Edwards AFB News

AFFTC, NASA Dryden host Women's Equality Day

  • Published
  • By Airman 1st Class Julius Delos Reyes
  • 95th Air Base Wing Public Affairs
EDWARDS AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. --  The Air Force Flight Test Center and the NASA Dryden Flight Research Center here hosted a series of events this week to celebrate the ratification of the 19th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. 

The 19th Amendment was specifically intended to extend suffrage to women and establish women's right to vote. 

"We celebrate as a nation, how far we have come and what we now have because of the struggle of those who came before us," said Eileen Hasting, 95th Security Forces Squadron plans and programs. 

This year, the event's theme was "A Celebration of Freedom," said Christine Verdugo, 452nd Flight Test Squadron business office management assistant. 

Ms. Hasting said this weeklong event was a commemoration of the time of this nation's history when "not every citizen was considered equal or had the right to vote." 

The highlight of the event was the gratitude march on Tuesday. 

"The march demonstrated our gratitude, honor and respect to the military for all of the freedom we now enjoy," Ms. Hasting said. "Without their service and sacrifice, this would be a different world." 

Team Edwards, including military, government civilian and contractor personnel and dependents, participated in the march, which started from building 3000 to the building 1 flagpole. 

AFFTC and NASA Dryden personnel also set up display booths at NASA Dryden, Consolidated Support Facility, the Oasis Community Center lobby, Air Force Research Laboratory and the Desert High School cafeteria. 

The display booths featured static displays of the suffrage movement, informational handouts and voter registration information. 

The Women's Equality Day also featured a women's equality conference at the Oasis Community Center. 

The featured speaker during the conference was Maj. Roberta Nicholson, Air Force Operational Test and Evaluation Center Detachment 5 deputy chief for the unmanned aerial vehicle test division. 

In addition, the AFFTC and NASA Dryden also hosted a golfing event at the Muroc Lake Golf Course on Thursday. The event was headed by retired Lt. Col. Kelly Latimer, NASA Dryden research test pilot. 

"The Women's Equality Day is a great opportunity to look back and see how much our nation and technology have advanced in the last 90 years," Ms. Verdugo said. "It is a day for us to thank the servicemembers who are fighting the global war on terror."