Woman makes history with Guam Guard

Second Lt. Estella Blas Aguon, from the Guam Army National Guard’s 1st-294th Infantry Regiment’s Delta Company, completes Infantry Officer Basic Leaders Course and earns her Blue Cord at Fort Benning, Georgia, earlier this month. (Guam National Guard)

A soldier from the Guam Army National Guard’s 1st-294th Infantry Regiment’s Delta Company completed the U.S. Army’s infantry basic officer leaders course and then became the Guam Guard’s first female to complete the ranger training assessment course at the U.S. Army’s Warrior Training Center at Fort Benning, Georgia.

Second Lt. Estella Blas Aguon joined the Guam Guard in 2015 as a combat medic, or 68W, assigned to the medical detachment. She attended officer candidate school, was commissioned as a second lieutenant and assigned as an infantry officer and platoon leader in 2017.

The RTAC is 16 days in duration and divided into two phases: the Assessment Phase trains and evaluates students on multiple tasks and techniques that include the ranger physical fitness test, combat water survival assessment, land navigation, ruck march, obstacle course, ranger task, two-mile equipment run and other various physical fitness events. They are also trained in troop leading procedures, tactics, patrolling techniquest and small unit operations. Students must pass this phase in order to continue into the second phase.

The second phase of RTAC is the Patrolling Phase, during which students are rotated into leadership positions and evaluated on their abilities to successfully accomplish small unit combat operations from planning through execution. Students are also evaluated on their ability to lead squad-sized patrols. Upon completion, they will be recommended for attendance at the ranger course.

According to Aguon, she learned a lot during the short course.  “It doesn’t matter if you are male or female, it’s a great course…a true testament of will and desire. You test your mind and body-thinking under stress, making a decision that will affect you and others, and learning to operate with little to no sleep. The great thing is that we all endured the same pain together. This allowed us to come together and work as a team—it was the only way to accomplish the mission,” she said. 

Aguon believes that completing RTAC will help her as a leader. “I know more about myself and I know more about being a leader and leading soldiers,” she said.

In January 2016, at the direction of then-Defense Secretary Ashton Carter, all combat jobs were opened to women. Since then, the battalion has added a handful of infantry officers and some junior soldiers. Aguon is the second female from the Guam Guard to complete the infantry basic officer leaders course, or IBOLC.

Aguon enjoyed her IBOLC experience, where she learned about being a leader and a teammate.  As the only female in her company, her “brothers-in-arms” pushed her to be better, to hold her own weight and eventually earned her more respect.  ‘At the end the journey, I completed the course and earned my ‘Blue Cord,’” Aguon said.

According to Wikipedia, the Infantry Blue Cord is a U.S. Army decoration worn over the right shoulder of all qualified U.S. Army infantrymen. (PR)