Vermont becomes first state to open all combat roles to women in Army National Guard

by Joseph Guzman | April 30, 2020 | Apr. 30, 2021

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Story at a glance

The Vermont Army National Guard is now recruiting women to all combat positions.
Previous guidelines only allowed women to transfer but not enlist in combat jobs until specific conditions were met.
The state is the first in the nation to do so.

The Vermont Army National Guard has become the first in the nation to open all combat arms units to the recruitment of women.

In 2016, all military occupations and positions were open to women for the first time in U.S. military history. This allowed female service members to transfer to combat jobs but not directly enlist into such positions until specific conditions were met.

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Requirements included putting women into leadership roles throughout the units, carrying out gender integration training and demonstrating a healthy unit culture through organizational climate surveys, according to a news release.

Now that the Vermont Army National Guard has hit those markers, it says it will continue its efforts to “cultivate diversity and inclusion throughout the organization.”

“This is a momentous achievement for the Vermont Army National Guard,” Brig. Gen. James Pabis, the Army Guard’s assistant adjutant general, said in a statement Wednesday.

“From the state staff to unit leaders, earning the ability to recruit women into all of our units required laser focus over several years,” Pabis said.

In January, a squadron from the Vermont National Guard became the first in the nation to recruit women directly into combat roles at the battalion level.

“There is no doubt in my mind that the inclusion of women in our units makes us a more effective fighting force,” Col. Brey Hopkins, commander of the 86th Infantry Brigade Combat Team, said.

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