When we think about women in public office, our understanding of diversity is not limited to ethnicity, age, or political affiliation. It also includes life experiences, professional background, and so many other qualities that make each individual unique. Similar to their representation in public office in the United States, women are largely underrepresented in the U.S. Armed Forces. To date, women make up a mere 16% and 19% of the enlisted forces and the officer corps, respectively. In addition, there have only been eight female U.S. veterans who have ever been elected to serve in the United States Congress.
As we thank those in our community who have served their country this Veterans Day, we would like to introduce these women who have gone above and beyond to serve, not just in the military, but as elected officials.
Dr. Heather Wilson served as an Air Force officer from 1978 to 1989. As the first female veteran ever elected to a full term in Congress, she represented New Mexico’s 1st Congressional District from 1998 to 2009. Dr. Wilson was later nominated by President Trump as the 24th United States Secretary of the Air Force in 2017 and served in that position until she stepped down in 2019.
She holds her undergraduate degree from the United States Air Force Academy—a graduate of the third class to include women, and holds Masters and Doctorate degrees in International Relations from the University of Oxford, where she was a Rhodes Scholar. Dr. Heather Wilson now serves as the President of the University of Texas at El Paso and holds over 35 years of experience in leadership and management roles throughout the U.S. Military, higher education, government, and private industry.
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Representative Tulsi Gabbard has served as an active member of the Hawaii Army National Guard since 2003. She was elected to the Hawaii State House of Representatives in 2002 at the age of 21. She made history becoming the youngest person ever elected to public office in Hawaii and served in that position until 2004. Since 2005, Rep. Gabbard has been deployed on two tours of duty in the Middle East. She was elected to the Honolulu City Council in 2010 where she served until 2012. A year later, she decided to run for a seat in the U.S. House of Representatives. She won, and has now served as the representative of Hawaii’s 42nd District since 2013.
In 2020, Rep. Gabbard ran for president. Although she did not receive the nomination, she once again made history as the first female combat veteran to ever run for the position. During her term of the past seven years, she has served throughout the Foreign Affairs, Armed Services, and Homeland Security Committees. Rep. Gabbard is not running for reelection, however, she made history in Congress as the first female combat veteran ever elected to Congress, alongside Tammy Duckworth.
Senator Tammy Duckworth has served in both sides of Congress, representing the 8th Congressional District of Illinois from 2013 to 2017 and now serves as a U.S. Senator for Illinois. Prior to running for office, she served four years as a helicopter pilot in the U.S. Army Reserve before joining the Illinois National Guard in 1996. She was deployed as a member of the Guard for Operation Iraqi Freedom. During her tour in 2004, her helicopter was shot down, which led to the double amputation of both legs. Senator Duckworth is a recipient of the Purple Heart and retired from the Guard in 2014 at the rank of lieutenant colonel. She has served as Director of the Illinois Department of Veterans Affairs and later as President Obama’s Assistant Secretary of the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs.
In 2018, she became the first U.S. Senator to give birth while in office, introducing and gaining unanimous support for Senate Resolution 463 which changed Senate rules allowing a Senator to bring a child under one year old to the Senate floor during votes. Senator Tammy Duckworth currently serves on the Small Business and Entrepreneurship, Armed Services, Environment and Public Works, and Commerce, Science and Transportation committees. Her current term ends in 2023.
Senator Martha McSally served in the Air Force for 26 years, from 1988-2010 where she became the first woman fighter pilot to fly in combat. She retired as a colonel and holds two master’s degrees—one in Public Policy from Harvard University and a second in Strategic Studies from the U.S. Air War College. In 2015, she was elected in the 2nd Congressional District of Arizona and served as a U.S. Representative for the district until 2019.
She was then appointed in 2019, by Arizona Governor Doug Ducey, to serve as a U.S. Senator. Despite her term ending in January of 2021, Senator McSally succeeded in her role serving on the Committees of Armed Services and Homeland Security, chairing the Border and Maritime Security Subcommittee.
Senator Joni Ernst is a U.S. Senator from Iowa. In 2014, she ran for an open Senate seat in Iowa, won, and became the first woman to represent Iowa in either chamber of Congress. From 2011 to 2014, she served in the Iowa State Senate in both the 48th District and the 12th District. There, she served as the assistant minority leader of the State Senate. Ernst served in the United States Army Reserve, Iowa Army National Guard, and the Iowa National Guard, respectively, for 23 years, retiring as a lieutenant colonel in 2015.
Senator Ernst has been an active supporter of victims of sexual assault, opening up earlier this year that she had been sexually assaulted in college, throughout her time in the military, and in her marriage. Throughout her term, she has worked across the aisle to advocate on behalf of victims of sexual assault everywhere and specifically in the military. She won her campaign for reelection and currently serves on the committees of: Small Business and Entrepreneurship, Armed Services, Judiciary, Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry, and Environment and Public Works.
Representative Mikie Sherrill served in the U.S. Navy for 9 years. She is a graduate of the United States Naval Academy, the London School of Economics and Political Science, and Georgetown Law. She currently serves as the U.S. Representative for New Jersey’s 11th Congressional District. Representative Sherrill is known for constantly working across the aisle for the benefit of her district.
Prior to running for office, she served as an Assistant U.S. Attorney for the District of New Jersey and worked as an attorney in private practice. After only being in this position for one year, she won her campaign for reelection this November.
Since 2019, Representative Chrissy Houlahan has served as a Representative to Pennsylvania’s 6th Congressional District, being the first woman to ever win the seat. She is a third-generation military veteran. Both her father and grandfather were Holocaust survirors who went on to serve as a career naval officers. Representative Houlahan studied at Stanford on an ROTC scholarship for her undergraduate and at MIT for her Masters in Technology and Policy.
She currently serves on the House Armed Services Committee, the House Small Business Committee, and the House Foreign Affairs Committee. Representative Houlahan ran for reelection this year and won her campaign.
Representative Elaine Luria is a 20 year U.S. Navy veteran and small business owner serving as the representative for Virginia’s 2nd Congressional District since 2019. Her district has a deep military constituency, including the world’s largest naval base and one of the highest concentrations of veterans—including specifically female veterans—in the entire United States.
Throughout her career in the Navy, she was deployed six times and served as a surface warfare officer and nuclear engineer. She retired from the military in 2017, reaching the rank of commander. Representative Luria won her reelection campaign this past November.
What all of these women have in common is that they are veterans who have faithfully served their country. Yet it is evident from their biographies that they each come from different walks of life. As a growing number of women are joining the U.S. Armed Forces, they too come from diverse and distinct backgrounds. And this is causing the conversation to shift, not only as it pertains to the role of women in the Armed Forces, but also to Congress and the makeup of our political institutions throughout the country. Each of these women provides first-hand knowledge that can benefit and improve overall policy outcomes for a population of the United States that continues to grow: women in the military, female veterans, and their loved ones.
It is reported that women in the military have lower retention rates than their male peers, often due to a lack of resources for PTSD and depression, child care, and sexual abuse and assault. All of the women introduced above are working to create avenues for their female veterans and those women currently serving to gain support. And throughout their time in office, these women have worked tirelessly to bring these issues to light. For example, with bipartisan support of 51 members of Congress in 2019, Reps. Chrissy Houlahan, Tulsi Gabbard, Elaine Luria, and Mikie Sherrill created the Servicewomen and Women Veterans Congressional Caucus. This caucus is specifically geared toward meeting the needs of both active and veteran military women.
Thanks to efforts like this, the barriers that women often face in the military are slowly being broken down. These trailblazers are changing the way we as Americans will think about active military personnel, their families, and veterans. Honoring the women who have accomplished so much in their service to our country should go beyond Veterans Day. It is our duty as Americans to support the men and women that have done so much to protect each of us and our families.