Some of my proudest work achievements over the past 20 months have involved making the Army Reserve JAG Corps look more like America.

This includes leadership assignment cycles with nearly half of selected officers being from some minority group. It includes accession cycles 1/

Which nearly double the amount of women in the AGR program and dramatically increase the amount of minority officers.

These are good news stories but it also continues to be hard to be intentional about assignments and accessions if I don't have applicants. 2/

We talk a ton about how to increase representation among minority groups among senior leaders in the JAG Corps; however, they first must be accessed. They must keep serving after initial enlistment. They must apply for the hard jobs if they will be competitive for promotion. 3/

I've spent almost two years talking to every officer who will listen to me about the right career progression, applying for the hard jobs, and leaning forward in the foxhole for their career. I can confirm that when you tell people to apply or that they will be competitive 4/

A lot of times, they will apply or begin to think about the next job to make themselves more competitive. In this most recent assignment cycle, I had the most minority officers in my three cycles. That's a win, but that only includes one female applicant in this cycle. 5/

I have to contrast those positives with dozens of women who I follow talking about the failure of the military to hold people accountable for sexual harassment or sexual assault. I have to contrast it with phone calls where a female officer is trying to figure out how to 6/

Balance ILE, new civilian employment, family, and her desire to have another kid along with the Army Reserve. She's trying to find a blueprint to take some time off in the IRR to finish ILE before coming back into a leadership job so she can potentially get promoted. 7/

I'm talking through new opt out of promotion board policies, proposed 12 month physical fitness and height weight delay after child birth policies. But mostly I'm trying to help her chart a path for another child, ILE, and potential promotion with a brief IRR stint while 8/

Focusing her on no more than two bad years so she can at least get a pension for her time.

The hardest part of the conversation for me. When she starts crying at the end of the call when I tell her, I, PPTO, the Army Reserve JAG Corps wants her. We want to keep talented JAs 9/

Like her. I want to help keep you moving forward in the Army Reserve. I want to help you plot the path and balance it all because ultimately the Army Reserve is better with you in it.

I really believe that but I also know how hard balancing it all can be. I see all the 10/

JA Resignations from both Active Duty and the USAR. I know when we lose female JAs. It's when they are CPTs and MAJs not LTCs.

I know balancing is hard for male JAs as well but I also know that even in egalitarian relationships, women tend to do about 60-40 in child care 11/

And household chores on average. So on average, those duties and extra responsibilities fall on women more commonly.

I can't make society more egalitarian but I can help provide options, blue prints, and help advise on when to take a lower uptempo position or not. 12/

I hope my replacement takes the time to have these conversations. Because I do hear family as the reason for men resigning as well but it feels like 2 or 3 to 1 women to men.

When we already have so many fewer female JAs, we can't afford to lose them at that rate 13/

I'm not even addressing the failure of leaders to counsel officers whether male or female out of comfortable assignments. I scrubbed three board files this week for female officers who had spent 5 plus years in one unit. There are definitely male officers who do similar things14/

But again when there are already so few women, we need leaders especially to counsel them out of comfortable jobs. 15/

I wasn't planning on going off on a 15 tweet thread. I guess it's a good thing that I only have a few followers.