WEBVTT 00:00.284 --> 00:02.867 (gentle music) 00:04.040 --> 00:06.240 - When I joined in 1963. 00:06.240 --> 00:11.240 And of course, in 1963 and '67, those years were, 00:11.960 --> 00:14.900 you know, there's a lot of racial turmoil going on. 00:14.900 --> 00:18.300 The women had very little to do in the Air Force. 00:18.300 --> 00:21.533 You see a clerk-typist, or you could be a medic, 00:22.410 --> 00:25.550 but you couldn't do anything that was adventurous 00:25.550 --> 00:27.350 or this kind of stuff. 00:27.350 --> 00:29.010 - Of course, then back then, 00:29.010 --> 00:31.110 the men were totally separate from the woman. 00:31.110 --> 00:33.300 The woman had a totally separate squadron. 00:33.300 --> 00:36.343 The 37-43rd WAF Training Squadron. 00:37.610 --> 00:42.610 - Later on in my career, I became the first female 00:42.930 --> 00:47.290 to teach at the Strategic Air Command Academy. 00:47.290 --> 00:51.950 And before I even taught a class, or got in class, 00:51.950 --> 00:55.830 I was just, you know, sitting in and listening. 00:55.830 --> 00:59.110 We got critiqued saying, "Women have no place in here." 00:59.110 --> 01:02.640 This is, you know, "What can a woman teach us?" 01:02.640 --> 01:03.547 You know, this kind of stuff. 01:03.547 --> 01:07.670 You know, the same old stuff that women go through. 01:07.670 --> 01:09.200 - I don't think they were ready for us 01:09.200 --> 01:14.000 to be an integrated part of the Air Force 01:14.000 --> 01:17.560 because everything was separate. 01:17.560 --> 01:19.980 When I got to my first permanent party base, 01:19.980 --> 01:22.580 I had two commanders and two first sergeants. 01:22.580 --> 01:24.360 A male commander and a male first sergeant 01:24.360 --> 01:26.750 for my duties unit, 01:26.750 --> 01:29.127 and a female commander and a female first sergeant 01:29.127 --> 01:30.840 for my residence. 01:30.840 --> 01:34.430 And you've got details and orders from both. 01:34.430 --> 01:38.390 The uniforms were most of the time, too big for you, 01:38.390 --> 01:40.923 or too baggy, or this kind of stuff. 01:42.304 --> 01:45.072 And so you had your sort of make do with what you had, 01:45.072 --> 01:48.370 you know, tie everything up around you 01:48.370 --> 01:49.710 and that kind of stuff. 01:49.710 --> 01:52.970 It was like they didn't make women's uniforms. 01:52.970 --> 01:56.259 They just took a male's uniform and cut it down, 01:56.259 --> 02:00.490 or did something to it to make it fit women type thing. 02:00.490 --> 02:03.910 It was kinda obvious that they weren't ready. 02:03.910 --> 02:07.252 And so, women are kind of resilient, 02:07.252 --> 02:11.130 so we sorta made do with what we had. 02:11.130 --> 02:14.630 And see, you had to depend on your fellow airmen, 02:14.630 --> 02:15.463 you know, type of thing, 02:15.463 --> 02:18.744 and you couldn't go into any kind of situation 02:18.744 --> 02:22.990 where you couldn't depend on the person next to you 02:22.990 --> 02:23.823 type of thing. 02:23.823 --> 02:25.750 So that had to be worked out. 02:25.750 --> 02:27.463 - I didn't have any problems. 02:28.790 --> 02:30.930 And I know a lot of ladies, they did. 02:30.930 --> 02:33.970 They were treated like you shouldn't be here. 02:33.970 --> 02:36.560 And I know I read in one of the Air Force manuals 02:36.560 --> 02:40.920 that there were no female medics until 1973. 02:40.920 --> 02:43.247 And so, I told the guy out at Randolph, I said, 02:43.247 --> 02:45.320 "Then what was I for 10 years?" 02:45.320 --> 02:47.890 Because I became a medic in 1963. 02:47.890 --> 02:51.910 The male technicians did not want female technicians 02:51.910 --> 02:53.300 working on the floor. 02:53.300 --> 02:54.680 And if you let them, 02:54.680 --> 02:58.060 they would leave all the cleaning to you. 02:58.060 --> 02:59.610 I just told them no. 02:59.610 --> 03:03.290 But if you didn't speak up, peer-to-peer, 03:03.290 --> 03:05.220 they'd try to take advantage 03:05.220 --> 03:06.840 - Did I feel myself equal? 03:06.840 --> 03:09.699 Or, of course, I was equal, but see, 03:09.699 --> 03:11.930 I had a double whammy, you know, 03:11.930 --> 03:14.783 not only was I a woman, but I was a black woman. 03:17.120 --> 03:19.190 And so, when you didn't get promoted, 03:19.190 --> 03:22.153 or you didn't get the job you wanted, you couldn't decide 03:22.153 --> 03:25.473 is it 'cause I'm female or is is because I'm Black? 03:28.659 --> 03:32.480 - I think the people who don't know about the mother 03:32.480 --> 03:36.410 for them to just see the changes that have happened 03:36.410 --> 03:40.150 and the career fields available to females 03:40.150 --> 03:44.360 is the biggest thing that non-military people need to see. 03:44.360 --> 03:45.780 - Everything is wide open. 03:45.780 --> 03:48.580 They can just about be, and especially 03:48.580 --> 03:52.540 if young women do not know what they want to do. 03:52.540 --> 03:54.390 The Air Force has a good place to come 03:54.390 --> 03:56.340 to find out what they want to do. 03:56.340 --> 03:58.180 If you don't know what you want to do, 03:58.180 --> 04:00.070 don't flounder around, 04:00.070 --> 04:02.600 come and get some structure to your life, 04:02.600 --> 04:04.990 and you will see different things 04:04.990 --> 04:06.870 that you might like to do. 04:06.870 --> 04:11.380 - I think it was my being willing to step up. 04:11.380 --> 04:15.280 And when I was offered a chance to do something, 04:15.280 --> 04:16.930 I said, yes. 04:16.930 --> 04:20.360 And as far as the ladies are concerned, 04:20.360 --> 04:22.977 don't say, "I can't because I'm a female."