Interview with Kelly Henry, History 150 Spring 2024, Conducted by Jacob Henry, March 13, 2024.
Overview to Social Change Interview
In this interview, the major topic is how the Navy changed for women over a twenty-year time frame through a first-person account. The interview is centered around three major policy changes, firstly, the enactment of US Public Law 94-106, the repeal of U.S. Code 20 USC 6015, and the partial repeal of the Combat Exclusion Policy. Additionally, the interview reflects how women were treated immediately following these changes. Finally, the interview addresses how women are treated today, and what challenges remain.
The late 1970s was a time of great change within the United States Armed Forces as in 1976 US Public Law 940196 opened all three service academies to women. This change was met with official support from all three academies, however, behind the scenes, many of the staff and student body at the time resented the change. The proverbial sentiment at the time was that women were unfit to be soldiers, sailors, airmen, or leaders. Women during this time had to overcome many challenges to prove themselves as equally capable as men. Even after enlisting, women were assigned duties much different than their male counterparts, instead of combat, they worked mostly in secretarial positions.
Kelly Henry was part of the fifth class of women admitted into the Naval Academy and served from 1984 to 2004. Being part of one of the first classes of women in the Naval Academy, Kelly experienced firsthand the backlash from both instructor and fellow midshipmen in the form of outward disdain and stricter standards. The need for women to prove themselves and push for equal treatment followed Kelly into her career as she continued to experience and observe the struggles of women now in the workforce. During her time in service, two barriers were broken in the Navy which pushed women closer to equal treatment. In 1993, U.S. Code 20 USC 6015 and part of the Combat Exclusion Policy were lifted which allowed women to serve combat roles on warships and able to pursue carriers as aviators. Following Kelly’s retirement she to this day keeps current on how far the Navy and all the branches have come, but also how far they still have to go.
Biography
This is an interview of Kelly Henry conducted by her son. Kelly was born May 7th, 1962, in Norfolk, VA while her father (Bumper) was deployed away at sea. Her father was in the Navy from 1959 to 1991 and served in California, Rhode Island, Maryland, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and Virginia. Highlights of his career include command of the USS Claud V Ricketts, USS Virginia, and leading the initial American response to the attack on US Marine Barracks in Beirut in 1983. He was a Naval Academy graduate and attained the rank of Captain before retiring. His time and achievements in the Navy proved to influence Kelly’s experience in the Naval Academy. Growing up, Kelly had four siblings and experienced long periods when her father was out at sea, leaving her mother (Nana) to raise five children. On a bet with one of her brothers, who was already attending the Naval Academy, Kelly joined the Naval Academy in 1980 and commissioned to the Navy from 1984 to 2004, where she served in Washington DC, Hawaii, and New York. Highlights of her career include Officer in charge of the Naval Support Activity Saratoga Springs, New York[ responsible for all support functions for active, reserve, and retired Naval personnel in Upstate New York – including housing, grocery store, pay role, health care, recreation facility, counseling, child care services, et] from 2000-2002, and Executive Officer Naval Station Washington DC [ second in command – providing all base support functions for active, reserve, retired Naval personnel in the Washington D.C area] from 1992-1994. Since retiring in 2005, she has focused her efforts on non-profits working for the Red Cross, Blue Star Families [provide support to military families & veterans through community involvement], and the National Military Family Association [provide support to military families through programs and advocacy through national decision-makers – Congress]. More recently in 2020, she became an adjunct professor at Virginia Military Institute teaching leadership and organizations.
Context
Women have been serving our nation since as early as the War of 1812 and the Civil War, by masquerading their identity as men to fight. Nonetheless, women have been fighting for a chance to fight and be treated equally by our armed forces for more than 200 years. During World War I & II, women played a crucial role in turning the tide, although they were delegated to non-combatant roles, like nursing. A very select few would be selected to serve roles closer to the action as mechanics and intelligence officers. Throughout both world wars, women continued to dress as men to see combat. Following both conflicts, women began leaving the armed forces to return to their civilian jobs, however growing military benefits made staying an increasing possibility for others.
A major change occurred in 1976 when US Public Law 94-106 was passed, which allowed women admission into the three service academies (West Point, Annapolis, and the Air Force Academy). Despite official statements in support of the law from all three academies, many students and faculty saw this as a liability. This resentment meant incoming women into these academies had to prove they were equally capable as men. Many women during this time were held to a higher standard of conduct compared to men. Additionally, once commissioned into the armed forces, women were once again designated into non-combat roles.
Regarding the Navy, major changes were once again in store for women as in 1993, the cabinet of then-President Bill Clinton set out to repeal U.S. Code 10 USC 6015 [excluded women from serving aboard Naval vessels] & part of the Combat Exclusion Policy [excluded women from combatant roles]. Once both were repealed, women were allowed to serve on combatant Naval vessels & granted access to positions in aviation. It took till 2013 for the full Combat Exclusion Policy to be lifted and women were finally allowed to serve in all aspects of combat. Despite legally obtaining equal opportunity and treatment as men, women today face long-held cultural barriers and continue to fight the same fight as 200 years ago.
Transcript
Jacob 0:00
So I’m interested in learning about the experience of women in the Navy during a time of great transition. Can you introduce yourself and tell me briefly about your time in the Navy?
Kelly 0:10
Sure. My name is Kelly Henry, I served in the Navy for 20 years. I was commissioned out of the Naval Academy in 1984, when opportunities for women were pretty limited and I served until 2004, and really, the biggest thing that happened during my 20 years of service is the Combat Exclusion Law was lifted, and that permitted women to serve aboard all different kinds of warships rather than just a handful of ships that they’d previously been allowed to serve on, and it also allowed women to train in all different kinds of airframes [underlying mechanical skin of an airplane].
Jacob 0:44
So, I know we’ve talked about Bumper’s [my grandfather], Naval career, a little and Nana’s [my grandmother] experience raising five kids while he was at sea. What was your, what do you remember from these events?
Kelly 0:57
I don’t really remember a whole lot. I thought everybody lived that way. We had a lot of friends who were in the Navy. And you know, the dads were gone. They were out at sea for long periods of time, and the moms just kind of kept things going at home. That was what was normal to me. We lived in communities where a lot of people were serving in the military. So, the way our family was running didn’t really stand out as different.
Jacob 1:21
And then, I know you said you joined the Navy because Uncle Joe said you couldn’t do it. What were your plans before you pursued a career in the Navy?
Kelly 1:30
Well, initially, I thought that I was gonna go to the University of Virginia, because that’s where all my friends were going, and I didn’t really have a plan beyond that. I thought I would get a job after I graduated. But I didn’t have a really specific career path in mind. It’s just, you know, college with my friends, and then see what happens next.
Jacob 1:51
And then, can you talk me through your experience at the Naval Academy, and how it differed compared to Uncle Joe’s experience?
Kelly 1:58
So, I was in the fifth class of women to be admitted to the Naval Academy, and there was still quite a bit of resentment towards women being assigned there. There were graduates who were unhappy about it, there were fellow Midshipmen [Rank of student in the Naval Academy] who were unhappy about it, and there were faculty and staff who were unhappy about it, they felt like women at the Naval Academy was interfering with the mission to produce combat leaders since at that point, women couldn’t serve in combat. So, like all of the women there, I was under a lot more scrutiny than the men in terms of my performance. But you know, I was fortunate that I had an older brother who was a current Midshipman. And so, you know, I had a place where I could turn if things were a little bit difficult that day. And then I also had some of the staff who were friends with my dad who were keeping an eye out for me. So I had a little bit of protection that some of the women who were there at the same time did not have.
Jacob 3:03
And then, what about your time serving in the Navy? Did your experience differ from your well, peers any?
Kelly 3:11
Oh, absolutely. I mean, there was one job in particular, when I was serving in the Navy Command Center, as one of the people who was briefing the Secretary of the Navy [Civilian appointed by the President – Responsible for all operations conducted by the Navy] and the Chief of Naval Operations [Active duty service member – commander of the entire Navy] on daily operations, the daily operations of the Navy around the world. For men, they could just be assigned to that position, but the women had to audition and demonstrate that they could fill that role. So we would have new men show up and get right into that role. But for me, and for every other woman who followed we had to go through an audition process in order to be selected.
Jacob 3:49
And what was your most memorable assignment while in the Navy?
Kelly 3:51
I think the most memorable assignment was when I served as a Flag Aide to an admiral and so that means that I was responsible for maintaining his schedule, arranging his travel, accompanying him when he was meeting with dignitaries [high-ranking official] to serve as a note taker, but also just to make sure that things were staying on track. And so you know, as a as a younger officer, you don’t typically get that exposure to senior decision-makers. So in that role, like we traveled to Moscow for Navy to Navy staff talks with the Russian Federation Navy to Japan for the same kinds of meetings, and to the UK for meetings with the Royal Navy to Venezuela to represent the US Navy at the anniversary celebrations for the Venezuelan Navy. So opportunities that most, most of my peers were not going to ever have.
Jacob 4:53
What skills did you acquire in the Navy that have been impactful to your post Navy life?
Kelly 4:58
I think the most important skill is the ability to work with groups of people. So that’s something that the Navy, all the services teach from a very early age. So as soon as you’re starting in the Navy, you’re learning how to work with people and how to lead people. And that’s a skill set that you can use in any capacity, I’ve used that in the nonprofit arena, and I’ve used that as a teacher.
Jacob 5:24
I know we’ve talked about the recruitment difficulty seen across the services. But what factors do you think are influencing this trend?
Kelly 5:32
Well, there’s a lot of problems right now. I mean, one, the population total is, is declining the birth rate for the timeframe for people who are within that recruitable, age range 17 to 25, primarily, U.S. birth rates declined during for that group that’s aging into the that window right now. So we have a smaller population, we also have a less fit population, so they’re not physically qualified for service. And we have a population whose education was interrupted with COVID, and so we’re seeing that, that impact on their education on the Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Battery Test [test administered to determine aptitude for a future occupation in the armed forces], they’re not scoring as high on that test because of the interruption in their education. And finally, we have a smaller number of people who know someone who served, and so we know that having a personal acquaintance with somebody who served leads to a higher propensity to serve yourself, and because we have a declining number of veterans, we have that declining number of contacts, and so we have a declining number of people who are interested in service.
Jacob 6:42
And then, are you keeping up with issues in the Navy now that you’re out of it? What do you think about how women are treated today?
Kelly 6:53
Yeah, I stay up, I try to stay current on what’s happening. And in all of the services today, because I teach leadership to young men and women who are going to be entering the service. And I think it’s important for them to be aware of what’s happening. And so we talked about that in a classroom setting. I think for the most part, there’s been great progress in terms of how women are treated in the military. But there are still episodes that remind me that they’re not fully accepted. Just this week, a squadron that was based out of Idaho, created a patch that the it’s an aviation squadron, that as part of their official uniform, and their patch featured a pole dancer. So you know, completely inappropriate. But the fact is, that organization thought this was a good idea and produced it for the men and women of that squadron to wear on their uniform, and that tells me we still have a long way to go.
Jacob 7:58
What would you tell a young woman considering a career in the Navy today?
Kelly 8:02
I’d say that anybody would be, military service is a great way for anybody to start out in life. It gives you a few years to get great job training, to learn how to lead to get money for further education, to see the world and you know, and to do some good. I think opportunities for women in the military probably equal or exceed opportunities that women have in the civilian sector, especially for those just starting out.
Jacob 8:32
I have one last question. You mentioned earlier that the Navy changed over the course of your career. Can you share some more details about that?
Kelly 8:41
Oh, sure. When I first was commissioned in 1984, women were not allowed to serve in any kind of combatant role. In fact, there was a group of women midshipmen, who during our summer training, were not allowed to go out on a combatant for just a day at sea. In case the and they were told it’s in case the men need to go to war. So, they were waiting on the pier for their male counterparts to come back in at the end of the day, and the brow of the ship came down onto the pier and the first group that came off the ship, were not midshipmen, but a group of boy scouts. So the Navy had thought it was safe to take a group of boy scouts out to sea but not a group of women who were going to be serving in the Navy as commissioned officers in just a few short years. So that was one of the issues that women had to really fight against is that the idea that we were professionals, and we could we were equals.
When I was first starting out, women could only serve on a handful of ships. There were a couple of submarine tenders [smaller strictly supportive air and maintenance vessels] that they were allowed to serve on and those were normally in port full time so they weren’t really going to sea, and a handful of airframes, noncombatant airframes, and that limited opportunities both for active service but also for future career promotions, I mean the people who lead Naval Aviation are typically fighter pilots. Women weren’t allowed to be fighter pilots. So their opportunities to lead later in their career were severely limited. For the Surface Warfare Officers [ personnel trained to maintain and operate Naval ships], since they could only be on tenders, they had limited opportunities for advancement in their careers as well. There were going to be virtually no opportunities for command at sea.
But after I had been in the Navy for about 10 years, the law was changed, and now these opportunities were opened for women. So those first women who went to those combatants at sea and who, who trained on those, those new airframes, they were pioneers, and there was a lot of resistance to them entering the fleet and, in those different roles, roles that have previously been closed to women. So now it’s common, women are flying all different kinds of aircraft. There’s a woman who’s a member of the Blue Angels [Navy aircraft acrobatics team], there’s women who have had command of U.S aircraft carriers. There is a woman leading, there’s a woman leading the entire Navy right now she’s the first service chief, first woman Service chief. So we’re seeing barriers broken everywhere, and you know, it’s remarkable that all of this is happening and, you know, over the course of a lifetime.
Jacob 11:24
Thank you.
Kelly 11:25
Thank you.
Overview of Interview Technology & Process
This interview was conducted in person using the Voice Memos app on iPhone and transcribed using Otter.ai. The audio required minimal editing, except at the end where I had to stop recording and start again to ask one final question. The transcript required minimal editing for correct word usage and incorrect punctuation. Steps taken before the interview include finding a quiet and comfortable place to conduct the interview and having my laptop with my questions in front of me, as well as propping my phone on my laptop to direct the audio upward and test the sound quality.
Bibliography
Featured Image – [U.S. Navy Lt. j.g. Stephanie Conte, right, assigned to the guided missile cruiser USS Antietam (CG 54), stands watch] https://images.app.goo.gl/oCNgFdgNW7SRnsYU7
Twenty-Five Years of Women Aboard Combat Vessels. http://public2.nhhcaws.local/content/history/nhhc/browse-by-topic/diversity/women-in-the-navy/women-in-combat.html. Accessed 21 Mar. 2024.
Established in 1794, the Naval History and Heritage Command is an official branch of the US Navy. The branch was created to serve as the official archive for Naval Operations and “to serve our nation, by using the power of history and heritage to enhance the warfighting capability of the U.S. Navy” as well as “[preserving] and [presenting] an accurate history of the U.S. Navy” (Who We Are).
Times, Linda Charlton Special to The New York. “Bill to Open Military Academies To Women Is Passed by Senate.” The New York Times, 7 June 1975. NYTimes.com, https://www.nytimes.com/1975/06/07/archives/bill-to-open-military-academies-to-women-is-passed-by-senate.html.
Established in 1851, The New York Times is an independent news outlet that dedicates itself “to seek the truth and help people understand the world has remained constant” (History).
Moore, Brenda L. “Military Women: Changes in Representation and Experiences.” Handbook of Military Sciences, edited by Anders Sookermany, Springer International Publishing, 2020, pp. 1–22. Springer Link, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-02866-4_80-1.
The academic journal “Handbook of Military Science” states its purpose “is to inform and enlighten those dealing with the military on the role and contributions of science in describing, understanding and explaining military life, knowledge and doings” (About This Book).
Transcript edits: I chose to largely omit filler words from my transcript as they were said so often I feel it detracts from the overall interview. Additionally, I provided brief definitions for uncommon words as well as certain job positions mentioned. I found it interesting that I did not know what most of the technical terms and roles of certain positions mentioned in the interview. Finally, I broke up Kelly’s response to the last question for the sake of readability.