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                         March 12, 2004

Former First Captain returns for Women's History Month event

By Kathy Eastwood
Staff Writer    

The West Point community celebrated Women’s History Month March 2 with a dinner at the Regimental Room in Washington Hall.  West Point’s first woman to head the Corps of Cadets here, Maj. Kristin Baker, spoke to participants about leadership. Baker graduated in 1990.

“Leadership is about focusing outward to the folks around you,” she said. “Every person in your squad is thinking the same as you are.”

Baker reiterated an experience she had in 1996 as a co-commander.  In freezing weather and knee-deep mud, she came across a young private. He had only been in the service six months, she said, and his only field training was what he received in basic.

“Everyone was miserable. This is the time to focus outward and realize that leadership isn’t about gender, it’s about the hearts and minds of everyone in your squad,” Baker explained.

Following her graduation from West Point, Baker was assigned to the 302nd Military Intelligence Battalion in Mainz, Germany and served as a Platoon Leader and Company Operations Officer.  Currently on assignment at Headquarters, U.S. Army Europe, Baker serves as the branch chief for combating terrorism.

 “Dealing with terrorism is like playing the ‘wackable machine,’ a game that has a wooden floor with holes in it,” Baker said. “Moles pop out of the holes and your job is to ‘whack’ them.

“That’s how I see terrorists,” she added. “Hitting them one at a time isn’t going to do much because they will pop back up again, so we need to figure a way to get in there and stop them as a group.”

Baker said that she has known women in the military who chose to remain single or are married without children but choices like this are not necessarily the only choices.

“Though difficult, women can have a military career and a family,” she said. “My husband and I are on active duty and have three children. It can be done.

“You don’t need to sacrifice the wish for a family to continue a military career,” Baker added.

Baker reminded the cadets in the audience that those who follow in their footsteps can still make a difference.

“Don’t be satisfied with what those who have gone before you have done,” she said. “Every class, every generation shapes tradition.

The question is how do you want to shape tradition, what legacy do you want to leave for those who will follow you,” Baker said.