Making history: Special Operations wing commander honored by Daughters of the American Revolution

FORT WALTON BEACH — The first female commander of the most deployed wing in the Air Force has been honored by the National Society Daughters of the American Revolution (NSDAR) with its Women in American History Medal.

Col. Jocelyn Schermerhorn, recently selected for promotion to brigadier general, was chosen for the honor by the Choctawhatchee Bay Chapter of the NSDAR as someone who "continues to make history" and who has been a "role model" in the Air Force's special operations community, honorary chapter regent Caroline Maney said at Monday's ceremony.

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Schermerhorn was named commander of the 1st Special Operations Wing in 2020, an appointment that also made her the installation commander at Hurlburt Field, headquarters of Air Force Special Operations Command (AFSOC).

Schermerhorn has been in the Air Force since 1995, coming into the service as a distinguished graduate of Colorado State University. A master navigator, Schermerhorn has more than 3,500 flight hours and is a veteran of Operations Joint Guard in Bosnia, Allied Force as part of NATO, Enduring Freedom in Afghanistan and Iraqi Freedom.

In a media roundtable shortly after taking command of the 1st SOW, Schermerhorn was quick to point out that her path to wing commander was blazed by other women who had moved through the Air Force's command echelons.

Schermerhorn said at the time that her gender is “a fact, but not one that defines who I am as a leader.”

“I want to make sure that women throughout AFSOC recognize that there are no barriers. And if that’s something I can do in this role, that’s a win,” she added.

Schermerhorn returned to that theme Monday in accepting the Women in American History Medal.

Nominations for the medal are made through local NSDAR chapters but are vetted closely and seriously by the organization's national office, to the point that only a very few women, if that, are recognized with the medal annually.

Linda McCooey, the honorary chapter regent who presented the medal to Schermerhorn at the HSU Innovation Institute, said that in making its nominations, the Choctawhatchee Bay Chapter of the NSDAR strives "to recognize women doing great things for our community, our state and our country."

Calling the medal "an incredible honor" and "something I never expected," Schermerhorn noted in brief remarks that more and more women are making their mark in the Air Force, a phenomenon that she has noted particularly within the last decade.

"Officer, enlisted — everywhere," Schermerhorn said, the Air Force is a place where there is "no picture now that looks like anything other than if you want to do it, you can do it."

As part of that, Schermerhorn said many women have moved into leadership positions in the Air Force. "Seeing all these young women in leadership ... this is fantastic," she said. The NSADAR award will give her "the opportunity to use this platform to continue to encourage our young women to go out there and get after it."

Looking back on her own history, Schermerhorn told the dozens of people gathered for the medal presentation that her grandmother was a traveling nurse in 1930s Vermont, her mother and her sister were firefighters, and her father was a volunteer fire chief.

"He never seemed to think it mattered whether you were a male or a female in the fire service," Schermerhorn said, "and I think that just set the tone for me that your gender doesn't really matter if there's something you want to go do. All he told me was, 'Make sure you do it well.' "

Nonetheless, as she has interacted with various school groups and other organizations, she has seen that it is important to have women represented at high levels in the Air Force.

"It does matter to have that representation at senior levels," she said. "So I hope that through this recognition that I can pay it forward somehow for all those young women out there who are trying to decide whether they want to stick it out because they're not sure whether those leadership opportunities are out there. They absolutely are."

Addressing aspiring women more directly, Schermerhorn said, "I also recognize that there are challenges with raising a family that are gender-specific. So what are we doing to make sure that we're reducing those barriers that may prevent someone from sticking it out and making it to the senior level because they're trying to balance the needs of their family with the needs of their career?"

"The Air Force has made tremendous progress on this," she continued, "but there's still a lot of work to be done."

In that light, Schermerhorn said she is excited to be part of AFSOC's Dagger Athena program, which aims to address challenges faced by the command's female personnel, along with broader workplace and bias issues.

"Change is slow," Schermerhorn noted during a brief interview following Monday's ceremony. Overall, she said, a key for the Air Commando community is "being more inclusive" and "not focusing on who's different."

This article originally appeared on Northwest Florida Daily News: Air Force Col. Schermerhorn gets NSDAR Women in American History medal