As previously mentioned, the 3-2 Stryker Brigade Combat Team, 7th Infantry Division, at Joint Base Lewis-McChord is at the National Training Center at Fort Irwin, Calif, participating large-scale, conventional warfare training with offensive and defensive operations. The first Stryker brigade ever activated in the Army is now conducting its first decisive action rotation with a unit from the Japanese Ground Self Defense Force at NTC. For four weeks, the 3-2 SBCT will roam the 1,200 square miles of high desert terrain - with the JGSDF soldiers from the Fuji Training Center near Mt. Fuji - facing guerilla forces, insurgents, criminal elements and a near-peer conventional force.
Journalist Staff Sgt. Christopher McCullough with the 3-2 SBCT has waded through the predominately male discipline of field artillery to check in with 2nd Lt. Taylor Cardosi, a fire direction officer working in the 1st Battalion, 37th Artillery Regiment Battalion Fire Direction Center, and the first female to do so.
Cardosi's appointment as FDO is hot on the heels of the Department of Defense's decision to eventually open all military jobs to females. However, while some positions remain closed as the Department of Defense works out details, the job of FDO opened up only days after Cardosi's entry into active duty on Dec. 27, 2012.
"I was 100 percent surprised when I got here," said Cardosi. "I just showed up and I immediately went to the field."
Cardosi's admission into the largely male-dominated field is no surprise to those who know her. All her life Cardosi has strived to succeed in activities not usually associated with young ladies, beginning with her decision to quit ballet.
Read McCullough's full interview with Cardosi here.
See Also
One-on-one with communications specialist Cpl. Charles Wamsley