#texasairguard

[monkeyssalad-blog]

Lockheed Martin C-130J-30 Hercules United States - US Air Force (USAF) 16-5855 🇺🇸 by ZAZOUYE

[texasmilitaryforcesmuseum]

In honor of the  last day of Women’s History month we have the story of  Second Lieutenant Constance Kries, of the Texas Air National Guard being welcomed back to her unit, the 136th Air Refueling Wing, after completing her Officer Training School (OTS) course leading to her commission. What is remarkable about this feat is that she is the first Air Guard woman to complete the course, only opened to female Guard personnel earlier that year. She not only finished the course but was the Class 70-04 Distinguished Graduate, ending the course as class leader. Women were authorized to join the National Guard starting in 1956 but the only positions available to them were for existing nurses or other college-educated specialties such as in the law or administration. Military schools were not available to them until Congress changed the regulations in 1969, when military education schools such as the Air Guard's OTS were finally opened to female candidates.  Photo taken at Hensley Field, Dallas, Texas , November 22, 1970