Women’s leadership panel provides insight for future leaders

  • Published
  • By Senior Airman Andrew Park
  • 94th Airlift Wing Public Affairs
DOBBINS AIR RESERVE BASE, Ga. --  Dobbins Air Reserve Base hosted a Women’s History Month Leadership panel here on March 6.

The panel discussion provided an opportunity for both men and women to ask questions and gain insight from women in leadership positions across Dobbins.

The panel included Maj. Gen. Stayce Harris, 22nd Air Force commander; Lt. Col. Keri Ebrecht, 94th Inspector General for Investigations deputy director of inspections; Chief Master Sgt. Marjorie LeClaire, 622nd Civil Engineering Flight senior air reserve technician; and Chief Master Sgt. Tina Carlson, 94th Aeromedical Staging Squadron chief.

Although the panel members took different routes to get to their current leadership roles, they echoed each other while providing advice to the attendees based on their personal experiences. Many of them were
motivated by adversity they faced early on.

“I’ve had many individuals who have impacted my career, but the ones who tell you that you can’t do it are the ones who really made me want to do it,” said LeClaire.

Harris described some of the challenges she met during pilot training, and how her determination to succeed led to her to becoming a better pilot.

"It was a time when women were still really new to pilot training," Harris said. "We had to earn it. I had to work 10 times as hard. It's fine--I'm a better pilot because of that, and so I welcomed the opportunity."

The speakers also agreed the role of women in the Air Force Reserve has changed throughout their careers, and they are proud of the progress made – largely thanks to the determination of women leading the fight for equal opportunities.

“I have seen such progress,” Carlson said. “Women who have been in the military for a while have fought through a lot of adversity, and they haven’t given up. They’ve said, ‘you’re not going to make my career. I’m going to make my career.’”

“Once we get into the positions that we’re in, we make sure it’s a fair and level playing field – still holding people accountable, but not penalizing someone for being male or female,” Harris added.

To ensure this progress is not lost, the panelists discussed the importance of mentoring in helping guide future leaders to success.
“Mentoring is not about promotion – it’s about development,” said Carlson. “When you’re completing an Enlisted [Evaluation System] and you say that somebody is perfect at everything, then what you’re telling them is that there isn’t one thing they can do to improve.”

Although the panelists praised the amount of progress made in providing more opportunities to women in the military, they felt that the struggle was not over.

“Do we still have work to do?” asked Harris, regarding equal opportunities for women in the Air Force Reserve.

“Absolutely,” she answered. “And we have to be vocal about it. We have to do the best job possible, and endless opportunities will come.”