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Neb. Guard gets first female drill instructor

CAMP ASHLAND, Neb. — When Sgt. Jennifer Feldt prepared for drill instructor training in South Carolina, she didn’t know it would make her a record-holder.

A few weeks before she left Kearney for the nine-week program in Fort Jackson, she learned she’d be the first woman from the Nebraska National Guard to become a drill instructor.

Feldt was one of four women and 52 trainees overall at the school, which emulates basic training for drill instructors.

“In the beginning they called me ‘Combat Barbie.’ I don’t think they expected much out of me,” said Feldt, 27, who is from McCool Junction. “That was their prerogative. I used it as motivation.”

Feldt graduated two weeks ago and has returned to Camp Ashland to teach about 50 Guard members combat skills in preparation for their deployment to Afghanistan.

She’s never been deployed overseas, although she said it’s always a possibility.

The Nebraska unit will work with Afghans on agricultural skills, so hand-to-hand combat like Feldt taught recently may not be an integral part of the mission.

But all soldiers receive some training in these techniques, said David Nore, a public information officer for the Guard.

Sgt. Courtney Miller was at the training session.

Miller, 29, said having female instructors is especially important for younger female soldiers.

“I think young soldiers look at her and think, ‘If she can do it, I can do it,”’ Miller said. “They probably think, ‘She’s gotta be one tough chick.”’

Staff Sgt. Philip Wemhoff, who’s 6-foot-3, 275 pounds, and Sgt. Peter Blackburn, 6-foot-1, 285 pounds, likely would have agreed.

Feldt stood over them during an exercise in takedowns, checking their grips, arm and leg positions.

The two men, both with sweaty red faces and grass clippings stuck to their shaved heads, rolled around on the ground, listening intently to Feldt’s instructions.

“Grab his collar ... now, grab his belt ... throw him over ... knee by his arm ... now, throw him over!”

Blackburn laughed.

“Don’t pull down my pants!” he said to his sparring partner, Wemhoff.

Feldt demonstrated takedowns, skillfully throwing several male soldiers to the grass. She said she’s gained credibility with mostly male units in teaching by example.

“I show them,” Feldt said. “Just like line four of the Drill Sergeant Creed, ‘I will lead by example, never requiring a soldier to attempt any task I would not do myself.”’

Toward the end of the five-hour training, Feldt turned her attention to a male-female grappling pair. More specifically, a large male-small female pair. The man took the woman to the ground twice, both times appearing to knock the wind out of her.

Feldt walked over and whispered in the young woman’s ear.

“I told her she knows she’ll be overpowered by him, so she’ll have her best chance winning on the ground using superior skill,” she said.

“You can’t use strength only, or you’ll lose.”