Female soldiers ask for, receive no special treatment

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A group of female soldiers based at Logistics Support Area Anaconda near Balad, Iraq, say when it comes to accompanying convoys there are no such things as "girls jobs" in the Army. “If you do convoy security, you basically do the same job,” says Spc. Tiffany Lovett of the 418th Transportation Company from Fort Hood, Texas.


Female soldiers ask for, receive no special treatment
By Allison Batdorff, Stars and Stripes
Mideast edition, Sunday, October 21, 2007


BALAD, Iraq — The road is long for those in convoys who help deliver “bullets and beans” to U.S. forces in Iraq’s myriad combat outposts. A short trip easily turns into 12 to 15 hours if roadside bombs are found, and they often are.

But convoys are one of the few places where active-duty women commonly are found outside the wire. And that’s where they like to be, according to a group of 30 women from three Army convoy security units who assembled in Balad last week.

“I’ve been here before — I did the FOB thing,” said convoy commander Sgt. Jo Parker, referring to a prior deployment to Iraq where she stayed inside a forward operating base.

“Now I want to be in the fight,” said the 23-year-old from Glendale, Ariz., who works in the Arizona Army National Guard’s 259th Engineering Company.

The women headquartered at Logistics Support Area Anaconda describe their job as “driving up and down the highway.” Working as gunners, drivers and medics, they escort contractors as they take goods and fuel from the hub at Anaconda to outlying bases.

“There’s no such thing as girl jobs when you’re in the Army,” said Spc. Tiffany Lovett, a 24-year-old in the 418th Transportation Company based in Fort Hood, Texas.


Rest of article at: http://stripes.com/article.asp?section=104&article=49672