woman chief of defense in the world right now from Jamaica and we have a command sergeant major female in charge of the Colombian military, only command sergeant major female in the world right now as well. So I mean, we have some great shining examples. Like to say I've got two U.S. ambassadors in the front row, Karen Williams and also Gene Maines. Gene is my deputy at Southcom, but in the region we have a third of our U.S. ambassadors out of the 31 countries, a third of them are women. So we have great examples. Now in the Southcom commander's a woman. They're all kinds of examples. So it's a power of example. But quite honestly when you go into a room and you go talk to a leader, whether it's a head of state, a minister of defense, a foreign affairs minister, the chief of defense, I think that there's a general respect, but you have to also, that's not enough. Where do you there to talk to them about? And what are you there to do for them? How are you going to communicate with them? How are you gonna understand their challenges that they have? And seeing things through their eyes, how they see their challenges, because until you see it through their eyes, do you understand? I think we're able to, by the power of example, we always do women, peace and security events in every country I go to. So I have my women, peace and security lead, major Aries Hoff, so stand up Aries real quick. Wave to everybody. She does a great job. We will put conferences together, regional with several different countries. We will have, if we just do something within the country, we have their military and security forces that are represented there. And then we bring the chiefs of defense, the service chiefs there, and then they get to hear the barriers that these women have. The nice thing is, is it's not just women at the table and their leaders, it's also men from their services too. And it's quite honestly, to see the younger generation empower women and want women to succeed is pretty incredible as well. Sometimes it's the older generation that you have to get through. So we'll just keep after it. I would say that it's a great example of integration of women into the military and security forces, but there's more work to be done. There's no doubt the leadership roles that you represent, and certainly many of the young women here today around the world, it's once again a reminder to the rest of the world what makes this country the best country in the world. It really is. It's in the mind to wear that uniform so proudly because people would love to be able to have the opportunities that we have. General Ovoson, I know you were just in the Middle East. Tell us what you're seeing there. Yeah, so Middle East is slightly different than South America. But so there are a few decades behind us, but there is great hope. I was in Saudi Arabia, I was in Riyadh. And the new Vision 2030 for that nation, there are women now driving. There are women going to school. There are women entrepreneurs. They can decide to work without having their guardians sign them up and get permission from your guardian. So they're moving. And the shops are now open all the time. It used to be just closed for your times of prayer. And so all of a sudden, in fact, some of the older ladies would say, it's almost moving too fast for us. Now all of a sudden, women are driving and they're working. And you see them in the shops. And it's weird to see a woman alone in a shop working. But it goes back to what is the talent and how are they using those talents? And I think the leadership there is really recognizing that they've got to get beyond just oil. They've got to get to the digital economy and using all the women. I was in Kuwait doing a women's empowerment event. And I was told there by one of the lead ladies who put together these entrepreneurs that came and talked to us, that 90% of the STEM graduates in Kuwait are women. So you can imagine if you're not using that 90%, right? And so chemical engineers, digital, so they're getting after it. And they're, and people are now seeking their advice and using them and leveraging them in ways that they just have not before. And so I have great hope, I'm not just about their economies, but about the decisions in their societies because the women are now allowed to work and do those things. I think I've seen, doesn't the Emirates, the United Arab Emirates has some female pilots as well. They have, they had their first fighter pilot as well. So it's really very exciting. And going and seeing the women in Qatar that are pilots and loadmasters and in the back of the airplane, dropping things out and seeing their capabilities. They're excited and the men are excited as well. Admiral Francketti, what has been the biggest influence in your career? How have mentors helped you describe how that has worked and led you the position you are today? Well, I would say that my first mentor, of course, was my dad. He wasn't in the military, but he was a plant manager. And the one thing he taught me about was about people. And he was one of the original management by wandering around type of leaders where he would go out and meet people. He knew all their stories, but he really could get a sense of what was going on in the business and what he needed to do to make sure that each one of those people could contribute their best. And I took that approach and that philosophy really with me into the Navy. But I would say that I have had, and been a beneficiary of an incredible number of mentors. I always used to say that I was a big lump of Francketti clay and they all came along and did a little bit of molding on it to get me where I am today. But between Emma Lower, who's here, was really built a great network of the very first pioneering surface warfare women to people like Admiral Tyson, our strike group commander, Admiral Howard, who I mentioned earlier, but also male mentors. John Peterson was a guy at my ROTSI unit who I still keep in touch with today and he was always a great supporter and another captain, Gary Bear, who was the one who helped me figure out a way to get to sea when there were only 17 opportunities back in 1985. So I feel like for everyone, there are those key mentors that will be the ones that tell you how to get there, what experiences you need to have, but also the ones that look at you and say, hey, you're not doing this well and you need to improve in these a couple areas if you really want to move on. And so I've been the beneficiary of many great people like that and I'm thankful for that. We're just about ready to take questions from the audience and from online. So be ready, I'm gonna call on you shortly. General Richardson, I do wanna ask you as a soldier who has served in jobs previously unavailable to women, what lessons would you share for women who wanna follow in your footsteps? I would say just the availability of being able to do that. I've always put my head down and just worked really hard at what I've done. I've never been handed anything. I've never been lucky. It's just a matter of putting your head down, working as hard as you can and consistent performance. And that is what has enabled me, I've tried not to, what's next? The only reason I look at what's next is because I was in a dual military family and we had to make sure we had childcare for our daughter, Lauren. And that's what next was about. It wasn't like, how am I gonna get promoted and what's gonna get me there was a matter of keeping me and my husband together everywhere we went. He was a couple years ahead of me. And where's the best childcare that fits in with our family and our values and everything? And it was great because the Army offered that. The family caught childcare services. Otherwise, I wouldn't be in the Army today, quite honestly. And it's because of those programs that existed when I was back as a lieutenant that have existed throughout. You can be a dual military family. You can have kids. You can both be successful. It just takes a little bit of planning and figuring out what's next and going places where you both can go. But the opportunities are there. So lessons learned would be just look for, you can make it happen, I guess is really what it is. You can do it. It helps now to have technology that you can share with your spouse where you're gonna be and they can just share back with you so you can get your calendar set. But wait a minute, I have this at this time, right? All right, last question I do wanna ask, Admiral Fagan this. How do you, sometimes as the only woman in the room, use your voice to bring up a difficult subject without offending people or getting you in a position where maybe you think people won't like you or whatever it may be. I'm saying how do you approach difficult subject matter? Use your voice but not maybe offend some of the people in the room. So first, an observation, because this has happened not in the last 18 months but in the last two years in a room of very senior people, very senior, mostly white male senior people. And they're going around the table asking for perspective on a topic and it'll come to me and I will say something and there's just sort of a nod and they go around and then two people later, same thing gets said and they go, oh, that's a great idea. And it's like, I just said that, right? So I share that only because that dynamic is still alive and well even with all the seniority. There were senior women in the Obama White House that said that that happened to them. So this is even in many different settings. So where I'm gonna go with this is right, particularly for the women in the room, you are at the table for a reason. Use your voice. Don't presume that the others sitting at the table have your perspective. And it may be an uncomfortable topic but you need to use your voice. You're not there by accident, it's not random, it's not luck, you have earned your way into the room at the table and know your subject matter but use your voice. At this point for me now leading a service, it is interesting too, all of a sudden I've become very smart, very funny. Some of the people here in the room would make, right? It's like, wow, how did that happen? Because I'm still the same person that I was in some regards. But it is important to bring up the difficult topics. Usually the approach that I take and for us particularly as a service, we don't do particularly well if the topic generates a lot of emotion. We start to lose kind of rational things. And so I'm the one that's constantly saying lose the emotion, we need to be just matter of fact, raise the issue and then with deliberation and intent. And yes, it may be an uncomfortable topic but we have an obligation as senior leaders to make it better for those coming behind us. And if we don't have these difficult conversations, it won't be better in the future for the folks that are coming behind us. Thank you. Well said, yeah. All right, do we have some questions from the audience? We'll start in the front here. I don't know how. I asked for some of what you talked about earlier, I'm looking at it today. Well my question, 35 plus years for any of you was there a point in your career where you had decided it was time to hang up your boots and move on and if so why and why just stay? Good question for a recruiter and retainer. Yeah. So I never got to the point where I was like, time to go because I would have gone, right? I'm still here. But I frequently, I would ask myself the question, I would run through the capitals and usually it was around assignment time. And so the question I always ask myself was is what they're offering something that I can be excited about? I think this is my life energy that I'm putting into it. Is it something that creates opportunity for growth, professional growth and opportunity? And then is it just again something that I feel like I can add value to? And I've had the great fortune 35 plus years in, I've been able to answer yes to all three of those questions at every point where I pondered whether I should say or not. So I have recently been counseled that apparently I don't have any more upward mobility but seems to have gone all right. So. So I was definitely gonna get out. I had, I was a Roxy. I had a four year commitment and I had gone through this opportunity to go to a ship. I tried it out. I wanted to see if I really liked it. So I went to another ship and then I was on my shore duty and I thought, I don't really like this. I was going to massage therapy school. I was living in Southern Oregon. I was definitely on my way out of the Navy. And my dad said he might wanna think about that a little bit more. So I got a what colors your parachute book and I forced myself to sit down at lunch every day and do the work to figure out what did I really wanna do? And in the end what it came down to is the Navy had everything I wanted. I got to travel. I got a new job every two years. That's something I wanted. You don't like your boss, they'll be gone or you'll be gone. And I really liked our mission, right? Support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies for the domestic. I liked being able to be that beacon of democracy and hope and really bring our nation forward and defend far forward but also to work with the most amazing people from across America and build great teams. So in the end, when you're looking for what keeps people in, you know, when they're 27, 28 years old, that's what kept me in submission. The test pilot and the flight gliders. I got to do all that in space and it came time and they wanted to send me to the Pentagon. And at the time, I thought it was a death wish. I mean, I thought, oh no, I'm not doing that. And so I think I should get out. And my squatter commander and a couple of other peers, you know, what do you really want to do? So I'm done. This is what I set my goals to do and I'm done. And so now I think it would be a test pilot for some company and just live out my life, you know, with my hair on fire. And they started taking out the qualities they needed in the leader. And they're like, you're really good at this, you're really good at that, and you thought about this, and you thought about that. And I hadn't really, because I didn't see myself as a squatter commander, I didn't see myself as a wing commander, because I had been so focused, you know, on engineering and those goals. But this is new, you really would do very well here. And so we recommend actually you come out of the test field and go into the leadership track and operational. So I was one of those, you know, weird uniforms that jumped out of that career field, took a chance and went back to operations and blossomed from there. And it was because of the people. Yeah, it's a tactical skill, what you're doing in the test pilot school. But it's the people that really mattered, just like Lisa said. And as soon as I made that commitment, I'm like, I am all in, I'm doing this, of course, ask my husband and the kids, hey, are we still good, or are we still good, go. So, okay, it's all right. Such an important perspective. So I would say just in terms of being able to keep our family together was important for me. And being able to, because I think the deal between my husband and I was, if we couldn't find the right childcare, if we couldn't make things work with all these different assignments every two to three years, then I would probably be the one to get out. So I was the one that was always looking for the next place and calling around about six months out and trying to find the best locations, the best schools, the best, all of this. What time do you open, what time do you close, to make it work? You got to go to the field for a couple weeks, what is, what are your options then? That was what was first and foremost in my mind. But I will tell you that the Army programs were all there. And all the way back to, I mean, I'm 36 years in the service now. My daughter is 34. And so that's many years of trying to figure it out very early on and we were able to do it. So, yeah, I guess it was with every different assignment that it came up for, not because I wanted to get out, but because it might not work for our family at that point, but it always did. And now the Army's expanding all of those things, childcare centers and making more and more, I'm sure the other services are as well. Let's get some questions from the back, some of the young people that are here. I see so many, right? Stand up, oh yes, yes, yes ma'am. Good afternoon ladies, Massarm Williams. My question is we're talking about beyond first. We have those MOSs where in the Marine Corps we haven't had a first yet. So with these Marines being 18, 19, 20 years old and they passed these schools, the only thing that they're gonna be remembered by is what that first that they've done. Is that, do you think that first is a burden for them throughout their career? Because of what they had to go through and now that's all they're gonna be remembered by. And the second part of the question is what advice would you give those young Marines? Even though we're different branches, but think of them as your soldiers, your airmen, that take. I'd say the neat thing about the military is you write your own history, right? You have your own story to tell. So if you're gonna be encumbered by that, then you'll be encumbered by that. The thing is, is I would say that use that to your advantage and build your own history and your own story and tell your story. And not be encumbered by the fact that maybe you were a first. The good thing is, is that you won't be the last. Right? Yeah, being a first opens doors and gives you a platform to talk about all that's good in the service and the organization. Like I say, I joke, right? I don't like talking about myself, but there's definitely been a tension that has come to being a first female service chief and I very quickly pivot to, let me tell you about how great the Coast Guard is. Let me tell you about what the opportunity is. We tell you about the workforce, what it means to serve the nation and then I can't wait to celebrate the next. Great question. Great question. And I love that. You write your own story and then tell your own story. Great message, yes. Other questions? Future leaders. Yes, ma'am. Sorry, I'm doing reverse discrimination. I'm yelling to young people. Yeah. Good afternoon, Lieutenant Nikki Kirchner-Hope, U.S. Coast Guard. You each spoke a lot about some of the great things that you've all done. The Coast Guard in particular has recently Admiral, excuse me, signed our harassing behavior instruction. Master Chief Webster is sitting in front of me as part of the anti-harassment program office. So there have been some great policy changes recently, but I'm not naive enough to say that making policy changes is easy, but in a lot of senses, it's easier than changing the culture. So can you speak please to how you would change the culture and how we as the culture keepers, the ES6s, the lieutenants, can shift culture to be more inclusive? Yeah, so policy does matter, but it doesn't change culture. So when you look at all of the services that have been on a journey around sexual harassment, sexual assault, bullying, and I consider where we are today versus where we were eight or 10 years ago in a much better position. So when somebody experiences harassment or bullying or assault, there is a strength of system in place that can be trusted and relied on. Accusations are fully investigated, there's accountability where those actions are substantiated. That wasn't always true. So that is positive change. With regard to culture, right, and I love that you use the term culture keepers. I can talk about culture respect, being valued, creating opportunity, a safe work environment where everybody is heard, valued, understood, where there's a sense of community and family and belonging, right? That's what I want for our culture. But if the people on the mess deck after hours have not internalized that, it doesn't matter how much I talk about it, right? Each of us needs to own it. And then when you see or hear someone do something inconsistent with that, you have to call them on it. You can't walk by it. And I, you know, speaking at the Cape May graduation just about a week ago, and what I told the parents there is just this, this is the culture I want for the service is that it's a safe environment where everyone is valued, heard, understood, and that we've got all of the right policies in place, you know, should, when you have an unfortunate incident you fall through. Because I told them, I said, what I want for your sons and daughters is what I want for my daughter. And it's no more complicated than that for me that, that I, you know, I would not have brought or encouraged my daughter to come in, but I didn't believe that we can get this done. But it is, I own it, and from a describing what we're getting after, but you, and I see a lot of young Coast Guard folks in fact that own the actual execution of it and carrying it forward day in, day out, because it's insidious and it happens, most of the folks that are guilty of it are no better than to do or say those types of things than when I'm around. I would just add as a reporter, abuse fosters in silence, and sunlight is the best disinfectant. And I've spent the past six years reporting about sexual assault and harassment and domestic abuse in the military. And that attention has won numerous awards and entire team that I've worked with at CBS News. And, you know, just this past year, of course the Secretary of Defense made remarkable changes after a relatively short period of study for not only business, but even in the military. They moved pretty quickly on that. So change is certainly a foot and that people's voice matters on that. But I'm a reporter too, and it's something we've spent a lot of attention on because in order for women to achieve leadership roles, they have to feel like they're valued. Yes, ma'am. So good afternoon. My name is Denise Rucker Crepe. And I'm a former Coast Guard officer. But that's not the question I'm gonna ask. It's more of my army background slash Rucker. About two years ago, Congress passed a law that says take all the Confederate names, including my family's name off army basis. So as a Rucker, I'm here to say thank you. But as a female officer, my question to all of you is, who are you gonna put next? Cause you're in a room full of women. And you're taking family names down, thank you. But who were the women you're gonna name next? Cause you're gonna be naming ships. You're gonna be naming roads. You're gonna be naming facilities. And there are a hundred plus years of history of women. So my ask, again, as you take my family's name off, is put a woman's name on. And put more than one woman. Cause let's be honest, there have been a lot of us that serve, so thank you. Okay, that's a good question. That's strong. I agree. Well, who decides what's, each of the secretaries. Yeah, the secretaries. The services, each have a process for doing exactly it. So for example, probably know in the Coast Guard, the fast response cutters, we're the only service that has a fleet of ships named after enlisted heroes. But this speaks to the let's not just fall into the traditional naming conventions and look for opportunity to honor service and progress across the communities. Good afternoon, ladies. Captain Farmer, you mentioned the fight at the round table to make your voice heard. To not let a male or another counterpart speak the same words that are coming out of your mouth and be recognized. It seems like as you grow through the ranks, seats at the table for women are smaller and smaller. You're seeing very few of us sitting there, especially with the population that's here. You would expect a lot more of us there. How are you fostering in your younger leaders to make it equal, to accept the opinions not only of another gender, of another background, of another culture, of another race, just making that kind of distinguished ceiling of there's different people, but we're all one unit disappear. Yeah, that's a great question. I'll start with that one. I think all of us have been in positions where we've not been heard, our voice hasn't been heard, even when we sat at the table. So, besides preparation for being at the table, it's incumbent on us as leaders to develop people and to ensure that there are safe spaces that we can actually include and have discussions, right? When I look around the table, I look for that diversity. And if I don't have the diversity, everyone that walks and talks and looks like you and there's an academy grad sitting at that table, you are not getting the best advice. So I'm not doing my organization good if I don't have multiple folks with different experiences and different backgrounds, but it doesn't help if they don't speak at the table. So I go around, I wanna make sure, one, that I have diversity at the table, and two, if they're not speaking, I reach out to them, either publicly or privately. Say, hey, what did you think about that issue? You didn't say anything, I looked at you and you didn't respond. So you teach them that it is okay to talk there. And if someone is in such a way that they're not ensuring that there are safe spaces to have that or that you're not being included, that's a leadership issue. We just talked about that. That is a flat-out leadership issue and we've gotta get at that at every level because we will not be able to give the best advice or make the best decisions without it. And I think that starts from the very beginning. When you create teams at basic training all the way up to where you are now to even at this level, my teams have to have that diverse perspective and they need to know, they need to count on me that when they offer their advice, I have the courage to listen to it and to act accordingly. We have time for just one or two more quick questions. Yes ma'am, you first and then we'll go for it. Go ahead, ma'am. Yes, you. I have to use it. It's a video. That's fine, I hope I'm not yelling, okay. Hi, everyone. Staff Sergeant Duggins from Joint Base Andrews. Hi, Jenna Vanovos, nice to see you again. So just a quick question for all of you. I know we're talking about a lot of firsts here, right? But I feel like we're failing to mention some of the nexts, right? And so I've only been in for five years. The Air Force that I walked into is a lot different than the Air Force everybody else has walked into. And still, some of the same challenges persist. Like, the biggest thing for me was when people were still shocked at me being smart, right? Everywhere I've been, it's just like, oh, you're so smart. But it's also like, why is the assumption that I'm not? Like, I made it into this Air Force the same way everybody else made it into this Air Force. And I feel like we're not really talking about the stigmas that are still associated and a way forward to, because we have the people all the way at the top, all of you guys, and all the leadership really trying to enforce this change. And we have buy-in from the people all the way at the bottom, the brand new people that are just coming in. What are we to do about the people in the middle who really won't budge? It's just like, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh. Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh. The frozen middle. We call them the frozen middle. And they're a little insidious, because I look, it's fascinating, you know, so headquarters sitting at the top of the organization and I look down to the tenants and you know, many sitting here, and to your point, right, eager for change, eager for the change that I'm talking about, generational change, transformational change. But what's insidious about is I peer through the middle in it's frozen solid and it's clear. You don't even realize you've looked through it. And they're acting as an impediment to some of that change. So this is, it is a little bit incumbent on all of us, but at a certain point, it's either, you know, you're in the boat, rowing in the direction we need to go for the good of the order for the organization or you're not and there's not always a seat on the bus for everybody. So at a certain point, like if that leadership becomes that much of an impediment it needs to move on, it's just not healthy for the organization. But it's culture change is difficult. We are recruiting from society and so our workforces reflect societal norms, trends, good, bad and otherwise. But it means every day, every person, you have to commit to the effort to build that inclusivity, the diversity, the opportunity to be heard, to be valued and not have somebody say, oh, you know, you're smart, right? Why wouldn't they presume that you, again, you're in the room for a reason, you've got a voice, you've got a lot of perspective to add. One of the things that they talked about in a prior conversation that's gonna air on our show, they talked about persistence, the importance of persistence. Forgive me, but I did read that one of your parents had some sign up in their house about winning and quitting. Mind me. What it said. You can soar with the eagles in the daytime or you can hoot with the owls at night. And there were a bunch of other sayings too, but yeah, about winning and quitting and all of that. And so I do wanna, if I could, Nora, go back to the, I don't think we could say the answer to the question any better than Linda did just now, but on the previous question in terms of your voice at the table, sometimes topics, I think that, and I would say my colleagues probably agree with me, but there's some shaping of issues and topics and influencing that you have to do, that saying something out in a table or at a forum might not be the right place to enter in that topic or that idea. There might be shaping that you need to do, that you wanna do, so you have those alliances, so when you do bring it up, if that's how it's gonna happen, that you do, you can count on those reinforcements that says, already have processed it and agreed with you that that was a good idea. And it's better, I think, to do that on the front end. There will be times that you have to do that on the back end after a meeting or something like that, but I think that that's what's good about us is we know how to do that, shape that, influence, give ideas, how to convince people that this might be the best way to go, but sometimes how you deliver it or how you present it matters just as much. So I would just offer that. So you're saying you usually find some allies before you go into the table to use your voice who already agree with you so that then they second you and third you when you present an idea. And then that could be with anything, not just something in particular about gender or something like that, right? That could be on anything. Well, I think we've got one final question I see in the back. Good afternoon. Thank you for your time. Samsung of the United States Air Force. Since 1947, when the Women in the Armed Integration and Armed Services Act was signed, how close do you truly think we are to full integration of women into the service versus accommodation, especially given the fact that we're still facing issues of childcare where predominantly we find that that falls on the woman, female access to female specialized healthcare, flying while pregnant, just obstacles as it relates to parenthood, and then even finding female specialized equipment so that we can do our jobs. Thank you. Yeah, sorry. Yeah, this just goes back to women being accepted versus being included. If we were fully included, we would have the armor that is built for a woman's body based on how we carry the weight of the equipment we have to carry. We have flight suits that would fit us and uniforms that would fit us so that we wouldn't have to be accommodating. And the good news is we've identified those things. We've made changes. We've got the body armor. We have, we can do pregnancy and flying now. You can do some work we're doing in the missile fields. So there's been great progress and what we need is everyone here. So who's on the wit, the women's initiative team? We have a few here. Yeah, okay, all right, see. So with social media it's been great because we've been able to crowdsource ideas for continued change. What are the continued barriers? What's the friction points that we still have that we can get after? There's been a big list. We've been going after it, not just on the Air Force by multiple services but having the power of the women's initiative team and the Beringale's working groups has been phenomenal. So I wanna thank all the leaders here that have been part of that. And we're just gonna keep chipping away at it but we need to bring, and look society is changing. Our needs are changing. We're looking at the healthcare piece and we have to be insistent upon it. We have to continue to show what does it mean from a readiness standpoint, right? We're not ready because of this and that's how we rally cry. That's how we've been getting the data to say, look we can be a more ready force if we did this. So that data-based assessments that are coming forward. So that's what's on the Air Force. I'll let the other services speak to some of the things that they've been doing. I just wanted to add that by the time you get to be us, it's pretty hard to see what it looks like from where you are. So the one thing I would ask is that as you're seeing these barriers or these challenges, we may not necessarily be as aware of them as you are. So again, to the point about using your voice, you really do want to make sure that we have these forums, you have opportunities, we have listening tours. You know, a lot of leaders are going around out and about gathering information on how we can make things better for all of our service members. We want to continue to bring them up because there is a big list that I am happy to say that I think we are getting after them. It takes a little bit of time, but we have to be insistent on going after the challenges. So I really appreciate that, that now I see some of these challenges, I'm going to take that back and ask in my own service. We have a women's integration team as well and see what else is on the list that we can get after. I have a lot of, probably way too many questions, but they were all so good. So thank you. So I will now give an opportunity for each of you to make some closing remarks. And they certainly don't have to be long, you know. But... Thank you. Bye. So again, Nora and... You know, you guys are the military, you're the ones that are on time. Yeah, I'm strong. But I just want to thank everyone that helped put the event together. It really is a privilege to be here with you, share a little bit of perspective. And I say this to our Coast Guard men and women, right? This is our service, it's our Coast Guard. This is our journey and together we make it better. We have made a ton of progress since I walked into the Coast Guard Academy in 1981. But we're not where we need to be and together we need to continue to make it better. Thank you. I'm sorry. Just to add my thanks and that, you know, we have come a long way, but I tell you, there is great opportunity. You've heard it here. We have great training and initiatives. You can now, the quality of life and quality of service has tremendously changed in the 35 years I've been in this service. It continues to change to meet our needs. We're the most lethal, agile and ready force in the world. And because of you, we will continue to be. So thank you. It's my honor to be part of the greatest fighting force military in the world. And I want to thank all of you. It's an honor to do this. Thank you to my colleagues sitting here. We have to make sure that there's a bench behind General Richardson, Admiral Francketti, General Van Ovos and Admiral Fagan, right? Who's on the bench? Who's behind us? And who's in the pipeline? You can't take your eye off the ball or we will lose a generation. That's how quickly it happens. So thank you for being here. Thank you for the support. And Nora, again, thank you. Phyllis, Jan, thank you very much. I likewise want to say thank you. And again, it's a really a privilege to be here with all the first because I'm actually never been a first. I've been a second, third, a fourth or we never, not even stop counting by the time I got here, which is a real sign I think of the progress that all of our services has made. Again, very proud to be part of the Navy and the Joint Force. I would say just one thing, especially to our younger folks out there as you're plotting out your career is I always adopted this philosophy of Admiral Chester Nimitz who commanded our Navy in World War II in the Pacific. And I'll paraphrase it here. He said, learn all you can, do your best and don't worry about the things you can't control. I think that's good to keep that always in the back of your mind. Set your sights on where you want to go and just head in that direction and you'll end up where you're supposed to be. Thank you very much. Well, thank you all for participating in this incredibly historic event. Thank you. I've learned so much from sitting up here and listening to you. To many of the women in the audience, I hope that at the 100th anniversary of women in the US military, I'll be interviewing you up here or maybe one of my daughters will be interviewing you so stay in the pipeline. I recently heard someone say, I don't think the future is female, the present is female. So let's make that a reality. Thanks to the museum for having us all. Those, thank you so much. Jan for your leadership and thanks for being here.