Area doctor selected for defense committee

  • Published
  • By Gina Marie Giardina
  • 88th Air Base Wing Public Affairs
WRIGHT-PATTERSON AIR FORCE BASE, Ohio --  Dr. Kristy Anderson, a Beavercreek physician, was appointed by Secretary of Defense Ashton Carter to the Defense Advisory Committee on Women in the Services March 11 in Arlington, Virginia.

According to its website, the committee--nicknamed DACOWITS--was established by then Secretary of Defense, George C. Marshall, and has no more than 20 civilians appointed by the secretary of Defense to provide advice and recommendations on policies and matters relating to the recruitment and retention, treatment, employment, integration, and well-being of women in the Armed Forces.

"It's very humbling to be selected for this committee and to work alongside such amazing people," said Anderson.  "The members are empowered and empowering; we all want to make a difference."

Anderson is currently the only physician on the committee.

"DACOWITS looks for differences in the backgrounds of the committee members so that everyone is bringing something different to the table," Anderson said. 

Topics such as reproductive health, the integration of females in male-only career fields, and sexual assault and harassment are just a few of the areas the committee is studying.

"We have found that a lot of the same issues continue to come up so what we try to do is to find a different focus for it," Anderson said. "We look at the issue from different perspectives."

It's no secret that the Department of Defense has been taking a serious look into sexual harassment and assault within the military.

From face-to-face discussions to annual online trainings, there have been concerted efforts to uncover the best methods to gather information, effectively distribute that information, and raise awareness--all with the hope to decrease incidents.

But as various cultures change, DACOWITS committee members refocus their attention in order to look at all angles of the issues.  A good example of this, according to Anderson, is the expansion of issues associated with sexual assault and harassment.

"This year, one of the differences that I have noticed is that we are looking at a social media influence within sexual harassment and assault--namely with cyberbullying," Anderson said.

According to DACOWITS, committee members are selected on the basis of their experience with the military or with women's workforce issues.

Committee members must be U.S. citizens, and are selected without regard to race, color, religion, sex, national origin, mental or physical disability, age, marital status or sexual orientation.

The committee meets quarterly in Washington D.C. and provides an annual report to the secretary of Defense with information gathered through installation visits, business meetings, relevant reports and survey data, and input from individual service members.

This combination of research and first-hand experiences provides a solid basis for each DACOWITS recommendation.

"From April to mid-May, there is a 6-week time period where we do installation visits," Anderson said.  "We work directly with a research firm and have focus groups split into different ranks during these visits.  We take the info from the groups and come up with statistics to see what we need to address.

The committee comes up with an annual report every year and they are available online."

Anderson earned her Doctor of Medicine degree from The University of Texas Health Sciences Center in San Antonio in 2003.

She then completed Residency in Family Medicine with Scott & White Hospital/Texas A&M Health Sciences Center.

She is board certified in Family Medicine, as well as Hospice and Palliative Medicine. She and her husband, Maj. Todd Anderson, the Warfighter Interface Division deputy chief, relocated to Wright-Patterson Air Force Base in 2009 and her local practice now serves the extended base community.