| Army Reserve, is laid back and dressed casually in a sweater and blue jeans as we talk at Ground Zero on Williamson Street. I'm a half hour late for our interview -- getting all up tight about it on the way to our meeting -- and she dismisses it with a wave of the hand as I hastily take my seat. I am forgiven and we go about the interview. She's hardly the stereotype of a stern, time-conscious military officer. Anderson has been in the reserves for 28 years, ever since her college years at Creighton University in Omaha. Anderson is set to become the first female from Wisconsin -- and the second African American woman ever -- to be promoted to the rank of brigadier general in the U.S. Army Reserve. "I have been selected and confirmed by the U.S. Senate," Anderson said. "So that's a done deal. So I am just waiting for an actual promotion date because there is a statutory limit on the number of general officers we can have any one time in the Army. I have no idea why. That number is fixed, so someone has to retire or resign so that there is a space." What started out as a matter of convenience for Anderson back in 1977 when she enrolled in Creighton University's Reserve Officer Training Corp. (ROTC) at Creighton has evolved into a sense of patriotism and duty over the course of her 28-year military career. When she joined the ROTC program, Anderson was working two part-time jobs at night, attending school during the day and barely making ends meet. And she needed a science credit. "I wanted to take astronomy at first, but it met at night," Anderson recounted. "And it was the only science I wanted to take because I was a poli sci major and wanted nothing to do with biology. So I got to registration and I saw this guy sitting behind this desk and he had all of these great posters of people rappelling and walking through the woods. It was kind of like gym. I asked what it was. He replied 'It's military science.' I asked 'Is that a science credit?' He replied yes and that they met at 8 a.m. Monday through Friday. And it was full credit. 'Sold,' I said. And they gave me a $100 stipend tax free. And I had a little Toyota Corolla for which the carpeting was $95. So I was happy. That's the only thought I gave to it at that time." Her uncle, a Jesuit at the Jesuit College, did not approve. "He was disappointed I had not been a little more cerebral about my choice," Anderson said. "He took me aside and talked to me. He said 'You know they use guns.' I said 'Yeah, but they just practice that though.' I really was just taking it for science credit." Anderson was also a student of history and she was fascinated by the historical angle that the military courses told. "I heard things I never heard of before because we never studied the Korean War and the Civil War from the military perspective," Anderson said. "It's more political when you're in school. So I thought I could do this. It was only three days per week." Anderson ended up staying with the ROTC program at Creighton and was commission as a second lieutenant in 1979 and officially joined the Reserves. At this point in her career, Anderson was focused on fitting the military into what she wanted to do. And active duty was not for her. "They tried to get me, but I didn't ever want to do that," Anderson said. "As a single woman, I decided that wasn't for me. Anything that looked like it might get you near the battlefield then was pretty restricted for women. I can't remember exactly. The only thing that is closed to women now is what we call 'combat arms,' which includes infantry, armor and some of the artillery specialties. But other than that, it's open, at least in the Army, for everything." "I had an eight-year obligation," Anderson continued. "I had to do six years in the Army Reserves and then two years in what we call the individual Ready Reserve, which is an inactive status, but they keep your name in the data base. That was my initial obligation. I could have also gone active duty and completed the four years of active duty or any combination of a number of years in one of those components would have been sufficient. But there was a reserve unit about four blocks from my house in Omaha. So I said 'Okay, fine. I'll do this for a while and see what happens." At first, Anderson didn't really have a plan. She was just going to go along until she hit 20 years of service and then she could retire. And in a service whose leadership was nearly all male at the time, she didn't readily see herself rising to the ranks of leadership. "I didn't have any concept of reaching this level," Anderson confided. "I didn't see myself. I didn't see women who look like me, number one, at that level. It's not that I saw roadblocks and barriers. I just didn't see it as a path." However, Anderson was committed to performing her duties to the best of her abilities. That was her mission. "I tried to make sure I took care of the people I was responsible for," Anderson said. "I took care of them in terms of their career development and tried to promote them to other positions if they wanted to stay in so they would do the right jobs and be in the right places. And if I didn't like something, I spoke up about it. So I also thought that if I did that, certainly, I had no prospect of going further. Again, it was not because I had heard or seen anybody who had been penalized. I just thought maybe they didn't want to hear what I had to say, but I was going to tell them anyway." While Anderson was content to focusing on her work, others above her were noticing how well she was performing. "I really didn't have any real plan until someone took me aside when I was a major -- someone who felt I had some potential to reach this level -- who said 'You need to think about doing the following things,'" Anderson said. "I went 'Really, why?' I was just kind of going along until I hit my 20 year mark and then I would retire." And as she began to rise into leadership positions, Anderson became a trailblazer although she never intended to become one. "I have broken virgin territory as I have risen through the ranks," Anderson confirmed. "Absolutely. I didn't have any women mentors until I was almost a full colonel. There wasn't anyone who was really senior to me who was in a position to do that. So I had all male mentors. And I have had a mixture of African American and White male mentors." As Anderson rose through the ranks in the military, she also advanced in her civilian career. She graduated from Rutgers University in Newark and worked briefly as a litigator for an attorney in New Jersey before she settled on a career in court administration. "I was drawn to judicial administration because I like working with people and I thought it would be something different every day," Anderson said. "I like problem solving and managing people. And I enjoy managing resources and things like that. It was a better fit for me." One of the most important lessons that Anderson learned about working in organizations as an attorney contributed to her success in the Army Reserve. "I would be in a room and I would say something," Anderson recalled. "And five minutes later, a male would say it and so, it became the best idea since sliced bread. It used to happen when I was a young lawyer and I would get really agitated. So one day I was in a deposition, a meeting or something. I said something and five minutes later, the guy with the white hair said it and it was wonderful and great. And one of the other lawyers in the room looked at me and winked at me. And I went 'Okay, someone knows what just happened.' And as long as it was a good idea and it gets accepted, I didn't care." This revelation ended up serving Anderson well. "I think the people who decided to mentor me thought 'She's not afraid to speak up,'" Anderson said. "'She doesn't need to have everyone know it was her idea because all she wants is for us to take a good idea and use it.' I was a good team player. I didn't care who got the credit. It didn't matter to me. Again I wasn't planning on making this my big deal. But now, I feel I have reached a level where I take it even more seriously than I ever have. I still don't worry about being outspoken because my attitude is 'Fine, so fire me.' One time when I was really upset about something that happened, I reported it to a senior officer. He told me 'Shame on them if they fire you for doing a good job.' He said 'Don';t ever worry about that' And he also told me -- which was good advice -- 'Never worry about your next job. Just focus on the one in front of you. Someone is going to notice.'" Next issue: Life in the Reserve. |
| Colonel Marcia Anderson of the U.S. Army Reserve Citizen soldier By Jonathan Gramling Part 1 of 2 |
 |
| Marcia Anderson is poised to become the first woman from Wisconsin and the second African American woman nationwide to reach the rank of brigadier general in the U.S. Army Reserve. For someone who is poised to make military history in Wisconsin, one sure wouldn't know it just by looking at her. Marcia Anderson, a colonel in the U.S. |