Indeed! During the last phase of my military intelligence training for the Air Force, I attended classes with a woman named April. (Hi, April!)

Unlike most of us, she was not just fresh out of university. She had served as an enlisted person in the US Army for a full enlistment, then she spent 4 years getting her degree. Then she joined the Air Force.

She was tough as nails, smarter than most of us, determined to make a place for herself, and she left class every now and then to pump breast milk for her newborn.

I had the great privilege and pleasure to serve with her in West Berlin, which became the first assignment for both of us.

April distinguished herself as a crack intelligence officer, a terrific leader, and one hell of a devoted mother.

The idea that she should be excluded from serving because of her gender is ... I can't find any way to even think about justifying that.

Granted, we weren't serving in the combat arms, but our listening station would have been one of the first targets taken out if the Cold War had ever turned hot. We would talk about that sometimes at chemical weapons drills are on the firing range where we had to maintain our competency with rifles and pistols.

I'm a good shot, by the way, but April outshot me almost every time.

Just saying ...