General Ann Dunwoody has become the first woman in American history to be promoted to the rank of a four-star general, the highest rank in the US army. Dunwoody will head the Army Materiel Command, one of the Pentagon’s largest outfits that is responsible for worldwide logistical and supply operations.
“Coming less than two weeks after Barack Obama became the first African American to win the White House, the promotion marked the steady trend of shattering racial and sexual barriers in the United States, ” reports DPA. More here…
Gen Dunwoody comes from a long line of soldiers, reports the BBC. ” ‘A Dunwoody has fought in every American war since the Revolution,’ said army chief of staff Gen George Casey.
“She is married to retired air force officer Craig Brotchie. ‘There is no one more surprised than I, except of course, my husband,’ she told an auditorium packed with the military’s top brass. ‘And you know what they say, behind every successful woman there’s an astonished man.’
“Defence Secretary Robert Gates said: ‘History will no doubt take note of [Dunwoody’s] achievement in breaking through this final ‘brass ceiling’ to pin on this fourth star. But she would rather be known and remembered first and foremost as a US army soldier.’
“She is now head of the Army Materiel Command, in charge of weapons, equipment and uniforms for the army. Women are barred from combat roles but have been allowed in the last two decades to serve in a wide variety of other positions.
“There are 21 female generals, most of them one-star, in the US army. Women make up 14% of the army’s active-service strength of more than 500,000 soldiers.” More here…
(File photo above courtesy Associated Press by STACEY G. BROOKS)
Swaraaj Chauhan describes his two-decade-long stint as a full-time journalist as eventful, purposeful, and full of joy and excitement. In 1993 he could foresee a different work culture appearing on the horizon, and decided to devote full time to teaching journalism (also, partly, with a desire to give back to the community from where he had enriched himself so much.)
Alongside, he worked for about a year in 1993 for the US State Department’s SPAN magazine, a nearly five-decade-old art and culture monthly magazine promoting US-India relations. It gave him an excellent opportunity to learn about things American, plus the pleasure of playing tennis in the lavish American embassy compound in the heart of New Delhi.
In !995 he joined WWF-India as a full-time media and environment education consultant and worked there for five years travelling a great deal, including to Husum in Germany as a part of the international team to formulate WWF’s Eco-tourism policy.
He taught journalism to honors students in a college affiliated to the University of Delhi, as also at the prestigious Indian Institute of Mass Communication where he lectured on “Development Journalism” to mid-career journalists/Information officers from the SAARC, African, East European and Latin American countries, for eight years.
In 2004 the BBC World Service Trust (BBC WST) selected him as a Trainer/Mentor for India under a European Union project. In 2008/09 He completed another European Union-funded project for the BBC WST related to Disaster Management and media coverage in two eastern States in India — West Bengal and Orissa.
Last year, he spent a couple of months in Australia and enjoyed trekking, and also taught for a while at the University of South Australia.
Recently, he was appointed as a Member of the Board of Studies at Chitkara University in Chandigarh, a beautiful city in North India designed by the famous Swiss/French architect Le Corbusier. He also teaches undergraduate and postgraduate students there.
He loves trekking, especially in the hills, and never misses an opportunity to play a game of tennis. The Western and Indian classical music are always within his reach for instant relaxation.
And last, but not least, is his firm belief in the power of the positive thought to heal oneself and others.