For the second time in school history, the ROTC program at Sam Houston State University has commissioned an all-female class of officers. This momentous event comes almost 50 years after the university commissioned its first female officer in 1977.
Second Lieutenant Bethany Mitchell, one of the four officers said,“This wasn’t even initially planned for it to just be females,” She said, “There were supposed to be guys with us, but things changed at the last minute and then it was just all us girls.
The recent commissioning of Mitchell, along with Melissa Barerra, Elaine Bishop and Destiny Mendez, is another progressive step for women in the military, as well as the school’s ROTC program. Women have long been serving in the United States military, dating back to the World War I, although the positions available to women were all non-combative roles. It wasn’t until 2013 that women could hold such positions.
Mitchell had no idea who she was or what she was going to do when she went to college, but from the moment she enlisted in the army, she knew what she wanted to do. Now as a quarter master officer, Mitchell plans to get all she can out of this experience before eventually going back to school to become a dentist.
