A heroine in the wars against terrorism
One Third Army colonel is a testament that the Women's Army Corps succeeded in its mission to aid the United States in times of war, even though the corps was inactivated in 1978 when the Army accepted the full integration of women within the Regular Army ranks.
Col. Sheila Varnado received a direct commission as a 2nd Lieutenant in October 1976 in the Women’s Army Corps at Fort McClellan, Ala., after receiving her master’s degree from Syracuse University. Upon completion of her military basic training, she was branched into the Adjutant General’s Corps where she has served the full spectrum of command and staff assignments during her career.
Operation Iraqi Freedom is Varnado’s last war. She will retire later this year after more than 27 years of service. In her final assignment as the Assistant Chief of Staff for Personnel – Coalition C1 for Operation Enduring Freedom and Operation Iraqi Freedom, she has spent more than 20 months deployed in the Coalition Forces Land Component Command (CFLCC) area of responsibility (AOR) since October 2001.
Varnado oversees the accountability of all CFLCC forces and keeps track of the deployment and redeployment of coalition forces. She led the planning effort that ensured the postal system and personnel assets were requested and put in place to serve the OIF troops. She also directed the setting up of Morale, Welfare and Recreation programs for the AOR.
Historian Judith Bellafaire, Ph.D., of Women in Military Service for America Memorial Foundation, Inc., said traditional restrictions on female employment in American society were broken during World War II by the critical labor shortage faced by all sectors of the economy.
“As ‘Rosie the Riveter’ demonstrated her capabilities in previously male-dominated civilian industries, women in the Army broke the stereotypes, which restricted them, moving into positions well outside of traditional roles,” said Bellafaire in her essay The Women Army Corps: A Commendation of World War II Service.
Those War World II era stereotypes of women as nurses, clerks, typists, or secretaries will not hold up to the huge responsibilities that military women of the 21st century, said Bellafaire.
Varnado observed that today women have attained the top ranks in the military as general officers and sergeants major. They are now fully integrated in the Army with the exception of the combat arms branches of Infantry, Armor, and Special Forces.
“The military is an excellent life experience. Whether it is a three-year obligation or a 20-year commitment,” said Varnado. “In the military, you discover your abilities, your limits and most important, how to capitalize on them for your maximum personal growth. These attributes are transferable to anything we do in the civilian sector.”
“The military gives you opportunities to learn skills, leadership and authority from the beginning to take care of large numbers of soldiers. Leaders get better in their role as they progress through the ranks,” she said.
There will never be a perfect system, but the military structure system today has been the best gradual refinement since the beginning of the Army, said Varnado, adding that the integration of women was a part of that process. On her last assignment, she was a professor of military science who took command of the University of Southern Mississippi (USM) Reserve Officer Training Corps battalion from July 1997 to July 1999.
One of the most important lessons she believes she has provided to junior officers, she said, was not to refrain from taking charge just because someone has been in service longer. The military structure gives junior officers great responsibilities working among experienced noncommissioned officers who serve as role models.
Varnado also has a daughter, Spc. Tanisha Varnado, who works in CFLCC Operations – Coalition C3, and recently redeployed after serving in Operation Iraqi Freedom to reunite with her father and Varnado’s husband, LTC (R) Frederick E. Varnado of Hattiesburg, Mississippi.