MAY 1973, AN HISTORIC STEP FOR WOMEN AND THE GEORGIA NATIONAL GUARD

by Beverly L. Pack

It has been more than two decades since the first woman enlisted in the Georgia Army National Guard. That was May 17, 1973 when Gail Wagner was sworn in as a member of Headquarters and Headquarters Detachment Georgia Army National Guard by the Adjutant General, Major General Joel B. Paris, III. It did not take long for other women (both non-prior and prior service to follow).

Ms. Wagner's enlistment came six years after President Lyndon Johnson signed Public Law 90-130 which permitted women other than medical personnel to join the Reserve Components. With this new impetus to enlist women, the Georgia Army National Guard opened its door to prior and non-prior service females. Historically, women have served in auxiliaries of all branches of military service in positions ranging from clerks to pilots to camouflage designers. The auxiliary designation changed on July 1, 1943 when the Women's Army Corps (WAC) became a component of the Army. With the signing of the 1967 law, the Women's Army Corps was deactivated on October 20, 1978 as a separate corps of the Army.

Prior to Public Law 90-130, special provisions allowed female medical officers (specifically nurses) to be sworn in a members of the Reserve Components. The first women nurses in the Georgia Army National Guard were sworn in on June 25, 1958 in the 117th Surgical Hospital (Mobile Army) in Griffin, Georgia. First Lieutenants Joyce Chapman and Margie Dell Pitts were members of that unit until their discharge around mid-1960.

Even though the doors to the Reserve Components were opened to women in 1967, in Georgia delays were encountered due to resolving what was perceived as numerous logistical problems in integrating women into the units. Colonel Michael B. Chapman (then State Recruiting Officer) indicated that women did not seem to be readily accepted, but over time women were recognized as another valuable source of "manpower."

With the enlistment of Ms. Wagner in May 1973, there were reported to be a total of 13 (prior and non-prior service) females in the Georgia Army National Guard by the end of the year. By years' end the first black female, Private First Class Patricia A. Leverston, was enlisted in the 170th Military Police Battalion. Private Leverston had two years' prior service in the Regular Army.

Staff Sergeant Pinkie B. Houser, a Vietnam veteran and prior service WAC for eight years, enlisted in Headquarters Company 560th Engineer Battalion, December 12, 1973. Sergeant Houser's own personal experience during her tour in Vietnam have been highlighted in Kathryn Marshall's book, In the Combat Zone. In these past twenty-two years, we have seen some significant accomplishments for women in the Georgia Army National Guard. Enlisted women have attained the rank of Master Sergeant and First Sergeant, while officers have risen to ranks ranging from Chief Warrant Officer Three to Lieutenant Colonel. The first female cadet to graduate from the Georgia Military Institute was Jimmie J. Bailey when she was commissioned a second lieutenant on August 30, 1975. Also that year Gerita Shelnutt was scheduled to be the first female from the Reserve Components to attend the Airborne Sensor Specialist Course. The first female company commander was Captain Laura Wickett who was appointed July 18, 1983 to command a Military Police unit. Private First Class Jeanette Gonzalez became the first female technical observer in the state in the mid 1980s. Women from various units throughout the state were activated for Operation Desert Shield/Desert Storm in 1990, with approximately 125 actually serving in the Southwest Asia theater.

By June 1979, the number of women in the Georgia Army National Guard had grown from Ms. Wagner's sole enlistment to approximately 300. Today, more than two decades later, there are still only 707 women in the Georgia Army National Guard. Part of this limited participation by women is due to the high number of combat units in the state, and the downsizing of military forces which have occurred in the 1990s. Still, women have made important strides, and taken historic steps since that meaningful day in May 1973.

Further Reading

"First Female Enlists In Ga. Army Guard," The Georgia Guardsman, May - June 1973, Volume 23, Number 3, page 1.

"Griffin's 117th Surgical Hospital Unit Gets First Georgia Army NG Nurses." The Georgia Guardsman, July-August 1958, page 11.

Marshall, Kathryn. In The Combat Zone. Boston: Little Brown and Co., 1987. chapter 3.

Pack, Beverly L. "1958, The Year In Which Women Officially Entered the Georgia Guard." Georgia Militia and National Guard Society Journal. Volume IV, No. 2 (Fall 1994), pages 1-2.

_____. "A Study to Examine and Evaluate the Assignment and Utilization policies which Govern Women in the Army National Guard." March 7, 1988.

U. S. President. Public Law 90-130. (signed November 8, 1967.)

Public Law 845. Legislative Response by the House of Representatives and the Untied Slates Senate to Chairman of the Armed Forces Committee, Honorable Carl Vinson. 84th Congress, 2d Session, July 30, 1956.

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