This week, the New York Times announced the recent death of Major General Jeanne Holm. Major General Holm’s contributions on behalf of women in the U.S. Air Force as well as women in all our U.S. Armed Forces are well documented. Her biography has a permanent place on the Official U.S. Air Force website. She is also a member of the National Women’s Hall of Fame. I won’t attempt to offer you a biography or an obituary of General Holm because they have both been done. What I would like to offer you is how General Holm, though never a personal acquaintance of mine, had a significant impact on my life.

When I joined the U.S. Air Force in 1991, I had every intention of becoming a linguist. I had the ASVAB & DLAB scores and the written job guarantee to prove it. As so often happens, the needs of the Air Force superseded my desire to travel the world as a brilliant linguist and I was given a career that needed bodies. It had only been six years since women had been allowed into the U.S.A.F. Security Police. They had been doing Law Enforcement duties prior to that but the Security Police (now Security Forces) were the infantry of the Air Force. They needed bodies and it didn’t matter what sex they were so I found myself in the Security Police. A “tread” or a “droid” as our Law Enforcement brothers and sisters preferred to call us but they always called us when the job was too big and they needed backup.

General Holm raised the female numbers in the Air Force. She also made it possible for women to be more than nurses. Security Police was one of the few holdouts when it came to women joining because of the combat nature of the job. We were trained in what was politely called “Air Base Ground Defense”. Over the years, the fluff has been removed from the title of our training and it is now simply called “Ground Combat Skills”.

It was because of General Holm’s work that I was able to do the many things I did to distinguish myself in the Air Force. I was a dead-on shot with an M-60 and frighteningly accurate with the Mark-19 and M-203 grenade launchers. I was also handy as a Fire Team Leader and Security Controller. I worked every facet of nuclear security during my eight years in the U.S.A.F.

I hardly think General Holm even considered me when she joined the Army Air Corps but the fact is that my personal history would be far less interesting had she not gone before me to pave the way for women in the U.S. Air Force. She will always have my undying respect and gratitude.

General Holm, I salute you.