<html><head><meta http-equiv="content-type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8"></head><body dir="auto"><div><span></span></div><div><meta http-equiv="content-type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8"><div><span></span></div><div><meta http-equiv="content-type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8"><div style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"><span></span></div><div><meta http-equiv="content-type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8"><div style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"><span></span></div><div><meta http-equiv="content-type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8"><div style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;">Courtesy of the Army Times.</div><div style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"><br></div><div style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;">------------------------------------</div><div><p align="justify" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"></p><div style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; text-align: start;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><span class="maintitle" style="font-weight: bold;">Bradley commander</span><span class="maintitle" style="font-weight: bold;"> is 1st Cav’s first</span><span class="maintitle" style="font-weight: bold;"> female ‘Top Gun’</span></span></div><span class="abody" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><div style="text-align: start;"><br></div><div style="text-align: start;">Maj. Chrissy Cook is the first woman in the 1st Cavalry Division to qualify to command a M2A2 Bradley Fighting Vehicle.</div><div style="text-align: start;"><br></div><div style="text-align: start;">Cook practiced mornings, weekends and holidays for five months with her Bradley crew, and she had a secret weapon. At home, her 8-year-old son James rehearsed call-and-response tank command drills with her as her gunner.</div><div style="text-align: start;"><br></div><div style="text-align: start;">As a mom and dual-military spouse, it was important to include him in her mission, she said.</div><div style="text-align: start;"><br></div><div style="text-align: start;"><span class="abody">“Bysayingthisishowyou’remaking mommy good at her job, it helps explain why mommy’s in the field for two to three weeks,” said Cook, 38, of Fort Hood, Texas. “When someone asks why your mom can’t</span><span class="abody"> be here, he can say, ‘My mom’s out making history.’ ” Cook, the operations and training off icer (S-3) for the 3rd Engineer Battalion, 3rd Brigade Combat Team, scored “Top Gun”inthequalif ication course with her crew — a first for the 1st Cavalry. It’s all the more impressive because the crew were Bradley novices at the start.</span></div></span><span class="abody" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><div style="text-align: start;"><br></div><div style="text-align: start;"><span class="abody">“It wasn’t me, it was my crew ... and I had an awesome crew,” Cook said of making Top Gun. “When you have a good run, it makes all those weekends and holidays you missed</span><span class="abody"> worth it. We trained so hard and now we’re qualified to do what the Army asked us to do.”</span></div></span><span class="abody" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><div style="text-align: start;"><br></div></span><span class="abody" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><div style="text-align: start;">Cook does not believe she is the first female soldier to earn her qual on a Bradley. Her position was among those the Army recently opened to women, said Army spokesperson Paul Prince. The Army continues to incrementally add women to the ranks of jobs once closed to female soldiers.</div><div style="text-align: start;"><br></div><div style="text-align: start;">In a June 17 directive, Army Secretary John McHugh opened an additional 33,000 jobs to women to include numerous jobs with infantry battalion headquarters. However, some jobs remain closed — at least for now. Closed military occupational specialties continue to exist in engineer, field artillery, infantry, armor and special operations units.</div><div style="text-align: start;"><br></div><div style="text-align: start;">Cook encouraged any woman who wants to break ground to find a mentor to help guide them, and to go for it, as long as they can meet the Army’s standards for the job.</div><div style="text-align: start;"><br></div><div style="text-align: start;">“No one will say anything, as long asyoumeetthestandard,”shesaid. “Understand that you have the exact samestandardandnobody’sgoing to make it easier for you just because your gender’s different.”</div><div style="text-align: start;"><br></div><div style="text-align: start;"><span class="abody">A dual-military spouse, Cook</span><span class="abody"> works hard to balance and incorporate what she calls her home family and Army family. She advises other women to have strong networks to help; she has her mom and two babysitters.</span></div></span><span class="abody"><div style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0); text-align: start;"><br></div><div style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0); text-align: start;">The qualification course was full of tough tasks for a soldier of any gender, including loading, disassembling and reassembling a 25mm cannon, and a series of live night engagements.</div><div style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0); text-align: start;"><br></div><div style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0); text-align: start;">In the qualif ication course, the crew’s Bradley broke down, had comms problems and its targeting was off. Ultimately, the challenges early on prepared them for the toughest lane.</div><div style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0); text-align: start;"><br></div><div style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0); text-align: start;">She said soldiers made friendly wagers based on her gender, that her small hands would make it easier for her to load ammo into a narrow chute, or that her upper body strength would make it harder to handle the 25 mm cannon.</div><div style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0); text-align: start;"><br></div><div style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0); text-align: start;">Cook shrugged off the idea that her gender could give her any advantage or disadvantage over a male soldier.</div><div style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0); text-align: start;"><br></div><div style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0); text-align: start;">“I have the same issues as you,” she said.</div><div style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0); text-align: start;"><br></div><div style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0); text-align: start;"><span class="abody">And while she struggled at times, she ultimately excelled.</span></div><div style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0); text-align: start;"><span class="abody"><br></span></div><div style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0); text-align: start;"><span class="abody">--------------------</span></div><div style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0); text-align: start;"><span class="abody"><br></span></div><div style="text-align: start;"><span class="abody" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><span class="abody">Maj. Chrissy Cook is the first woman in the 1st Cavalry Division to qualify on a Bradley Fighting Vehicle, scoring “Top Gun” in the qualification course with her crew.</span><span class="abody"> </span></span></div><div style="text-align: start;"><span class="abody" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><span class="abody"><br></span></span></div><div style="text-align: start;"><span class="abody" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><span class="abody"><img src="cid:640E1628-4145-4829-AE63-76991203BF14" alt="image.jpeg" id="640E1628-4145-4829-AE63-76991203BF14" width="560" height="900"></span></span></div></span><p style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"></p></div><div style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;">------------------------------------<br><br><div><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Seeya 'round town, Moscow, because . . .</span></div><div><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><br></span></div><div><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">"Moscow Cares" (the most fun you can have with your pants on)</span></div><div><a href="http://www.moscowcares.com/" style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><font color="#000000">http://www.MoscowCares.com</font></a></div><div><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"> </span></div><div><div><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Tom Hansen</span></div><div><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Moscow, Idaho</span></div></div><div><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><br></span></div><div><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">"There's room at the top they are telling you still.</span></div><div><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">But first you must learn how to smile as you kill,</span></div><div><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">If you want to be like the folks on the hill."</span></div><div><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><br></span></div><div><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">- John Lennon</span></div><div><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"> </span></div></div></div></div></div></div></body></html>