Concord Army Reserve Unit First to Be Headed by a Woman

Photo: First Sgt. Raquel Steckman salutes her platoon sergeants with the 374th Engineer Company (Sapper), headquartered in Concord, Calif., during formation. Credit: Sgt. 1st Class Michel Sauret

--

1st Sgt. Raquel Steckman has been appointed to a combat engineer company as a first sergeant, the first woman in the Army to attain the position. Steckman, is with the 374th Engineer Company (Sapper), an Army Reserve unit located in Concord.

A first sergeant is the senior enlisted member of a company. 

Her appointment marks another barrier breached in the integration process of women in combat units, according to a release from the Defense Department. There are more than 20,500 combat engineers across the Army, and currently none of them are women. The position is expected to open to females once a congressional notification from the Secretary of Defense makes it official. It will become one of 14 combat-specific military occupational specialties (MOS) that have been exclusive to males until now.

Steckman is focused on her job, not her gender.

“I’m constantly asking: What does a first sergeant do? … They always say beans and bullets, so (my) responsibility is to make sure the Soldiers are taken care of as far as training, vehicles and their well being,” she said.

The 374th Engineer Company already had four female unit members when Streckman joined--two are medics, one a mechanic and one a nuclear, biological and chemical specialist.

When asked, they don’t make a big hoopla over having a female first sergeant.

Steckman is married and has two children.