Waypoints podcast

In our 2nd 50th Anniversary podcast, Kate and Jeannette get to hear stories from mother-daughter duo Sharon Hanley Disher '80 and Alison Disher Orr '10 - and they are only two of the five (!) Disher family members who are USNA grads. Yes, all five are Navy grads! If you haven't read Sharon's 1998 book, First Class: Women Join the Ranks at the Naval Academy, you should... but you should also listen to this podcast.

Join us as we learn what it was like to be both a grad and the mother of a female grad... and a grad and the daughter of a female grad. We talk about the similarities and differences between the experience of being a woman in '80 and the experience of being a woman in '10, the treatment of cheerleaders in 1976 and 2006, and the existence of phones in Bancroft Hall. So much has changed, yet so much hasn't.

Thank you, Sharon and Alie!

SOMB is excited to launch our Season 4 -- where we focus our podcast on the upcoming 50th anniversary of women at the military service acadmies. To kick things off, Jeannette and Jenn sit down with the amazing Janice Buxbaum, USNA '80. From Janice and her stories, we learn about how hard women had to fight to be admitted, how to hold a mutiny, and what happened during a certain uniform race. (We also learn a lot more - particularly about leadership, resistance to discrimination, and resilience.) And we close with a story about the Mamas and the Papas' "California Dreamin'"... please join us! (Thank you to the USNA Women's Glee Club for the opening and closing music.)

For our second episode of 2025, SOMB sought to hear from alumnae from across the Academies. For this episode, we posed two questions to our fellow sisters:

First, how are you being impacted by current events? And second, what does your experience teach you and what can it teach us? How have you handled challenging situations or hostile leaders in the past?

We asked for volunteers to join the podcast recording and provided an email address for any who wanted to share asynchronously, so this podcast is the result of that conversation. Please note that we do not introduce anyone with last name or affiliation - we only used first names. But all who joined are female alumnae.

We're also providing a list of books recommended by some of those who joined us. They are here for reference:

1. It's My Country Too: Women's Military Stories from the American Revolution to Afghanistan by Jerri Bell (2017)
2. No Coincidences: Reflections of the First Black Female Graduate of the United States Naval Academy by Janie Mines ('80)
3. Robert E. Lee and Me: A Southerner's Reckoning with the Myth of the Lost Cause by BG Ty Seidule, USA (Ret) (2021)
4. Caste: The Origins of Our Discontents by Isabel Wilkerson (2020)
5. Be Bold: How a Marine Corps Hero Broke Barriers for Women at War by Tom Sileo (2022)
6. Dare to Lead: Brave Work. Tough Conversations. Whole Hearts. by Brene Brown (2018)

After a brief break as the team grappled with life, we're baaaaack... to grapple with the topic of meritocracy in the military. Meritocracy has been in the news recently, with shout-outs on the main DoD website and in the new SecDef's most recent book. When a recently-published short journal artice on meritocracy caught our eyes, we decided to read it and focus an episode on our thoughts on what a meritocracy is and whether the US military is one - on air. Full disclosure - we don't stay on topic, and if you're looking for a coherent overview of the article itself, you will be disappointed. =) (Article here in case anyone is interested: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1364661324003292.)

After an unintended break (life happens), we finally had the tremendous opportunity to meet and talk with Paula Neira, USNA '85, and one of the most remarkable leaders we've been fortunate to learn from on this podcast. Please join us and listen to Paula's story -- it's one of significant professional and personal growth, leadership, and advocacy. From a SWO... to a nurse and nurse educator... to an attorney and advocate... to a program director, Paula has served as a leader in all kinds of organizations and roles. But her life is grounded in a deep love for the Navy and USNA. And - bonus - the song "In a Big Country" by the band "Big Country" makes an appearance! Unfortunately, so does "Tubthumping" by Chumbawumba. But let's pretend that won't get stuck in your head.

Please join Kate and Jeannette as we talk with and learn from LtGen Lori Reynolds, USMC (Ret), class of 1986. One of only two women from '86 to commission into the Marine Corps at graduation, LtGen Reynolds was one of the (very) few, proud...eventually retiring as a three-star. Join us as we learn from her about what it was like to join the Corps in 1986...to play basketball at USNA under Coach Dave Smalley...and to ascend the ranks in the Corps (and change an institution). It was an honor and a pleasure to talk with her - we hope that you enjoy it too!

Please join us as we talk (aka stammer and trip over our words as we try to hide our glee and awe) with Wendy Lawrence, USNA '81, CAPT (ret), pilot, astronaut, DGA winner, and all-round amazing woman and grad. Wendy generously gave us her time, energy, and significant wisdom, Jeannette's audio miraculously didn't malfunction, and Carrie got to learn about that bow ball that the crew team sent into space with Wendy. And so, so much more. Please join us ... and thank you, Wendy!

Please join SOMB as we speak with the brilliant Rear Admiral (Ret.) Peg Klein, USNA '81, and 2022 USNA Distinguished Graduate Award recipient. We discuss education, learning, pink hair, checking in on others, and being the Commandant of Midshipmen at USNA. We wish we'd had more time to talk... but we hope you enjoy the time that we did have! Thank you to Rear Admiral Klein for her energy and generosity! And Beat Army...

So for some weird tech reason, the great write-up that we had for our discussion with Postie recently disappeared! We won't be able to do it justice, but please join us anyway to meet and learn from the fantastic Linda "Postie" Postenrieder, USNA '82, and current President of the USNA Women's Shared Interest Group! Postie has the energy and vision of a million of us -- and her story... from SWO... to the tech world... to art... and now as a leader for USNA women... resonates. Please join us! And thank you, Postie, for your leadership!

After our long hiatus, we are BACK! On Season 3 Episode 2, we talk with Ms. Janie Mines '80 - you may have heard of her. She is not only the first African American woman to gradudate from USNA, but she's the author of No Coincidences - Reflections of the First Black Female Graduate of the United States Naval Academy, and she was selected as a USNA Distinguished Graduate in 2022. We were honored and thrilled to speak with and learn from Janie - and we are excited to share this episode with you all!

And as you listen, please forgive us for the amateur start of the episode - we had some tech issues that our in-house tech support had to address as we tried to start recording. Between that and our excitement over talking with Janie, we were nervous AND late, so don't laugh as we stumble our way through the intro ... and stick with us, because Janie elevates the discussion from the first moment. This discussion was fun, humbling, and unforgettable.