05 January 2017 (05:32 UTC-07 Tango 06) 16 Dey 1395/06 Rabi ‘ath-Thani 1438/08 Ji Chou 4714

In August 2016 Sergeant First Class  Erin Smith was awarded with Idaho’s Spirit of Freedom Award.  Her ‘exceptional’ act was becoming the first ever female ‘tanker’ in the United States military!  (I wonder why the U.S. main stream national news media didn’t mention it?)

SFC Smith officially became a M1 tanker (MOS 19K) in June of 2016.  Her original MOS (Military Occupational Specialty) was healthcare specialist.  She deployed to Bosnia in 2002 and then Iraq in 2004, where she was awarded the Combat Medical Badge.

Smith’s transition to a combat MOS was the result of U.S. Defense Secretary Ash Carter opening combat jobs to women at the end of 2015.  However, I’ve always known some women can handle combat jobs no problem.  Several NATO member countries have had female’s in combat jobs for decades, such as Idaho’s neighbor to the north Canada.

While deployed for a ‘friendly’ armor contest with Canadian tankers in 2002, an impromptu main-gun loading contest was held between Bravo Company, 2-116th Armored Cav, Idaho National Guard and Canadian tankers in Alberta.  Main-gun rounds weigh about 19kg (40 pounds) and unlike the auto-loading Soviet/Russian panzers most U.S.-NATO tanks are manually loaded. Guess who won the manly competition? A skinny Canadian army officer who just happened to be a female!

But that’s not the first time I witnessed a female kicking ass over males. While attending Army Basic Training in 1982 one of my Army Drill Sergeants was a little female who could out push-up and out sit-up the men!

Still, I’m proud the Idaho National Guard can boast having the first female M1 Abrams tanker in the U.S.!

IDAHO: “THIS IS WHERE ARMOR FIGHTS!” FIRST FEMALE COMBAT MECHANIC!