Story Last modified at 2:39 p.m. on Wednesday, January 2, 2008
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Novak joined the Air Force in September 1971, much to the chagrin of her mother, Chrystel Wright.
“My mother was dead set against my going in. She wanted no part of it,” Novak said, reminiscing about when she was 19 and went to an ROTC summer camp, and her mother told friends and neighbors she was picking cranberries in Massachusetts. The ruse went over well, until her hometown newspaper reported that Novak had attended the camp.
“She always wanted me to be a teacher and build a house out in the middle of an orchard, and I said, No. Mom, I'm sorry. I'm not that person.'”
Novak says she was a tomboy with a fondness for Jack London stories and military history. Although her indulgences didn't warp her as she said her mother feared they would, they did establish a sound foundation for a career in the Air Force, an experience that changed dramatically for women throughout her career.
“When I first came in, the opportunities for women were extremely limited. You could be a personnel person, which is what they made me, you could be admin,” Novak said. “If you were in the medical field, you could be a nurse, you could be a technician.”
She said women were housed in barracks designated specifically for Women in the Air Force (WAF) squadrons, which were formed in 1948 when then-president Harry S. Truman signed the Women's Armed Services Integration Act, which made it permissible for women to serve in the military.
“We had our female squadron commander and you had to live in barracks separated by (gender) and you reported to that particular person, even though you were in personnel or wherever — that's who your boss was,” she said.
“The guys never knew how to treat us, really, and so it was uncomfortable for everybody concerned,” Novak added. “It was a strange setup.”
The WAF program was disbanded in the mid-1970s, Novak said, which allowed females to be integrated into the bulk of the Air Force, but women still had a long way to go earn the same privileges male airmen received.
“It was post-Vietnam, 1974, when women were first given benefits,” said Elizabeth James, an assistant professor of history at the University of Alaska Anchorage. “There was no reason for that. Women just didn't get it because they were supposed to be married, and a woman's husband was supposed to provide the benefits.”
“You would find women who would be in communications because they were electrical engineers. You'd have women that were now in computers,” Novak said, adding that she set her sights on becoming a microbiologist, rather than in personnel, where she had initially been assigned.
“When I finally did get transferred to the Biomedical Sciences Corps in 1976 and finally started that training, by the time I graduated, I was the fifth female lab officer in the Air Force,” she said. “It took me a while to get from personnel, where I didn't belong, to the clinical laboratory, where I did belong.”
Novak said she met all of her goals but one prior to retiring in 2003. Although she obtained the rank of colonel, served at Elmendorf Air Force Base from 1993 to 1997 and was a squadron commander, she regrets that she never had an opportunity to deploy.
“I couldn't go, and I always resented that, because I thought that I should have to do my time too,” she said. “I tried really hard for Desert Storm, and it would have been a natural fit, but at that point in time, I was so advanced in rank that that was a problem.”
Novak said she progressed from the rank of major to lieutenant colonel throughout the course of Desert Storm, and that the opportunities for women to deploy for the conflict were extremely limited.
“Going into Muslim nations, you couldn't have women in charge, and that just freaked everybody out,” she said.
James explained that cultural restrictions that existed for women in Muslim nations made it difficult for female service members, who often had to adhere to the standards of the country they were serving in. “To what degree is it sexism here that we're doing that to women or forcing them to do that, or is it respect for the Muslim culture?” she asked, in reference to policies that required female service members to cover their faces in public or sit in the back seat of vehicles.
Although Novak was unable to serve, she didn't hesitate to secure new opportunities for the females she led, to include a blood banking expert who wanted to serve as a part of the conflict.
“I fought very hard to get her into Desert Storm, and it went clear to the Assistant Secretary of Defense to finally get her approved to go in to be in charge of that program,” she said. “Now it's commonplace, but at that point in time it wasn't.”
James said that such precedents have added up over time, bringing women in both the military and civilian communities ever closer to equality.
“If you look at the history of women in the 20th century, there's been this sort of a steady climb upward in terms of status and perceptions in society,” she said. “I wouldn't say that we're equal or have equality now, but I think we're as close as we ever have been.”
Novak said even her mother warmed up to the idea of her serving in the military, when she was stationed in Turkey early in her military career.
“Suddenly it became a real source of pride. Suddenly it was a whole different ballgame,” she said. “I think she finally realized that, Hey, this not what I would have picked for her, but she's happy, she's successful, she's doing what she loves, so I might as well be happy too.'”
Novak moved to Eagle River in 2004, where she lived while she was stationed at Elmendorf, to be close to the eagles that she loves, Eagle River Presbyterian Church and Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 9785. She is currently serving on the board of the Alaska Veterans Memorial Museum, which she says she's determined to help make a reality.
Reach the reporter at mary.rall@alaskastar.com.
This article published in The Alaska Star on Thursday, January 3, 2008.