By
LACW Simone Liebelt
 |
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Air-Vice
Marshal Julie Hammer receives her two-star rank slides from
CAF Air Marshal Angus Houston and her husband, Air Commodore
David Dunlop, at an official promotion ceremony at Russell
Offices in Canberra. She is the first woman to be promoted
to AVM.
Photo by LACW Simone Liebelt
|
AS
the first woman in the services to be awarded two-star rank, Air
Vice-Marshal Julie Hammer serves as a role model to young women
striving for success in their careers.
AVM Hammer strongly supports and encourages women in military
and technical roles, and believes her achievement as the highest-ranking
female officer is symbolic of the progress and achievements of
women right across Defence.
“I think it should be viewed more as an achievement for women
as a group rather than for me personally,” AVM Hammer said.
“I’m delighted to have the honour of the first woman
to have reached this level, but more importantly, I think it reflects
the fact that women are coming through in all sorts of areas of
expertise. Hopefully it won’t be too much longer before we
see many more of our talented women at starred ranks.”
AVM Hammer joined the Air Force in 1977 as an education officer
at a time when opportunities were just beginning to open up to
women, and in 1981 transferred to become one of the first female
engineer officers.
While she has had to fight hard for many opportunities in her
distinguished 26-year career, she believes the Air Force has come
a long way since she joined when women did not have equal pay
and were not allowed to fill technical roles.
She hopes her example will inspire other women to reach for their
goals.
“Women right across Defence are progressing and are showing
that they are successfully filling all sorts of roles,” she
said.
“I think it is important for those of us who are more senior
to be visible role models for younger women, so that they can
say, ‘If Julie Hammer can do it, then with hard work, I can
do it too’.”
AVM Hammer said the highlights of her career had been serving
in command positions, such as Commanding Officer of the Electronic
Warfare Squadron and Commandant of the Australian Defence Force
Academy.
She believes success comes from a respect for the contribution
of people at all levels and an ability to work as part of a big
team.
She encourages young women (as well as young men) to believe in
their abilities and not to accept limitations imposed by other
people.
An official promotion ceremony for AVM Hammer, hosted by Chief
of Air Force Air Marshal Angus Houston, was held at Russell Offices
in Canberra on August 11.
