Mansfield Alumni Fellow Leads Training for Gender Mainstreaming in Military Operations

August 23, 2018

Major Monica Herrera (U.S. Air Force) of the 20th class of Mansfield Fellows recently served as an instructor and small group facilitator for the first-ever Department of Defense Operational Gender Advisor (GENAD) Course (OGC). The course trains personnel on how to apply a gender perspective on military operations/exercises. The OGC also supports the Women, Peace & Security (WPS) Act signed into Public Law last year as well as the U.S. National Action Plan on WPS.

Major Herrera worked on Japan’s National Action Plan on Women, Peace & Security during her Fellowship year while placed in the Gender Mainstreaming Division, Foreign Policy Bureau, Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Her Fellowship research compared the U.S. National Action Plan with Japan’s, focusing on areas of defense cooperation. She became a trained GENAD last summer through the Australian Defense Force Operational GENAD Course and subsequently served as a GENAD during a major bilateral military exercise with Australia, TALISMAN SABER. Major Herrera currently serves as the Executive Officer for the Director of Strategy, Plans, and Programs at Headquarters Pacific Air Forces and also leads the WPS Program for the Headquarters.