海角大神

One day shortly after Lt. Col. Jessica Ruttenber went back to work as an Air Force pilot following the birth of her first child in 2011, the controls on her jet started malfunctioning 鈥� an in-flight emergency. Unable to safely land, 鈥淚 had to go up really high and start trouble-shooting for hours.鈥澛�

As the flight commander, she was well trained to solve complex problems in air. What was new was that back at home, she was breastfeeding and needed to pump regularly during the workday 鈥� an exigency she skipped during that flight.聽

Ultimately, she touched down safely, 鈥渁nd as I relaxed, the milk just started flowing out of me,鈥� drenching the front of her flight suit, she says. There were emergency responders, as well as the squadron commander, standing by on the flight line to meet her. 鈥淟uckily, I had a flight jacket on.鈥� She zipped it up, greeted her colleagues, finished some paperwork in the office, and went home.

The incident could have convinced her to embrace formula. Instead, she realized it was important to be more 鈥渦napologetic鈥� about the requirements of breastfeeding. 鈥淓ven women that don鈥檛 have a job with four walls and a predictable schedule need to make their physiological needs a priority,鈥� she says. 鈥淗ad I communicated better with my crew and been more directive 鈥� instead of worrying about the stigma that comes along with lactation breaks 鈥� I would have pumped before walking out to the aircraft.鈥澛�

Moving forward, that鈥檚 what Colonel Ruttenber did 鈥� and she pumped on the aircraft as well when she needed to.聽

In the years since, the Pentagon has acknowledged the call to make life more equitable for pregnant service members. In 2016, for example 鈥� five years after Colonel Ruttenber had her first child 鈥� the Defense Department mandated that the military create lactation spaces for women.聽

Major step toward equality聽

One year ago, the Air Force updated a policy for remotely piloted aircrew expecting babies. Previously restricted from flying drones, they can now continue to work without a special medical waiver.聽

It was only this month, however, that the Department of Defense banned discrimination against pregnant service members outright 鈥� a major step toward equality for women in the armed forces, advocates say.

A report last year from the Defense Advisory Committee on Women in the Services (DACOWITS) had sounded the alarm against the 鈥渃ontinued persistence of negative attitudes towards pregnancy and pregnant servicewomen in the military鈥� and warned that these troops often experience 鈥渘egative impacts on their career.鈥� A study released in May from the U.S. Government Accountability Office bears this out, concluding that pregnancy is one of the top reasons enlisted women leave the service.

Now that the policy leap has come to pass, the question moving forward, advocates add, is how to advance the culture so that military women 鈥� and men聽鈥撀燾an transform the workplace for the better.

鈥淚鈥檓 cautiously optimistic that this ban on discrimination means that those in senior positions are paying attention to the work of DACOWITS into things that aren鈥檛 working very well for women, for families,鈥� says Kayla Williams, director of the Military, Veterans, and Society Program at the Center for a New American Security. That said, she adds, 鈥淎s in so many policy changes, the devil is in the implementation 鈥撀爈ocal commands need to take it seriously.鈥澛�

鈥淭hey didn鈥檛 even ask me鈥�

One Air Force lieutenant colonel, who didn鈥檛 want to be identified because of the potential impact on her career, says she found that her commanders were not ill-intentioned. Quite the opposite, in fact. They were often kindly solicitous聽鈥撀燼nd that鈥檚 where the problems started.聽

When she became pregnant, she applied for and received a waiver to be in the cockpit during her second trimester. Her boss, however, refused to let her fly. 鈥淗is wife had a difficult pregnancy, and he was protecting me. He鈥檚 a great guy, but he kind of removed my choice there, right? I wanted to fly, I wanted to contribute, but he took my choice away.鈥澛�

A 2020 Ph.D. study from Maj. Cary Balser, who works in the Air Force鈥檚 plans and programs office, found that removing pregnant women from the workplace聽鈥� even if well-intentioned聽鈥撀爓ill have negative impacts on their military careers.

The Air Force officer had been voted by her unit as the No. 1 person they鈥檇 like to go to war with聽鈥撀燼 notable nod in a male-dominated squadron. She was told she was next in line for an instructor pilot upgrade聽鈥撀燼n important step in her career. But when her commanders found out she was pregnant, they took her off that list. 鈥淭hey didn鈥檛 even ask me,鈥� she says.聽

After she had the second child, she asked for the upgrade again. 鈥淚 said, 鈥楬ere鈥檚 my mitigation plan. I have an on-call nanny. My husband and I share the load 50/50.鈥� Their response: 鈥溾�楢 mom needs to be with her baby. You should take more time to recuperate.鈥� My supervisor told me, 鈥楳y wife didn鈥檛 think straight for a year after she had a baby.鈥欌��

Ultimately, she decided to leave active duty and is now flying planes for a major airline, while continuing to serve as a reservist. And when she learned she was pregnant with her third child, she saw some considerable differences in how her two workplaces handled the news. The major airline congratulated her and told her they would make sure she didn鈥檛 have any routes that flew through zones with outbreaks of the Zika virus.

In her reserve job, meanwhile, she had been asked to be director of operations for her unit. After learning of her pregnancy, her supervisor continued to support her for the job聽鈥撀燽ut his boss did not. 鈥淗e said, 鈥業鈥檓 a hard no against her [getting this job], because she鈥檚 going to take so much time off for maternity leave.鈥� My squadron commander, to his credit, was like, 鈥業 don鈥檛 think you can say that.鈥� 鈥�

Up until this month he could聽鈥撀燽ut not any more. 鈥淚f that had happened today, I would have been able to say, 鈥楾his is discrimination.鈥欌��

Colonel Ruttenber now serves on the Air Force鈥檚 Women鈥檚 Initiative Team at the Pentagon, where she is heartened by the strides the service has made in requiring lactation spaces and time to pump. She has considered leaving the service, too, to take a civilian job with better pay and more family time, she says. 鈥淏ut I feel a duty to make the Air Force stronger before I leave.鈥澛�

That may mean thinking more creatively to meet the challenges female troops face. The Coast Guard 鈥渟ets a great example,鈥� Colonel Ruttenber says, by paying to ship breast milk home when the member is at a temporary duty location. Bases could buy portable lactation pods for nontraditional work spaces, 鈥渓ike on the flight line,鈥� she says. Public health troops could also do something as simple as track lactation spaces on bases and give the list to pregnant service members.聽

Colonel Ruttenber thinks back to the early chats she had with her bosses about breastfeeding. 鈥淚 was super uncomfortable, a little insecure, and a little emotional about it,鈥� she says. But those feelings also brought to mind the challenges, embarrassments, and triumphs of the military women who paved the way for her and for her female colleagues, she says, citing the Maya Angelou quote that each time a woman stands up for herself, she stands up for all women. 鈥淭hat鈥檚 what I鈥檓 trying to get at.鈥�

By being 鈥渂rave enough to have an awkward conversation, you鈥檙e normalizing this conversation,鈥� she adds. 鈥淵ou just made it 10 times easier for the woman coming in behind you.鈥�