In celebration of Women’s Equality Day, the U.S. Army Reserve 79th Sustainment Support Command at the Joint Forces Training Base in Los Alamitos recently hosted Major General Marcia Anderson, the first African American female to rise to such rank in the 237-year history of the U.S. Army. She currently serves as the deputy chief of the Army Reserve at the Pentagon in Washington, D.C.
“There are still other countries in the world that do not have women’s rights including voting, owning personal property or running for office,” she said. General Anderson has traveled extensively to the Middle East and Africa, and said the U.S. is at the forefront of opportunities for women.
She was glad to announce that in the military men and women are treated equally with regards to training and pay. She said that since 1775 women have served in the military in some kind of capacity.
“Women provide combat support, as they have the hearts of warriors,” she continued. “A quarter of all reserve forces are women.”
“There is still a lot of work to be done,” she continued. “In the United States, we rank as the 68th country in the world in equal pay for men and women.”
While abroad in Saudi Arabia, General Anderson saw how women were not allowed to be out in public without a male relative, and how there were no women’s restrooms. “They are where we were 90 years ago,” she said. “But the United States is slowly planting seeds for change.”
She especially felt that every person could be a seed for change in women’s equality and how every person can be a game changer towards equal rights for women around the world.
“We have to leverage all our human capabilities to improve society together,” she added. Women’s Equality Day especially remembers the addition of the 19th Amendment, granting women the right to vote in the U.S.
In civilian life, General Anderson works in U.S. Courts as a Clerk of Bankruptcy Court in Madison, Wisconsin. She earned her bachelor’s degree in Political Science from Creighton University, and holds a law degree from Rutgers University. She has held every level of command from captain to general officer in the Army, and is a graduate of the U.S. Army War College. She has been in the Army Reserves since 1979, has two step children, and is a new grandmother.
