The First Female Colonel of the U.S. Army Judge Advocate General's Corps: A Summary and Analysis of the 'Oral History of Colonel Elizabeth R. Smith, Jr. (USA Retired) (1951-1978)'

• Author: Major George R. Smawley
• Pages: 05

2004] ORAL HISTORY OF COLONEL SMITH 171

THE FIRST FEMALE COLONEL OF THE U.S. ARMY JUDGE ADVOCATE GENERAL'S CORPS: A SUMMARY AND ANALYSIS OF THE "ORAL HISTORY OF COLONEL ELIZABETH R. SMITH, JR. (USA RETIRED) (1951-1978)"1

MAJOR GEORGE R. SMAWLEY2

People think that at the top there isn't much room. They tend to think of it as an Everest. My message is that there is tons of room at the top.

Lady Margaret Thatcher3

I. Introduction

Herman Melville once wrote that pioneers "are the advance-guard, sent on through the wilderness of untried things, to break a new path in the New World that is [theirs]."4 Like frontier Americans, with one foot

set in the experience of the past and the other in hope and ambition for the future, Melville aptly described the women who served in the military in the aftermath of WWII. Unburdened by conscription, they volunteered for military service and commissions with an unbridled desire to serve their nation despite a cultural and institutional environment often unprepared to receive them.5 Yet, receive them they did; building a history of significant contributions to the Army and its various branches, including the Army's Judge Advocate General's Corps (JAG Corps).

These remarkable officers served the JAG Corps knowing that law, military organization, and culture limited their opportunities. They were volunteers for their country; patriots for an Army which was hesitant of their potential. Their ambition to serve and soldier helped quell such doubts and facilitated their ultimate integration into the Army. These officers overcame barriers to advanced education, institutional biases in the military, and the various statutory and policy prohibitions relating to marriage and pregnancy,6 many in effect as late as the mid-1970s. The pre-1970s Army was a frontier that few women cared to explore which makes those who did all the more remarkable.

These pioneers include: Colonel (COL) Phyllis Propp Fowle, the first Women's Army Corps (WAC) officer to serve with the JAG

Corps, the first female staff judge advocate, and the only woman to serve with the JAG Corps overseas during WWII;7 Lieutenant Colonel (LTC) Nora G. Springfield, the first WAC granted permanent detail to the JAG Corps;8 and COL Elizabeth R. Smith, Jr., the first active duty female judge advocate promoted to the rank of colonel.9

Colonel Smith served in both the WAC and the JAG Corps from 1951-1978, a period spanning the Korean War to the end of the WAC as a separate branch within the Army.10 She is one of only a handful of WAC officers who served in Army legal offices before the Army's 1961 decision granting them permanent status in the JAG Corps and one of a very few who became career officers.11 Most notably, she is forever part of the Army JAG Corps history as the first active duty female judge advocate to achieve the rank of colonel, on 10 July 1972. For nearly eighteen years she remained the only active duty female judge advocate to serve in that rank, until COL Joyce E. Peters' promotion in 1990.12

This article discusses the historical context of the integration of women into the JAG Corps, including the WAC, and provides a summary and analysis of interviews conducted with COL Smith on 13

and 14 January 1989. The purpose of this article is to present an overview of the personal and professional experience of COL Smith, emphasizing her unique perspective and pivotal place in the history of gender integration in the JAG Corps.

II. Background: The Women's Army Corps

Opportunities for female judge advocates began in 1943 with the creation of the WAC, and the selective temporary detail of a small number of WAC officers with law degrees to the JAG Corps.13 In 1961, The Judge Advocate General (TJAG) agreed to detail permanently WAC officers to the JAG Corps, effectively granting them the same status as male JAG officers.14 The remaining doors finally swung open in 1978, with the demise of the WAC and the introduction of regular appointments for qualified female officers in the various branches of the U.S. Army.15

The government established the WAC under federal law in July 1943 as a separate military auxiliary within the Department of the Army, to cultivate, manage, advocate, and protect women service members.16

Effective in September 1943, the WAC succeeded the Women's Army Auxiliary Corps (WAAC) created two years earlier.17 These

organizations are distinguished from the long-standing Army Nurse Corps, which included a narrow range of professional services generally reflecting their civilian counterparts.18 By 1944, WAC personnel were eligible to work in 274 varied Army military occupational specialties (MOS).19 Commissioned WAC officers with specific skills or educational background could apply to other branches, including the JAG Corps, where they would work and serve although they remained WAC officers for most purposes, including promotion.

Finally, in June 1961, Major General (MG) Charles L. Decker, TJAG of the Army at the time, formally accepted qualified WAC officers for permanent detail in the JAG Corps.20 Before this, WAC officers with law degrees were eligible for selective temporary detail to the JAG Corps for a period of three years, during which their records, promotions, and career management remained with the WAC.21 According to Bettie J. Morden's research,

Lt. Col. Nora G. Springfield was the first [woman] to be approved for [permanent] duty as an Army lawyer. In a few years, the Army approved a program under which civilian lawyers and senior law students could apply for appointment in the WAC with permanent detail to the Judge Advocate General's Corps. Their careers would be managed by [the JAG Corps] rather than by the WAC Career Management Branch. On 21 July 1966, 1st LT Adrienne M. McOmber became the first lawyer permanently detailed in the Judge Advocate General's Corps directly from civilian life.22

Still, by December 1963, there appeared to be just two active component women permanently detailed and serving in the JAG Corps,23

a branch made up of over 1,000 officers.24 By June 1970, the number of female JAG officers tripled to only six.25 Women remained in the WAC and segregated within the Army until late 1978, when the gates to Army service formally and finally opened through legislation, eliminating the WAC as a separate branch and integrating WAC officers into the various branches of the Army.26

In 1972, Assistant Secretary of Defense for Manpower and Reserve Affairs, Roger T. Kelly, wrote in an action memorandum, "separate organizations and restricted assignments do not provide adequate career opportunity for women."27 It is worth noting that, despite the restrictions for female officers, female lawyers had been playing a role in military justice since as early as 1944.28 In that year civilian attorney, Laura Miller Derry, became the first women to represent a Soldier in an Army court-martial;29 she was also the first women to secure a verdict of not guilty in a capital case.30

By 1973, the Army began fielding policy reversals and initiatives advancing the role and opportunities for female service members.31

Foremost among the changes was an end to the involuntary separation for reasons of marriage and pregnancy.32 These changes responded, in part, to progressive changes in civilian and military culture, and to manpower requirements in the aftermath of the draft. The world and the military had changed significantly since 1948 when congressional hearings resulted in integration of women in the military through establishment of a separate corps.33 By the mid-1970s, Congress passed

legislation to dissolve the separate corps and fully integrate women into the military.34

President Jimmy Carter formally rescinded the legislation authorizing the establishment of the WAC on 20 October 1978.35 With it, went most remnants of institutional disparity between men and women in the Army, the combat service exclusion notwithstanding. A key sponsor of the legislation was Senator William Proxmire, whose determined and articulate advocacy of full integration of women in the Army was vital to its success. During Senate hearings, he noted:

Imagine a separate personnel system for Blacks or Catholics or Chicanos. The country would not stand for such a thing . . . . The Women's Army Corps is the last vestige of a segregated military establishment . . . . Women will continue to serve our country in the military―but in the mainstream of the Services, without restrictions on their service, without special privileges, or special obstacles to their advancement.36

III. Women in the JAGC

Despite the increased access and opportunity for service in the JAG Corps during the 1970s and 1980s, women remained the exception rather than the rule in an otherwise male-dominated Army legal community.37

This is currently no longer the case.

In July 2001, Brigadier General (BG) Coral C. Pietsch became the first female judge advocate to achieve flag officer status.38 General Pietsch, a Reserve Component officer, currently serves as the Chief Judge (Individual Military Augmentee) of the U.S. Army Court of

Criminal Appeals.39 In 2003, the approximately 375 active duty female judge advocates represented slightly more than a quarter of all active duty Army attorneys.40 Women currently serve with honor and distinction at nearly every level of the JAG Corps.

For example, in 2003, women actively served as staff judge advocates (SJA) or similar senior positions at or in the trial judiciary, the Army litigation divisions, the criminal appeals divisions, corps headquarters, the personnel and policy division, joint combatant commands, major army commands, training installations, and the combat divisions.41 In the Army, where leaders are traditionally "grown" and developed over time, integrating women in the JAG Corps has proven nothing short of an unqualified success. Their leadership, influence, and contribution have been profound.

This...