OFFUTT AIR FORCE BASE, Neb. -- The 55th Wing’s second Warhawk Athena conference took place on Offutt Air Force Base Jan. 7-10, 2025.
Warhawk Athena is Offutt’s Barrier Analysis Working Group focused on identifying and breaking down challenges to readiness with an emphasis on women and family-centric barriers, and aims to increase the quality of life for all Airmen on the installation.
“There are a lot of barriers to readiness whether people talk about them or not,” said Lt. Col. Kristen Rosenberg, 55th Operations Support Squadron commander. “Identifying those barriers and coming up with solutions is our core goal here.”
Over 40 participants from the 55th Wing, 557th Weather Wing, 95th Wing, and U.S. Strategic Command gathered in working groups to focus on this conference’s lines of effort: better designated parking spaces for pregnancy and physical accommodations; extended childcare from the youth center; lactation accommodation for training events; feminine hygiene products in federal facilities; RC-135 lavatory issues; and CCCA/D program improvements.
“I’m hoping we can identify some courses of action that we can implement within the next few months,” said Master Sgt. Danielle Brown, 55th Intelligence Support Squadron operations superintendent. “It would make things better for us here at Offutt, and hopefully show other bases what we were able to accomplish and spread the change.”
Warhawk Athena follows the model of Air Combat Command’s Sword Athena, which is a working group of volunteers from across ACC that come together to identify, tackle and propose solutions to female and family centric barriers to readiness. Representatives from the 55th Wing will present some of their findings at the ACC conference.
Major Rachel Borrero, 55th Wing executive officer, shared her experiences from attending Sword Athena.
“I attended Sword Athena with a lot of amazing women and Airmen,” said Borrero. “It was challenging going into it, there was a lot of policy to dig into and learn to use that policy for you. It was a really cool experience to try and look across the Air Force to identify things that were not where they should be to help with our overall readiness. When I was flying as a navigator on the RC-135, I noticed a few things that women were having to deal with that shouldn’t be a barrier to them. It inspired me to get involved because rather than just complaining about it, I could work to help change it and bring down these barriers.”
Col Mark Howard, 55th Wing commander, expressed his and Chief Master Sgt. Andrew Small’s, 55th Wing command chief, support for Warhawk Athena.
"The extraordinary Airmen of the 55th Wing are the driving force behind our mission readiness,” said Howard. “The work we do here directly impacts our ability to deter our adversaries, and we rely on them—our greatest weapon system—to deliver results. Chief Small and I stand arm-in-arm with them, fully invested in their success. They provide us the ammunition of dedication, innovation, and excellence, and we ensure it hits the target to achieve mission success."