Sage advice pays off for Lt. Col. Washington

Lt. Col. Gale Washington remembers some good advice from her parents.

"My dad told me something, and I thought, wow that is profound. He said, 'Stand up for what you believe or you'll fall for everything.'

"My mom used to say your reputation will precede you. People will know you are coming (and) they will know if you are good or bad."

Washington, commander of the Yuma Test Center at Yuma Proving Ground, says she wants to pass these values on to her two sons. "I tell them, all the time, just do what you say you're going to do. Your reputation is all you got ... and I tell them to always do the right thing."

These values helped Washington achieve her current position, which has 1,700 people under her command., she says.

"My job is the senior mission commander, which focuses on setting a strategic goal and vision. Directing the work force to accomplish the mission, and the mission is to plan, to conduct and report development tests results and also to facilitate training.

"So I am in charge of making sure that when training comes here from the Marines or the Army or the Air Force, that it is conducted safely and it is conducted in standards with ... the safety manual."

Today Washington says that being commander of the Yuma Test Center is the best job she has ever had, but as a child she had no idea that she would one day enlist in the military.

Washington was born and raised in Wilmington, N.C. Growing up, Washington said, she wanted to become a business manager.

She began her college education at East Carolina University, where she got her bachelor's in business administration with a concentration in marketing. She then went to Webster College and got her master's in business administration in computer resources and information management.

"So I saw myself working in some marketing firm doing advertisement. You know, being enveloped into society and knowing what the latest jingle was. I didn't think I was going to be in the military. I had not seen it as a future endeavor ..."

Washington met her husband, who was in the Army, and eventually they were transferred to Alabama, where Washington tried to find a job in advertising but was told she was overqualified.

Washington decided to enlist in the Army as a private first class. She thought that joining the Army would give her something in common with her husband, and give her a job at the same time.

Because of good study habits developed in college, Washington quickly made rank and decided to apply for the Officer Candidate School.

Washington said she is glad she went in as a private first class instead of an officer because "I came away with more credibility, legitimacy, because I did the trash, I did the police call, I did the arms room, I did the duty jobs.

"And so when I became officer, I didn't look down on enlisted soldiers, because I was enlisted, so I think I had more compassion. I had more empathy for what they had to do in terms of taking orders and not be given guidance. ... It made me more equipped to be a good leader."

Washington is proud of her achievements but also has had to overcome barriers to her success, including resistance she felt as woman in the military.

"A lot of men don't see you as equal (and) that is never going to change. People are going to have prejudices no matter where you go, but you've got to be able to receive it and don't take it personal and just do your very best. And whatever job you get, just be the very best at it, and God is going to take care of you."

In June 2006, Washington came to Yuma to fill the position of commander for the Yuma Test Center after she was selected by a board.

Washington said she didn't even know there was a Yuma Proving Ground. "Initially it was (a) very far distance from my family, and my family are for the most part are anchored in the East Coast, 3,000 miles (away)."

However, Washington said, when she came to Yuma everyone had been friendly and welcoming, which she has not always experienced. "Sometimes it's not very popular to be a person in uniform," she said.

She also credits her colleagues at YPG, who also welcomed her and made the transition easier.

Washington said the people she works with are great Americans who know that freedom isn't free.

"And you know people here understand it (and) they're innovated, they're responsive, they think outside the box.

"They never say no here. It's like OK, what can we do to make sure this equipment is tested, truly tested, so that we can let soldiers use it or to make sure it gets through to the theater? That's the rewarding part to have Americans, both contractors and civilians, who will go above and beyond."

Although Washington says she loves her job, it can be stressful "making sure that you juggle the different tasks and make sure that customers are treated with the respect, and that they get the type of product that they pay for."

Safety is also a top priority with Washington "because no test is worth somebody losing a limb, or a life."

When asked how she feels when she goes home after work, Washington said, "I go home every day exhilarated, because I look in the mirror and say what did you do for the war fighter? And because we test so much equipment ... that goes directly in theater, this job is very gratifying and very intoxicating.

"We are doing things that you only dream about doing. So there is tremendous gratification in this job, and knowing that we are making an impact in people's lives and hopefully we are saving people."