NORFOLK Va. -- Two Air Combat Command Airmen earned the U.S. Air Force Brig. Gen. Wilma Vaught Visionary Leadership Award at the annual Joint Women’s Leadership Symposium hosted by the Sea Services Leadership Association in Norfolk, Va., July 11, 2022.
Col. Rebecca Lange, 659th Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance Group commander, Fort George G. Meade Maryland, was nominated for the award by Gen. Mark Kelly, commander of Air Combat Command, for her visionary design and execution of Sword Athena 2022. Lange led a team of members divided into mission area working groups to develop resolutions for their female- and family-centric lines of effort to be presented to four-star leadership.
Issues addressed during the latest Sword Athena include spotlighting female bladder relief issues, normalizing support to nursing moms, increasing maternity uniform availability within ACC, and creating awareness of the discrimination faced by LGBT Airmen at the Department of the Air Force level.
“We can create meaningful, reliable, and advertised channels of communication to ensure our Airmen can share their needs, barriers, and ideas with leadership,” said Lange. “And, once received, take deliberate action to address issues in a collaborative way and hold yourself accountable for results.”
Master Sgt. Johnathon Lind, 4th Operational Support Squadron, Seymour Johnson Air Force Base, noncommissioned officer in charge of air traffic control training, contributed to the success of Sword Athena with his work in the mental health working group. Additionally, Lind co-led the Women's Initiative Team female specialized healthcare effort and created the Warrior Braids Project.
Lind compiled five years of medical, operational, readiness and inclusion data while leading the Warrior Braids Project and working with the WIT, to bring about the first major U.S. Air Force female hair policy reform in 70 years. These changes in policy were adopted by the U.S. Army, Coast Guard and Space Force as well as the Royal Air Force.
"Symposiums like this grow our service members into better leaders and build upon the larger, strategic goal of our force development." said Lind. "I see a strong spirit of innovation and forward thinking here that will propel us to where we need to be."
Each year at the JWLS, SSLA offers mentoring, professional development and leadership seminars to members of all service branches of the military and to Department of Defense civilians. With an attendance of 900 to 1,500 attendees annually, SSLA JWLS is traditionally the largest gathering of women in uniform nationwide and has been recognized as the premier professional and personal development conference for women in the military.