Recently, a COL at TRAC-Fort Leavenworth, stepped down after an e-mail was leaked about her opinion on good looking females in PR photos.

Personally, I am highly disappointed in the leadership for not doing more to support her. It's also very sad that the groups that turned on her the quickest are the more feminist groups. The COL was trying to advocate for women and those that should support her threw her under the bus without really paying attention to what she had to say.

She chose some phrases that did not convey her message very well, I agree. Her message was right on, though. The Army is spending too much effort in putting women in makeup and a uniform. They are not trying to sell the Army. They are trying to sell a politically motivated message.

The more appropriate comment for her to use would have indicated that instead of dolled up, photogenic actresses, the Army needs to show the women who are doing and not posing.

I do not agree with competence being tied to physical attractivness. The services have worked very hard to create promotion systems that, at a certain point, decrease the potential for bias. A CDR/1SG may advocate for the promotion of a SPC / SGT because he/she is physically attractive. However, that individual must still have the points. Semi and centralized boards consider a wide variety of criteria. I do agree there is room for the bias, but it has been minimized by "the system".