Combat pilot pioneer and other symposium speakers seek breakthroughs in diversity

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About 10 years ago, while stationed at Marine Corps Air Station Miramar in San Diego, Vernice Armour was friends with a Navy couple who had a young son. The mother flew jets, while the father — who was not a pilot — wore the regular naval uniform. 

“Every day, this little guy would see mom go off to fly jets and dad go off to do ‘real’ military work in his uniform,” recalled Armour, aka “FlyGirl,” the nation’s first African-American female combat pilot. “Well, one particular day, she had him at the [officers’ club] with us and the commanding officer walked up. And he’s the epitome of what a jet jock looks like, right? And he walks up and he says, ‘Well, son, what do you want to be when you grow up? You want to be a jet jock, right?’” 

 “Naw,” the boy replied. “That’s a girl’s job.” 

Armour shared this story last week at Virginia Commonwealth University, which hosted a diversity and inclusion symposium with the Greater Richmond Society of Human Resource Management, to show how quickly things change. After all, not so long ago, no one would have thought of piloting a jet as women’s work. Yet while we’ve come a long way in closing the disparity between genders and races, there’s still much to be done to become an all-inclusive community. 

About 200 people attended the sold-out event that helped participants begin a community dialogue, assess where the community is now, rally to take action, determine how to get where we need to be in 2025 and develop an inspiring action plan.

You’re not going to have an agency, a company, an organization that functions to its total capacity without everyone feeling that they are a part of it.

“You’re not going to have an agency, a company, an organization that functions to its total capacity without everyone feeling that they are a part of it,” said Carol Esteki of the Fairfax County Department of Family Services. 

Armour, president of VAI Consulting & Training, delivered the lunch keynote speech, “Who Needs a Runway? Take Off From Where You Are!” Freeman Hrabowski III, Ph.D., president of the University of Maryland, Baltimore County, presented the morning keynote speech, “Advancing Workforce Development Through Corporate & Community Engagement.” 

Both spoke of the power of individuals taking action. 

Each of us has the ability to touch others, Hrabowski said, whether it’s in our jobs, community or family. 

“Every day you can never not lead,” he said. “And you may do it in informal ways, but in everything you do, let somebody else know that you believe in them. I challenge you Richmond to watch your thoughts — they become your words. Watch your words — they become your actions. Watch your actions become your habits. Watch your habits — they become your character. Watch your character become your destiny.”   

Hrabowski’s words are exactly the inspiration needed to change educational outcomes, said Steven McCarther, who leads an inclusion initiative at the Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond and attended the conference hoping to gain tools and insights into building a culture of inclusiveness. 

“It’s been proven that when you have different thoughts at the table, you have different voices at the table, the perspective you get is a little better than just having one voice or maybe a homogenous voice,” McCarther said. “In terms of solving problems — whether it be in the financial industry, whether it be in other civic issues or social issues that we have — if we’re only listening to one voice, we may not have the right answer. We have the potential of group think. We have the potential of just homogenous thought and I don’t think that’s going to be what helps to resolve … the next crisis. You need to have those different thoughts at the table and those different perspectives. 

“How can you make decisions if not all the stakeholders are there at the table? That’s the antithesis of having a well-rounded solution.” 

McCarther credited the symposium as forward thinking for bringing so many people to the table. The event reflected the university’s commitment to diversity and inclusion — one of the core values of the Quest for Distinction, VCU’s strategic plan. 

Another thing we know about this incoming class at VCU is that it will be … one of the most diverse freshman classes at any university.

VCU’s upcoming freshman class will be the most diverse ever, said Gail Hackett, Ph.D., provost and vice president for academic affairs at VCU. 

“Another thing we know about this incoming class at VCU is that it will be … one of the most diverse freshman classes at any university,” she said. “This is a fact we are very proud of here. We work hard to make this happen. We want students to get experience here that reflects the increasingly diverse workplace that they’ll enter upon graduation. It’s a big strength of our institution and our students acknowledge that and it’s part of the reason many of our students come to us. This does, however, challenge us.” 

Challenge is a part of any movement for change, the pace of which Armour calls phenomenal. And, as a black woman flying attack helicopters in the Marine Corps, she knows a little about challenges and obstacles. 

“How we move forward depends on the change we’re able to make, the cultural changes and shifts in our organization culture,” she said. “It’s like turning left or right on a huge battleship, right? It’s not like you’re on a jet ski. It takes some effort. It takes some … grit. Remember this little time that we spend together. We have to be willing to engage at a different level to get our people to engage with us to move forward.” 

Armour repeated the phrase, "Acknowledge the obstacles, don't give them power," during her presentation. 

Diversity brings solutions to internal and external challenges, as employees will have different skills and experiences. However, diversity management is challenging to implement as it introduces change to the environment, and conflict may arise. It must be planned carefully. 

At the beginning of her speech, Armour asked the audience to switch tables and meet new people, but immediately requested they sit down again. She asked how they felt when she asked them to move. They were  not excited. 

“We are agents of change,” Armour said. “If we don’t even want to get up and move our seat, how do we expect to implement change in our organizations?” 

We are agents of change. If we don’t even want to get up and move our seat, how do we expect to implement change in our organizations?

The first attempt may not always succeed, but the key is to acknowledge the obstacles, make the necessary changes to tackle them and commit to achieving the goal. 

“How we move forward depends on the change we’re able to make,” Armour said. 

To illustrate, she told a story of a mission in Iraq. During her flight, she only had one missile left aboard and just enough fuel to complete the mission. Meanwhile, ground troops were out of ammunition and used a mirror to reflect light onto the helicopter to mark their position. The target was a tower with a blue dome. 

After communicating with the troops and planning her route, Armour approached the target while the enemy fired at her aircraft. She  pulled the trigger as soon as she received permission to engage, but nothing happened. The missile didn’t fire. 

However, determined to complete the mission, she circled and faced the target again as a last attempt before she ran out of fuel. She pulled the trigger again. This time the weapon fired. 

The lesson? “Start with a plan,” Armour said. “Review, and re-attack.” 

At the beginning of her career, Armour was under constant pressure as the only female in the squadron. After a particularly challenging day, she called her mother, in tears, ready to quit. Her mother reminded her that obstacles are a part of life that should be acknowledged but not given the power to stop success. 

“My mom said, ‘Baby, stop crying, dry your eyes and go back to work,’” Armour said. “’You did not work this hard, this long to give up now.’ So what did I do? I stopped crying, I dried my eyes and I went back to work. So what was ma essentially saying? ‘Acknowledge the obstacles, don’t give them power.’” 

Diversity is not just the right thing to do, she said. It’s a business imperative. 

“As you are creating a flight plan, the strategic plans for your organizations, we really need you to think about where are you, where you want to be, then we move into the how we get there,” she said. “Don’t let the obstacles knock you out in the very beginning, where you go, ‘Well, we can’t even get to that so we’ll stay with this.’” 

Practice a breakthrough mentality, Armour said, and refuse to settle. Instead, demand progress. 

“Something good is gonna come out of this if you acknowledge the obstacles, don’t give them power,” she said. 

 

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