Reporting for duty

Sgt. Wallace: high-speed, low drag

STAFF Sgt. Wallace is in the infantry now, or soon will be. (It might take a while to get a slot in a particular unit.) There are all kinds of soldiers who join the National Guard in one profession—or MOS, as they say—but then want to get into the infantry later.

That’s why the state’s Guard has the Infantry Transition Course.

If, say, some soldier schooled in the engineers decides he’d rather serve in the RECON sections, or if some paper-pusher back at HQ is looking for something with more action, the Guard isn’t so rigid to force square pegs to stay in round holes. Join the infantry, fellas! Just be ready to go through some pretty dirty training, what with low-crawling through the mud and shaking off bugs and ticks—not to mention the heat. And running through the woods carrying heavy packs and heavier weapons and going without sleep and dealing with blisters on road marches and helping carry your buddies who’ve twisted ankles and eating cold MREs (with “rib shaped pork patty” in the Russian roulette rotation) and cutting yourself on concertina wire and digging foxholes every evening. What’s not to like?

So Staff Sgt. Wallace of the Arkansas National Guard has joined a couple-dozen others making the transition to the infantry. Congrats all around, guys. Except . . . .

Staff Sgt. Tasheenia Wallace is no guy. Nor is she a fella. She is, however, the first woman in the history of the Arkansas National Guard to complete the infantry course.

With this training, and her rank, Sgt. Wallace can command a squad. One day, maybe she’ll serve as the top enlisted soldier in an infantry platoon, maybe even called “Top” soon enough.

The Department of Defense began allowing women to serve in combat units in 2013. As if every unit isn’t a combat unit these days. In a war with no battle lines, every unit faces the enemy.

It might have taken the brass a decade or so, but eventually even the Pentagon catches on: If a female soldier can meet all the physical requirements, let her serve in the infantry. Or armor. Or artillery.

Or in Sgt. Wallace’s case, she may be called upon to lead a group of men (or women) the next time a tornado touches down in Arkansas and people are in need of help. The National Guard is always on standby. And in this state, the weather always has us surrounded.

Congratulations to Sgt. Wallace on her accomplishment.

And congratulations to the Arkansas Guard for allowing it to happen.

But most important, the rest of us can sleep better o’ night, knowing that Sgt. Wallace—and the rest of the soldiers and airmen in the National Guard—are around when it counts.