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Youngstown Vet to Speak on Women in Military
COLUMBUS, Ohio -- Susan Skrzynski of Youngstown will share her experiences from her 25 years of service in the U.S. Army next Tuesday when she sits on a panel of female veterans. The panel, sponsored by the Ohio Department of Veterans Services, is part of Women's History Month.
Skrzynski, who served in the Army from 1982 to 2007, is executive director of the Mahoning County Veterans Service Commission and holds a baccalaureate from Youngstown State University. While in the Army, she served in Panama, Alaska, Japan and Germany and finished her career with a 15-month tour in Iraq, retiring as a sergeant first class. Her duty assignments included unit clerk, legal clerk and construction supervisor. In Iraq, she was her unit’s headquarters platoon sergeant as well as the operations NCO. In this capacity, she was responsible for coordinating all construction activities in-theater.
The panel consusts of five women veterans who served during the time of conflict in Iraq and Afghanistan. The panel discussion begins at 10:30 a.m. March 18 in the Grant Hearing Room of the Ohio Statehouse.
Women today constiture more than 14% of the U.S. military and naval forces. More than 60,000 female veterans of all eras reside in Ohio, department officials said. They have served with distinction in every war in several capacities, mainly support or medical roles, and became casualties or prisoners of war.
Beginning in the 1980s, military specialties closed to women were opened and that put them much closer to direct combat and their roles expanded during the 1991 Persian Gulf War. Today, women serve as pilots and in combat support units that have led to them being directly engaged in combat in Iraq and Afghanistan. This involvement has led recently to the lowering of barriers to women serving in direct combat positions, such as infantry and special operations. The U.S. military is studying the most effective ways to integrate women into these positions.
Other panelists are Navy Petty Officer Denise Davidson, Cincinnati; Veronica Anne Minnefield, Columbus; Sheila L. Pryor, Mansfield; and Monica Nicholson, Columbus.
Their discussions will center on why they joined, their experiences in training and in war, and their views on women in direct combat roles.
Published by The Business Journal, Youngstown, Ohio.
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