Women's History Month (Women of the Month) - 3/13

Kempner woman continues serving the militar y in retirement

BY JOHN CLARK HERALD CORRESPONDENT

— Debbie Pomato

KEMPNER

has served in the military, been married to a soldier both during and after her time in unifor m, and headed up family readiness groups during wartime – while also raising kids and keeping the household running.

All those roles presented their own unique challenges, and Pomato says the things she learned back then continue to serve her well today

“It was challenging being a soldier, wife, and mother,” the Califor nia native now living in Kempner said. “Not only did I have to take care of my own career, but I had to make sure my children were taken care of Of course, I was fortunate during Desert Stor m that my unit did not get called up, and I got out prior to all the craziness that was to come after that.

“Fast forward to being the spouse of a service member during the time of war was very challenging, also. You had to take care of the kids, the house — everything — because he was deployed. He was in Saudi Arabia prior to the war starting, so that was 2002 to 2003. Then he left again in 2004 to 2005. You not only had to take care of your own children, but because of his rank (platoon sergeant), I was also in charge of the FRG (Family Readiness Group). So I had to step up and take care of the

Editor’s Note: This article originally ran in the Fort Cavazos Herald in 2023.

spouses who were left behind. I also had to do my job (military personnel), and I was working 12-hour shifts during that time.

“During Desert Storm, they thought we were going to lose a lot more (soldiers) than we lost. They were thinking we were going to lose 80 percent of our soldiers. So, of course, the ladies knew where I worked, but I had to tell them I didn’t know anything. It was hard keeping them active and staying out of trouble, I guess you could say

“It was challenging, but I love a challenge. That’s why I do what I’m doing now for the Moose (Lodge in Copperas Cove). For the lodge, I am a trustee. That means I do monthly inventories, and I sit on the board of officers to help make decisions and things like that. I’m also the district treasurer. That one’s pretty easy I just collect money and write checks. I’m also the Women of the Moose treasurer, and that one is a little more challenging. I collect the money, plus ensure that we’re up to date on all our memberships. For the Moose Riders (motorcycle club), I’m also the treasurer for them.

“If I were not retired-retired, I would not be doing all of this. There are days I think I want to

PLEASE SEE KEMPNER, C4

Debbie Pomato with her 2021 Harley Davidson Street Glide Pomato continues to support the military in retirement as a volunteer for the Moose Lodge in Copperas Cove.

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go back to work, but those are very few and far between.”

Pomato, who retired from the military in 1995, was bor n in Gardena, California, about 15 miles south of Los Angeles. She graduated from Quartz Hill High School in 1976 and promptly joined the Army.

“I wanted to leave home, so I was trying to find a way to do that,” she said. “A recruiter happened to come to the high school in my junior year and talked to us. After that, I went home and talked to my grandmother and my dad and told them about it. My grandmother told me it would probably be the best thing in the world I could ever do.

“At the same time, my girlfriend went home and told her parents, and they told her they’d disown her if she joined. Women just didn’t go in the Army at that time. It wasn’t something that women did.

“So I graduated and right after that, I saw a recruiter. I was 18. I joined in September ’76 and I didn’t leave for the Ar my until February 1977.”

Basic training was at Fort McClellan, Alabama, and then she headed to Fort Jackson, South Carolina, to train as a clerk/typist. Her first impressions of Army life?

“It was a piece of cake, honestly. It was easy. Everybody kept telling me how hard it was going to be and all this craziness, but for me, it was nothing.

Actually, it was a lot of fun. I enjoyed it.”

Pomato’s first duty station was Fort Lewis, Washington, which she says was a good assignment but could have been better. As a private first class, she enjoyed the work, but there was one thing that could have improved that tour

“I was loving it — except I’m a Califor nia girl (and) I love sunshine. Washington had none,” she said. “I had six weeks of summer sunshine there, and that was it. So it was a little depressing. Then I got orders to go to Germany.”

She had gotten married while at Fort Lewis and so the couple transferred together to Erlan-

Debbie Pomato has served in the military been married to a soldier both during and a er her time in uniform, and headed up Family Readiness Groups during wartime — while also raising kids and keeping the household running.

COURTESY PHOTO

and my (first) husband at that time was sent to Korea, and we just didn’t make it through that. We got divorced. Then I met a gentleman — another soldier – and got married a second time We were married for 13 years.

“We ended up staying at Fort Hood from ’81 to ’89. During that time, I had a son. Then we got orders to go back to Ger many for three years. My son was two years old. Then, Desert Stor m happened, and fortunately, my unit was not called up. Our company stayed back to take care of the family members. Our whole battalion left and went to Desert Storm, but being a personnel unit, they needed somebody back to take care of family members, so I didn’t have to go

kids who did a lot of traveling. She changed schools quite often — more than the other ones ever did.

“So I got out and came back here to Texas. That’s where I settled down and built a home, and unfortunately got divorced. Then after the divorce, I met my late husband and we got married. After my son graduated from high school, we went to El Paso together. From there he was stationed at Fort Irwin, Califor nia, and while there, they discovered that he had cancer. Then he passed away

“I came back to Fort Hood in 2007 and I’ve been here ever since.”

gen, Germany, where Debbie had a baby girl in 1981. From there, the couple was assigned to Fort Hood (now Fort Cavazos).

“It was kinda cool,” Pomato said. “I had my daughter September 29th, and I didn’t go back to work until January 10th, because I was getting ready to come back to the States and they wouldn’t let me come back early. They told me I had to stay until I had her and so they actually extended me. She came three weeks early, so I got a lot of time off with her (and) I really enjoyed that.

“Then I came here to Fort Hood (Cavazos) and, unfortunately, a lot of things changed in my life. My father passed away

“Right after Desert Storm, I tried to get back here to Fort Hood (Cavazos) , but that didn’t happen. Instead, I ended up in El Paso. I got as close as I could, but they figured out that my husband had no position there, so they sent him to The Presidio in California to train the Reserves and the National Guard. I was still in the service, so I put in to go with him and they approved it, and I went to work there at the MEPS station.

“That was when (President Bill) Clinton put in that early 15year retirement. The first time I skipped over it. The next time it came around, I was ready to get out and come back here to Texas. That was our goal. I had promised my daughter that I would try to be in a place where she could spend her high school years in the same high school. She was the only one of my

Besides being heavily involved with volunteer work at the Moose Lodge, the mother of three boys and a girl and grandmother of eight says joining the military and living that lifestyle as long as she did was “the best decision I ever made in my life.”

“Going overseas. Traveling. Meeting the people that I met. I met people from all walks of life, and we became lifelong friends. That’s probably the best thing that came out of the military,” Pomato said. “The friendships that I made, and the traveling that I was able to do

“I am where I am today because of the military. I had a great career. I was taken care of. Leaving home for the first time, I had a roof over my head, money in my pocket, food on the table. I never had to worry about anything. Now that I’m retired, I also have my medical benefits and my retirement. I wouldn’t change a thing.”

Cove teacher helping students stay on track

BY JOHN CLARK HERALD CORRESPONDENT

COPPERAS COVE — Nellie Alaniz-

Perez grew up in San Benito, Texas, near Brownsville, and after her father died when she was 9 years old, the world suddenly became a more lonely place and she started to struggle.

“I was daddy’s little girl, and when he passed away, there was a void in me that I was trying to compensate for,” said Perez, who came to Copperas Cove in November 2012 when the U.S. Army assigned her husband, Esteban, to Fort Hood (now Fort Cavazos). “I was looking for that love and I went the wrong way “I wanted to be a nurse, but I had my

son my senior year (of high school), so that definitely changed things for me But I also think that’s what really shaped my future. When I was growing up, there were a lot of hardships along the way, and I could have gone down the wrong path, but when I had my son, I fought to have the best life for him.”

Nellie, now a mother of four boys, graduated high school in 1999 and worked as a secretary for a number of years. She and Esteban married in 2005 and they wound up in Central Texas, where Nellie took a job as a school secretary for the Cove school district in 2013. She became a teacher’s aide and after helping out in classrooms, she decided in 2016 to go back to school and become a

full-time teacher

“I set a goal of four years, and that’s when I graduated from Texas A&M University-Central Texas (in 2020) with a degree in psychology and a minor in sociology,” Nellie said. “A lot of mothers put their goals aside — their dreams — and it was time to put myself first. That was the best gift I could give to myself

“My goal is to not just be a teacher but to be that person for students that I needed in junior high. Looking back, I know where I went wrong.

“My mom was a single mom all of a sudden. She had two jobs and I should have understood a little bit more that she was always working, and there was nobody else to take me to the side and say, ‘Hey, I know you’re hurting ... missing your father.’ I don’t know if that would have made a difference, but I didn’t have that.”

Now teaching Spanish at Cove Junior High, Nellie is working on a master’s degree, with the next step on her career goal list to become a school counselor. That way, she can concentrate even more on helping students stay on track. For now, though, she is where she belongs — in the classroom. Teaching can be a demanding profession, but for Nellie it is truly a labor of love.

“I know this is where my heart is,” she said. “There are a lot of students growing up with single moms — or even if they have both parents — and quite often we spend more time with them than they spend at home

“Even if they’re not in my class, they come knocking on my door: ‘Ms. Perez, do you have a snack?’ It doesn’t matter if they’re my student or not. I tell them to come back after school and I’ll give them

something. I have one student that I had when I started at Cove Junior High (and) she is a sophomore now. Her mother was in the news a couple of years ago, so she’s grown up with dad (and) she calls me mom.

“I have dresses donated to me, so I make sure she has a dress. I make sure she is taken care of. During summer school, she was always hungry. She would message me through Schoology and say, ‘Ms. Perez, I really need somebody to talk to,’ so I met up with her and she cried on my shoulder. I keep an eye on her and try to make sure she’s on the right path.”

Her advice to teachers new to the profession, or those who may be struggling with the challenge of what is often a difficult and demanding job?

“You have to understand your ‘why.’

Why did you become a teacher?

“If you don’t know your why — if you’re (only) there for the paycheck — you’re going to get bur ned out. My why is easy. I want to be there for the kids who need me. I needed somebody when I was in junior high. When they say it takes a village (to raise a child), it takes a village.

“With me — and I’m not the only one who has a passion for teaching — it’s about the flourishing of a student when you show them love and they start to believe in themselves. Basically, my motto is this: I’m the principal; I’m the counselor; the janitor; the cafeteria lady Whatever is needed in my classroom.

“You build that relationship first and foremost, and then you see them figuring out, ‘Hey, I can do this,’ and that transformation and the confidence that they get is a reward in itself.”

Equal education, unequal pay: Why is there still a gender pay gap in 2024?

BY CLAIRE SAVAGE ASSOCIATED PRESS

CHICAGO — Not even education can close the pay gap that persists between women and men, according to a recent U.S. Census Bureau report.

Whether women ear n a postsecondary certificate or graduate from a top-tier university, they still make about 71 cents on the dollar compared with men at the same education level, Census Bureau research found.

That difference is coming into stark view on Equal Pay Day, and in spite of the fact that women comprise more than half of college-educated workers and participate in the labor force at record rates.

Rather than comparing fulltime working men to full-time working women, the Feb. 22 Census Bureau report juxtaposes men and women with the same education caliber: graduates of certificate degree programs and those who hold bachelor’s degrees from the most selective universities, explained economist Kendall Houghton, a co-author of the research. The report also includes graduates who may have opted out of the labor force, such as women taking on child care responsibilities

“The main point here is that there’s a substantial gap at every single level,” added Census Bureau economist and co-author Ariel Binder

Field of study, choice of occupation and hours account for much of the discrepancy, but not all. Field of study, for instance, contributes to the pay gap much more for top graduates (24.6%), but for less selective degree holders accounted for only a sliver (3.8%). And the number of hours and weeks worked affect the pay gap more for certificate earners (26.4%) than selective bachelor’s degree earners (11.3%), suggesting there is a bigger gender difference in work participation for certificate holders, Binder said.

At the same time, about 31% of the gap for each education level remains unexplained, suggesting less easily measured factors such as gender stereotypes and discrimination may be at play.

Chantel Adams says she isn’t surprised that the gender pay gap persists even among men and women with the same level and quality of education, or that the gap is wider for Black and Hispanic women.

A senior marketing executive who holds an MBA from University of North Carolina’s Kenan-Flagler Business School, Adams said her qualifications aren’t enough to counteract the headwinds she faces in her career as a Black woman. Despite taking on extra responsibilities and an undisputedly strong perfor mance, Adams said she was turned down for a promotion because she was

‘The main point here is that there’s a substantial gap at every single level.’

Ariel Binder Census Bureau economist

told that “I was so articulate and sharp that it was intimidating to some people.”

“I have nearly $300,000 of posthigh school education. It would be surprising if I weren’t articulate and sharp,” said Adams, who is based in Durham, North Carolina.

She said her peers at the company — one of whom did not have an MBA — were promoted while she was held back two years in a row.

“It’s unreasonable and unfair to hold someone’s strengths against them,” Adams said. “I would consider that as something that is race-based.”

Broadly, younger women are closer to wage parity with younger men, according to Carolina Aragao, who researches social and demographic trends at Pew Research Center. But the gap widens between the ages of 35 and 44, which coincides with when women are most likely to have a child at home.

“That does not play out the

same way for men,” Aragao said, adding that there is actually an opposite phenomenon known as the fatherhood premium, in which fathers tend to earn more than other workers, including men without children at home. Despite women making vast gains in C-suite and high-ear ning industry representation, wage gap improvement has stalled for about 20 years, Aragao said. Uneven child care and household responsibilities, falling college wage premiums and overrepresentation in lower-paying occupations are all contributors to why the pay gap stubbornly remains For Adams, the best strategy to overcome them has been to keep changing jobs — six times in 10 years, across multiple states in her case.

“I knew that I needed to be intentional and move with urgency as I navigated my career in order to work against that headwind,” she said. “When

those opportunities were not afforded me within one company, I’ve gone elsewhere.”

Adams said job coaching, mentorship, and support from Forte Foundation, a nonprofit focused on women’s advancement, have been instrumental to her success, while salary transparency laws — and even salary transparency within social circles — could help alleviate the significant pay gap challenges women of color face

But corporate diversity initiatives have been subject to a growing list of lawsuits ever since the Supreme Court struck down affirmative action in college admissions. Adams said she worries that without affirmative action, corporate racial diversity could decrease, too “The big question that is looming over my head and probably many other executive leaders is: What does that do to the pipeline of diverse candidates that we may or may not have 10 years from now?” Adams said.

CHRIS SEWARD | AP

Chantel Adams, a senior marketing executive, sits in her home o ce March 7 in Durham, N.C. Adams says she isn’t surprised that the gender pay gap persists even among men and women with the same level and quality of education, or that the gap is wider for Black and Hispanic women.