Oral History Interview with Verna Fairchild

Partial Transcript: [00:06:46] "Females weren't treated the same as the males in the military"

Segment Synopsis: In this segment, Verna Fairchild discusses her early career as a nurse at Deaconess Hospital and her early desire to join the military. She mentions a great aunt who was in the navy, and how that helped her see military service as a possibility for herself. Her service was precipitated in part by one of her male coworkers preemptively joining the military in order to avoid being drafted. She joined the reserves and her unit was activated. Verna had the choice to enter active duty in Vietnam, but decided to stay behind in the reserves to finish her degree, a decision which she says she regrets.

Segment Synopsis: This section largely describes Verna's early experience in the reserves as well as meeting and marrying her husband. She also discusses the differences between being a part of a draft military and being a part of a volunteer military. Verna details her experience becoming the head nurse of the tactical hospital in Lousiville, displacing the current head nurse who was in that position. Lastly, Verna discusses networking, management, and attending the meeting of the Association of Military Surgeons of the US.

Segment Synopsis: This segment begins with Verna discussing more details of networking and the importance of knowing people. She also notes that she was the first woman to be a Nurse Commander of the Kentucky Air International Guard. A substantial portion of this section involves Verna discussing how she was a strong advocate for gender equity in the Kentucky Air International Guard. Despite that, she credits herself for not having a "chip on her shoulder" regarding her gender, and that she was not a "make waves kind of person."

Segment Synopsis: The opening of this segment concerns the development of camaraderie in the military, and how Verna could feel closer to people she only spent 2 days a month with than those she spent working with full time. The rest of the segment largely concerns her time spent participating in NATO exercises in Germany, during which there was a major security threat that made everyone uneasy, and her time inspecting military bases in Arizona during Desert Storm. The report she wrote about the issues at the Arizona bases garnered her national attention, and she credits it as being beneficial for her career.

Partial Transcript: "I'm not interested in being your token female"

Segment Synopsis: After Desert Storm, Verna was considering retiring but got some hints that she should not retire quite yet. Soon, those hints precipitated into an offer to make her a General around 1994. When initially receiving the offer, she rebuked it on the basis that she did not want to be given the position solely on account of her gender, but she was affirmed that the offer was due to her qualifications and hard work. This segment also discusses some of her early experiences as a new general, such as the training she underwent as well as a humorous experience during a Pentagon Briefing. The section ends with the interviewer offering Verna a break and a cut in the audio.

Segment Synopsis: This segment resumes after a break in conversation and picks up with some general reflections and Verna's current status. She notes that her current rank is Major General, and that she feels like she has a responsibility to give back to others, especially given her position as an early female general. Verna then discusses some of her travels to places like Spain, the Azores, and Ecuador. The mention of Ecuador prompts her to detail the creation of a collaborative program she spearheaded to work with the Ecuadorian air force. She tells a story about how she was guarded by armed Ecuadorian guards once while visiting Quito. She also discusses visiting Panama, and opening the mechanisms of the Panama Canal.

Partial Transcript: [~01:33:00] "Do you know what GPS is?"

[~01:34:00] "What's to be gained by making a fuss over someone holding the door for you?"

Segment Synopsis: In this section, Verna discusses some of the times in which she attended celebratory events for veterans, such as the dedication of the Women Veterans Memorial in Washington D.C. She mentions that receiving her second star was surreal because it seemed like something that "happened to other people." She talks about the experience of becoming a general, and how it makes everyone treat you differently, even your family. She emphasizes that despite being a general she still spent time with regular people, waiting in line for food with the rest of the service members instead of cutting in line, and flying weekend missions with air crew. She tells a story about how a fellow general once aggravated her in a briefing by leaning over and asking if she knew what GPS was as it had come up in the conversation, but she refused to take action over it because she knew the general was a nice man. She also notes a time when a subordinate came to her and expressed that he thought he may have been passed over for a promotion due to discrimination. Verna mentions how she ordered an investigation of the matter, and it resulted in the service member receiving the promotion he deserved. She adds that she has no regrets, and has very much appreciated her husband's support.