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‘We’re Really Facing a Brass Ceiling’ in U.S. Military (VIDEO)

Paula Broadwell — Wed, 08 May 2013 11:30:12 +0000

A new disturbing report from the Defense Department shows that more than 20 percent of women in the U.S. military have experienced unwanted sexual contact. The survey is “deeply troubling,” said Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, D-N.Y., who will introduce a bill to take felony crimes out of the chain of command so that rape victims can report violent assault without fearing repercussions from officers higher up. The Pentagon report showed a 6 percent increase in sexual assaults in just one year, with only a small percentage – 238 of the 3,192 reported incidents – resulting in a conviction.

Meanwhile, in a Senate hearing Tuesday, Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. Mark Welsh blamed an increase in sexual assault in the military on the “hookup” culture prevalent among young people. Saying 20 percent of female recruits report being assaulted before they joined the military,” Welsh said “they come in from a society where this occurs.”

The report comes as the Defense Department prepares to formally integrate women into combat.

When it comes to women in the military, the numbers don’t exactly reflect reality. Women currently make up only about 15 percent of military personnel, while they make up about 51 percent of our broader society, says U.S. military veteran Paula Broadwell, author of All In: The Education of General David Petraeus. Watch Broadwell talk about why we need more women in the military, plus the challenges they face getting there:

Paula Broadwell

The military isn’t just a man’s world; it can provide great leadership skills to both men and women, and women can make vast contributions to the military, Broadwell says.

However, there are still challenges preventing women from rising to the top of the military, some of which stem from the combat exclusion policy that has long barred women from being assigned to ground combat units. Recently, the Pentagon overturned portions of the policy; although, with other parts still in place, it is impossible for women to gain the combat experience necessary to reach the high positions, for example,The Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.

“We’re really facing a brass ceiling, if you will, unless we get rid of some of those barriers to the top,” Broadwell says.

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Pentagon to Lift Women-in-Combat Ban (VIDEO)

Paula Broadwell — Thu, 24 Jan 2013 15:21:41 +0000

Outgoing Defense Secretary Leon Panetta today is expected to announce the Pentagon will lift the ban on women serving in combat, paving the way for females to climb the military ranks to the top. The announcement, based on a recommendation from Army General Martin Dempsey, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, will allow women to break the U.S. military’s “brass ceiling.” In 2012, genConnect interviewed Paula Broadwell, author of All In: The Education of General David Petraeus, about the barriers women face in their pursuit of high-ranking military careers:
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Recently, the Pentagon overturned portions of its policy; although, with other parts still in place, it was impossible for women to gain the combat experience necessary to reach the highest positions, for example, The Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. With the expected change, all-male units that serve in direct ground combat, such as infantry, armor and even special-operations, will eventually be opened to women.

“In today’s warfare, where there really are no frontlines, where women are serving everywhere that men are in combat — in support of special operations command troops, for example — there should be no more barriers because we’ve already proven ourselves,” Broadwell told genConnect in 2012.

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Leadership Lessons From David Petraeus (VIDEO)

Paula Broadwell — Wed, 21 Nov 2012 20:30:43 +0000

Paula Broadwell says U.S. Army Gen. David Petraeus is a man of drive with a desire to serve his country. His proven leadership record on the battlefield offers up lessons for anyone to practice – no matter what business or field they are in.

Watch Paula Broadwell, Army veteran and author of All In: The Education of General David Petraeus, discuss the leadership lessons Petraeus, currently serving as the CIA director, can offer us:

WATCH: ‘We’re Really Facing a Brass Ceiling’ in U.S. Military, Says Paula Broadwell

Author Paula Broadwell

Paula Broadwell had great access to Petraeus in writing her book, which she described as not only a war chronicle, but a “strategic leadership portrait, so that leaders from any industry could extract from it.”

“His philosophy is, ‘leaders have to get the big ideas right,’” she continued. “Whether that’s in education – it’s maybe not about No Child Left Behind – maybe it’s about every child college-ready. So we have to frame the problem right. For him, in Iraq, we had to focus on protecting the population.”

Petraeus would recommend: Get the big ideas right, communicate those ideas effectively to your workers so they understand what you’re trying to do – down to the lowest guy on the totem pole, whether that be the soldier in the foxhole or the newest administrative assistant in your company – and oversee implementation to make sure those ideas are being executed. Another tip: stop worst practices and make sure to adopt best practices.

“If you don’t learn the right lessons and encourage your organization to learn and grow and share those practices across the force, then, again, the enemy may adapt faster,” Broadwell said.

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Before the CIA, Petraeus served 37 years in the U.S. Army; he was a four-star general. His last assignments in the Army were as commander of the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) and Commander, U.S. Forces Afghanistan, from July 4, 2010 to July 18, 2011. His also served as the 10th Commander of U.S. Central Command, and as Commanding General of the Multi-National Force in Iraq, during which time he oversaw all coalition forces.

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