Diane Beaver:  

I graduated from McCluer North HS in 1975 and attended Indiana University, Bloomington from 1975-1979. Obtained a BA in Forensic Studies. Was in the Army ROTC program and after graduation was commissioned a 2LT in the US Army on 05/07/1979. The year prior I graduated from Airborne school and earned my paratrooper wings. I deployed to Nuernberg Germany for my first assignment after attending Military Police Officer Basic Course at Fort McClellan, AL..It is now in Fort Leonardwood, MO. During my 3 years in Germany it was during the Cold War and the wall in Berlin was still up and you could not travel to Eastern Europe or Russia. We had General Defense plan drills and would roll out to our war fighting areas including tanks on the autobahn and all types of personnel and vehicles. The fiction was we would defend in place but the reality was we would fall back on the Rhine River and wait for help. Russia could blanket Nuernberg with nerve gas in 8 minutes. We had nuclear munitions for artillery as well as rockets all over Germany. MPs guarded those nuclear sites. It was a scary time but Germany and Europe in general is beautiful and full of history so I did a lot of traveling including East and West Berlin. This was also a very challenging time for the Armed Forces because it was the draft personnel going out and the all-volunteer force coming in. That meant a large influx of women which the men did not take kindly to. Enlisted personnel did not salute female officers, male officers called female officers the “c” word and other vulgar terms, sexual assault occurred with no investigation and worse a male soldier could say he saw a woman soldier or officer kissing another woman with no proof and there would be a criminal investigation leading to the woman’s dismissal. The Academy women graduated in 1980 and many suffered terrible indignities by their male counterparts. It took Desert Shield/Desert Storm to change things for women because the battlefield was no longer like WWII where the fighting and artillery and rockets were limited to the front. Now weapons could reach the rear area or if a woman AF officer was flying a tanker it could be shot down. Now women can fight in combat and be in combat arms units if they qualify including submarines, fighters, infantry units, Ranger units, etc. After leaving Germany in 1982 I was promoted to Captain and attended MP Officer Advance Course then on to Fort Riley, KS. In 1984, I left the Army, stayed in the reserves and attended Washington University at St. Louis Law School. I graduated in 1987 and clerked for the Honorable Andrew Jackson Higgins of the MO Supreme Court for one year. In October 1988 I reentered the US Army as a Captain in the Judge Advocate General Corps (JAGC) and was sent to Special Operations Command, Fort Bragg, NC. During my time there I deployed to DESERT SHIELD/DESERT STORM for 9 Months. I supported the 4th Psychological Operations Command, Seals, Delta Force, Special Forces and the British SAS with legal advice on their targeting and operations as well as gave briefings to those going behind the lines. I was promoted to Major whil...Expand for more