Southern Fall/Winter 2022

P
the ultimate insult was, ‘your mama wears army boots.’
They were thinking, ‘Oh, our teacher wears army boots,
and she’s a drill sergeant — she could kill people with
her bare hands, so don’t mess with her!’ I never had any
discipline issues,” she says, laughing.
There were challenges to being a woman in the
military.
“When I first joined, female soldiers often were held
to more traditional female roles. I was an administration
and personnel officer. It was challenging because there
was a pressure to prove you had the skills — it wasn’t
explicit, but the unit withholds judgment until we prove
to them that we are competent and capable of doing
the job with them, unlike males going into a command
position who are automatically accepted and believed to
be competent by virtue of their gender. As a female, you
had to walk that fine line of being assertive without being
overly assertive. Certain actions that men would take
— they’re praised for being assertive. If females were to
take the same actions, we would be labeled aggressive.”
She says it has improved over the years. “I think it’s
wonderful that I can be the role model for all women
to know that they can succeed to the highest levels of
service in any organization.”
Recently, Gordon met with National Guard leadership
in Washington, D.C., to discuss the state partnership
program, in which each state is partnered with a country
in a different part of the world to work with them on
improving their military up to NATO standards.
“The state partnership program came about and
started in 1993 after the dissolution of the Soviet
Union,” she explains. “The former Eastern Bloc countries
want to learn NATO and U.S. tactics.”
Alabama National Guard is partnered with the
country of Romania, which borders Ukraine.
Gordon believes that mentorship is the most
important aspect of her position, much in the same way
that her own mentors throughout her life have helped
her to succeed. Visiting troops where they are stationed
is one of her favorite duties as the general.
“We’re going to be celebrating our 30th anniversary
with Romania next summer,” she says. “There are really
a lot of similarities between being a teacher and what
I do in the Guard, because you’re in charge of training
and preparing them for a mission. I just love being out
there seeing what the troops are doing, and hearing
about what issues and challenges they are facing.
They’ll be deployed over there for nine months; they’re
leaving their families and their jobs. An important part
of my job is to thank them and let them know that we
back home are supporting their sacrifices. Also, I want
them to know that we are taking care of their families
while they are deployed, because the families make
tremendous sacrifices as well.”
“Birmingham-Southern College is different than many
institutions in that it encourages a student’s involvement
in many different circles across campus. I had the privilege
of being able to serve as a leader in my fraternity, honor
council, Quest II, orientation, and Southern Ambassadors.
After leaving Birmingham-Southern and meeting peers
from schools across the country, I learned that my level
of involvement was rare. What’s funny is that it was not
rare at Birmingham-Southern. The College encouraged
and challenged individuals to give back to our peers and
to our institution by becoming involved and serving as
leaders in campus organizations. This kind of influence
taught me a great deal about service and leadership, and it
is something I am continuously grateful for. These lessons
are perennially valuable for aspiring leaders after they
graduate. Thank you, Birmingham-Southern, for giving
your students the gift of involvement and leadership
opportunities. We are better for it.”
– Graham Spencer ’16, 2019 Rising Star Award Recipient,
Principal at EAB, New York City
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