The Army Under Secretary On How Women Fit Into The Army’s Future

Patrick Murphy, Under Secretary of the Army discussed how Women fit into the Army's Future.

"Under Secretary of the Army Patrick Murphy discusses gender integration, women in combat, and leadership at the small-unit level.

We caught up with Under Secretary of the Army Patrick Murphy after he spoke at the 29th annual Joint Women’s Leadership Symposium in Arlington, Virginia, on the topic of leading with purpose and impacting the future.

Murphy, a former Army officer, was the first Iraq War veteran elected to Congress, where he led the repeal of “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell,” and the passage of the Post-9/11 GI Bill. Now, he’s the number two civilian running the Department of the Army inside the Pentagon.

Murphy spoke with Task & Purpose about implementing gender-integration policy, women in combat, and how to foster the right attitude at the small-unit level where the policy change will have the greatest impact.

What is it like being a male senior leader in the Army, having these conversations and talking about women’s leadership at this time?

Every senior leader worth their salt believes actions speak louder than words. I’ve built a team in this position and prior, as a member of Congress that is diverse. … I don’t pay lip service, I lead by example and I do that not because it’s the right thing to do, I do it because having diverse teams and not just gender and race and orientation, but in thought and in background is critically important. … I have diverse members on my team because it makes us a more dynamic unit.

What does it mean for the Army that senior leaders are engaging in that conversation and are there any challenges to that, any holdouts? What is the climate like?

No. I mean, listen, it’s been a historic year for women in the military. You know, we’ve had three women graduate from Ranger School, the toughest leadership school in the world. We have a combatant commander who’s a woman, but this isn’t anything new. We’ve had women serving in combat since the Revolutionary War.

My generation of veterans in Iraq and Afghanistan, I think it’s pretty clear. When I deployed after 9/11, we had women who operated in a combat team, and that’s with the 82nd Airborne division, we had 125 women soldiers killed in action in Iraq and Afghanistan. We had 872 women in the Army who have been wounded in action in Iraq and Afghanistan, so to me we’ve had women since the beginning of combat in American history, but for the first time ever we’re opening every MOS, and it’s about time. I think women will obviously look to their leaders for support, as officers, noncommissioned officers in combat arms, infantry and armor, but they’re gonna do phenomenal because our whole system is based on meritocracy."