In celebration of Women’s History Month, this episode features a conversation with three remarkable veterans and leaders who are at the forefront of advocacy for women servicemembers and veterans.

(*This program was recorded live on Zoom during a VBC Monday night veteran’s storytelling program.)

Retired USAF Colonel Lorry Fenner, Director of Government Relations for the Service Women’s Action Network will talk about her 26-year career in the Air Force, the history of women in military and highlight key legislation supporting women service members and veterans before Congress.

Retired USA Colonel Dr. Ellen Haring and retired USN pilot Joy Bronson, veterans turned filmmakers, will present a sneak peek of their upcoming documentary The Fight to Fight which tells the story of trailblazing young women integrating the Army’s elite ground combat units and the women veterans who are their guardian angels. Their struggles and triumphs offer a unique lens to view women, work, and gender equity in America.

Thank you to Tobacco Free Adagio Health and UPMC for Life for sponsoring this event!

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In this episode, we visit with two very special guests: retired Army Colonel Kate Guttormsen and Army Colonel Anastasia Breslow-Kynaston. The highest ranking women in the original Team Lioness group (Ramadi 2003-4), both were captains at the time making them the perfect guests for a look back at the Lioness experience. We discuss what it was like to adapt and train-in-theater for the unexpected Lioness missions, the lessons they learned along the way, how they helped train future Lioness soldiers, and managing their careers as spouses in dual-military couples.

Along with Lioness vet Shannon Morgan, they recall their surprise when two filmmakers from New York approached them to make a documentary, why they decided to participate in Lioness (2008) and what it has meant to know their stories contributed to critical legislation (Women Veterans Healthcare Act, 2010) that improved VA services for women veterans and spurred the DoD’s 2013 dropping of the Combat Exclusion Policy for Women.

A graduate of West Point, Kate retired in 2020 after 24 years of service. She works as a Public Relations Specialist at Authentically American, a Veteran owned, American made, premium apparel brand that supports American heroes. (www.authenticallyamerican.us/) She is also a substitute teacher in her local school district and volunteers in her community.

Colonel Anastasia Breslow-Kynaston is the FORSCOM G6 Communications Operations Division Chief at Fort Liberty, North Carolina where her husband, Lt. Colonel Merlin Kynaston, commands the 50th Expeditionary Signal Battalion-Enhanced, 35th Signal Brigade, XVIII Airborne Corps.

#veteran #veterans #veteransbreakfastclub #virtualevents #virtual #zoomevents #liveevents #webinar #history #interview #militaryhistory #military #army #navy #marinecorps #marines #airforce #coastguard #vbc #nonprofit #501c3 #happyhour #911 #september11 #sept11 #generation911 #lioness #specialopslioness #paramount+ #iraq #OEF #OIF #WaronTerror #afghanistan #war #cia #Female #FET #Cultural #CST #Exclusion #Policy

With 28 years of service behind her, Army Colonel Ellen Haring, a West Point graduate, realized she’d hit the brass ceiling. As a woman, she’d been excluded from combat arms specialties, a career requirement to reach the military’s senior ranks. Then, in 2011, she read about The Molly Pitcher project. Led by Professor Anne Coughlin at University of Virginia Law School and her four dedicated students, the goal was to develop a lawsuit capable of bringing down the Department of Defense’s combat exclusion policy for women. Colonel Haring immediately got in contact with Professor Coughlin and the timing couldn’t have been better. Col. Haring, along with Sgt. Major Jane Baldwin, became the original plaintiffs in this first iteration of legal action that would, by 2013, compel Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta to rescind the combat exclusion policy for women.

Join Daria as she speaks with two powerhouse women: Ret. US Army Colonel Dr. Ellen Haring and Anne Coughlin, the Lewis F. Powell, Jr. Professor of Law at the University of Virginia. Learn about the unlikely origins of this legal action, the dogged determination required to get this lawsuit off the ground and find out who the heck was Molly Pitcher. (hint: Revolutionary War)

#veteran #veterans #veteransbreakfastclub #virtualevents #virtual #zoomevents #liveevents #webinar #history #interview #militaryhistory #military #army #navy #marinecorps #marines #airforce #coastguard #vbc #nonprofit #501c3 #happyhour #911 #september11 #sept11 #generation911 #lioness #specialopslioness #paramount+ #iraq #OEF #OIF #WaronTerror #afghanistan #war #cia #Female #FET #Cultural #CST #Exclusion #Policy