First, They Came for the Fighter Pilots ...

Get ready. Small changes often lead to bigger erosions.

It was never about women in combat.

Recently, as we watched U.S. Senators question the incompetent Pete Hegseth about his qualifications to command the largest and most lethal fighting force on the planet, his past statements surfaced. Here’s one:

“I’m straight up just saying we should not have women in combat roles.” — Pete Hegseth, 11/7/2025

“Sure, Party Pete. Now how about you order another tequila and leave the fighting to us?”

A Distraction?

The talk of women in combat positions seemed like a distraction — because the Senators were dealing with an (alleged) alcoholic who had demonstrated a history of sexual predation in addition to phenomenal incompetency at running any kind of business. (This is quite an achievement for old Pete. He simply had to run nonprofit organizations and take the money of donors. He didn’t even have to SELL ANYTHING and he still failed miserably.)

But I digress.

(And I apologize to all the non-profit Executive Directors who are raising their eyebrows at me right now. You work hard, I know. But Party Pete didn’t.)

“Body shots on me! C’mon up, ladies!”

It’s Actually About Women in Power

Many things in America related to the Republican Party in these dark years seem to be about women and power.

Taking power away from women. Making sure women don’t have, retain, or possess real power.

And in the military, combat roles are the most powerful roles.

See, the military is like a big circle and the closer you are to the hub of the circle (warfighter), the more powerful you are.

In my days in the USAF (as an aircraft maintenance officer), the circle looked like this:

Super high-tech drawing by me.

And, wherever you are in the circle, combat is the ultimate force multiplier — a fast track to power and maybe death.

These things move in tandem in the military: The closer you are to the violence, the more likely you are to die and the more powerful you are.

Weird, huh? So for officers, combat roles and combat time are the holy grail.

Now I say all of this as a former officer who deployed to a combat zone but never saw combat.

Every deployment takes you closer to the power center.

What’s the Difference?

If you don’t know (many people do not know), here’s the difference between serving in a combat zone and being in combat:

A combat zone is …

Thanks, Merriam-Webster!

Combat, however, is actual fighting. You are harming people and/or they are harming you.

But here’s the thing: if you can get to a combat zone or in combat, you are more likely to garner important awards, receive plum assignments, and get promoted.

Combat = Power

And if the government restricts you from combat roles because of your gender? Then you will have less power.

Incompetency Rising

That’s just one of the MANY reasons this Hegseth appointment is not just the trashy rise of a morally bankrupt unethical sexually harassing incompetent alcoholic (allegedly!) but another way some men seem to be seeking to wrestle power back from women.

These guys, specifically. But there are more besides them.

When I served back in the 12th century (1988-1994), women were not allowed to be in combat roles, like fighter pilots. Women could fly cargo planes, tankers, etc. — but not fighter jets. And so our power was limited. We didn’t rise as fast or as high as men. We were held down.

Then Things Changed

I still remember where I was when they told me the rules were about to change.

It was 1993 and I was at work, sitting in a truck in Hanger Alley on Seymour Johnson Air Force Base. I remember the muggy North Carolina air of that April morning. The dirty fabric of that pick-up truck seat. And the gravelly voice of Chief Master Sergeant Cook as he said, “They’re going to let women be fighter pilots. And the first one is coming here to fly the Strike Eagle. Her name is Jeannie Flynn.”

And so it came to pass.

1st Lt. Jeannie Flynn in 1993.

I never met Jeannie Flynn (I was at a new base in California by the time she arrived at Seymour Johnson) but she spent 31 years in the USAF, rising to the rank of Major General before retiring in 2023. Jeannie Flynn paved the way for so many Air Force women.

“Make Me a Sammich!”

And now the Republicans have confirmed a Secretary of Defense who has stated that he thinks women should not be in combat or in combat roles. (And he’s ready to bring back religious crusades but that’s a whole other story.)

That would be a rollback for all women.

And a rollback for our society.

And, of course, more power for mediocre men. (The high-performing men were already in those roles.)

With rules like that (inane, ridiculous, archaic rules based on conjecture by idiots), the Jeannie Flynns get kicked back to flying cargo planes or tankers only. Cut off from power. Unable to advance as quickly or as high simply because they have a uterus instead of an external sexual organ.

“Whew. I thought you were going to say something else.”

And that’s wrong.

What Happens Next?

We are sliding back quickly in America. Women have fewer rights today than we did two years ago — and there are men clamoring to erode our power in more ways, like Party Pete.

So it would behoove us to remember that change often happens in small increments.

• First, you can’t control your body because men are controlling it for you

• Then you can’t get promoted

Next, you can’t go to certain spaces.

Then, you can’t have that job. Or that one. Or that one.

Hey, why don’t you just stay home instead? Have some babies. Or care for your grandkids. It’s what you were made for, isn’t it? (Let’s thank JD Vance again for agreeing with that statement in 2020.)

“No. This is not what I was made for.”

Or We Can Refuse to Accept This Future as Inevitable

Rights can die quickly … and they can die slowly like we’re seeing in America.

But citizens in a democracy can say, “No. We don’t like these changes. And we’re not supporting them or the folks imposing them.”

So I just have this gentle, feminine thing to say:

Wake up. Start fighting now or you will be complicit in all American women having fewer rights, lesser roles, and more misery.

And future generations will hate you.

I’m not kidding.

First they came for the fighter pilots. Then they came for every woman.

And we were all too busy watching Netflix.

Or you can say “No, we’re not doing that” and pull on your ass-kicking boots and start fighting.

I still have mine.