Wisconsin Guard welcomes first female field artillery officer

Contact: Wisconsin National Guard Public Affairs Office

November 23, 2015

When 2nd Lt. Alyssa Brenner reported to her unit for the first time Nov. 6, it marked a first in the history of the Wisconsin Army National Guard and represented a broader shift afoot in the military.

Her Oconomowoc, Wisconsin-based unit, Battery C, 1st Battalion, 120th Field Artillery, 32nd Infantry Brigade Combat Team, was headed to the shooting range at Fort McCoy, Wisconsin, to conduct weapons qualification, and a routine drill weekend was underway - except for Brenner had just become the first female assigned to a field artillery officer position in the Wisconsin Army National Guard.

The Army's field artillery branch and other combat arms branches had long been closed to women until recent Department of Defense changes lifted restrictions on women serving in roles such as combat engineer and in the artillery, and while she still needs to complete her initial field artillery branch training, her assignment is significant.

Besides a few Soldiers mistakenly calling her, "sir," the first drill weekend was a big success, she said.

"It was kind of funny because we had M4 qualification at Fort McCoy," Brenner explained. "Everyone had all their gear on - ACH (advanced combat helmet), sunglasses, everything. And as I walked through between the lanes, people would say, 'Good morning, sir. Hello, sir,' and then I would respond and they would say, 'Oh, ma'am. Sorry. I'm not used to that.'"

Brenner took it in stride, knowing that her arrival to Battery C, where she is one of just two females in the unit - the other a supply specialist - was just the first in a step-by-step process that will ultimately put more women in roles traditionally open only to men.

Yet despite the groundbreaking nature of her service, Brenner, a native of Marshfield, Wisconsin, was hardly aware that she was making history. She knew she would be part of the first wave of females in her position, but it was only when she was on the verge of commissioning as an officer in October that she realized that she would be the first female field artillery officer in the Wisconsin Army National Guard.

"It's extremely exciting," she said. "I actually didn't know. I knew I was going to be maybe one of the first ones in a combat arms role, but I didn't know I was the first one in the state, so that was exciting to hear."

Brenner originally enlisted in 2013, when she was a sophomore at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, and like many others who join the military, she just wanted to make a positive difference in the world. She never imagined that she'd be on the leading edge of a major transformation in the military.

"I just felt like I needed to be part of something bigger than myself," she said. "I was watching the news every night and seeing kids my age overseas doing stuff, and basically volunteering their time and dedicating their lives to protect me, what I had here, and my family, and I felt like I needed to do my part."

She completed basic training the following summer and then enrolled in the officer candidate school program run by the Wisconsin Army National Guard at the Wisconsin Military Academy at Fort McCoy. In October, she commissioned as a second lieutenant and branched into field artillery. When she learned that field artillery would be an option for her and other women, she made it her top choice, because to her, artillery offered the promise of excitement.

After one drill, she does not regret her decision. Everyone in the unit was very welcoming, Brenner said. In fact, despite her employment taking her to Colorado, she chose to remain in the Wisconsin National Guard and plans to commute between the two states for drill and training periods. Brenner graduated from college with a degree in conservation biology and environmental studies and ultimately landed a job as park ranger at Chatfield State Park near Denver, but after meeting Battery C's leadership and having the opportunity to serve in a recently formed unit, she chose not to pursue a transfer to the Colorado National Guard.

"I was looking for slots out here (in Colorado), but as soon as I drilled with Charlie Battery and talked with the leadership, I knew this was something I wanted to be a part of, especially because they are a new battery, and they get to kind of build the atmosphere that they want to have," she said.

Building that comfortable atmosphere is important to Brenner, who knows that with only one other female, many eyes will be on her.

"It is different for sure," she said. "Through all of my training, I've always been with other females, and we could kind of bond over certain things. But the males that I've worked with have been super supportive and everything. It is kind of weird basically knowing that other people are thinking that you are the only female there. For me it doesn't feel that weird from my perspective, but knowing that other people might look at it a little differently is definitely an interesting feeling and different than anything else I've ever done."

Brenner knows, however, that the easiest way to fully integrate is to earn her Soldiers' respect by doing her job and doing it well - just like any other Soldier or officer.

"I look at it two different ways," she said. "I just want to do my job and do it well without having to feel like I need to prove something or have a chip on my shoulder. I don't want to work like that, because I know not everyone views it like that."

At the same time though, she knows that she is blazing a trail, and being first means that people will look to her as an example, for better or worse.

"So now learning that I am at the forefront of this, I do feel a certain amount of obligation to work harder to a certain extent to prove that we (females) are capable, because females are 100 percent capable," Brenner said. "And if people are going to be looking at me as kind of an example of what it's going to be like, then absolutely I feel like I need to go above and beyond in proving that that's true. But ultimately I just want to do my job and do it well."

Brenner said she hopes to make a career out of the military and that she spends as much time in field artillery as she can. For now though, her goal is to learn her job and to do it well. Doing so will only reaffirm that the Army made the right decisions, she said, and ultimately it will make the Army more well-rounded and effective as an overall force.

She will soon be sent to Army's field artillery basic officer leader course at Fort Sill, Oklahoma, to become a fully qualified artillery officer.

- 30 -

Story Online

Current News Releases and Media Galleries