LACKAWANNA COUNTY, Pa. — She didn't know it at the time, but Maureen Hopkins Weigl's military training really started in high school. The competitive spirit and teamwork skills she gained from playing sports at Dunmore High School followed her to college.
"When I went to Pitt, and I wasn't playing sports, I kind of was a little lost and bored. And then I met a woman who was in ROTC, and she said, 'Come try it.' And I was like, 'I'm never joining the Army,'" Weigl recalled.
Fast forward to today — the brigadier general now has 25 years of service under her belt and is the first woman to hold the role of Deputy Adjutant General for the Pennsylvania Department of Veteran Affairs.
But when she accepted the job last year, she wasn't thinking about breaking gender barriers.
"I was just like, 'Seriously, you're going to let me come and do this, and you're going to give me a paycheck?' They laughed when they interviewed me. I said yes right away, and they said, 'Maureen, you never asked what your salary is.'"
It wasn't that long ago that certain roles in the military were off-limits to Weigl, and there were rules that made the military far from a welcoming place for women.
"There were so many women who were there to give their kids a better life. They were married with children and got divorced. But back in 1991, you couldn't enlist if you were a single mom. They had to give custody of their children up."
It wasn't until 2016 that the government opened all military positions to women. But women still only make up about 16 percent of the U.S. Armed Forces.
And that's why, when Weigl goes somewhere like a Phillies game for Armed Forces Day, people want to meet her.
"I never even thought that it was that relevant. But they did, and they wanted me to have a picture with their daughter."
Although she lives and works in Harrisburg now, Weigl comes back to northeastern Pennsylvania often and always receives a hometown hero's welcome.
This past St. Patrick's Day in Scranton, she was the first female Honorary Parade Commander — admittedly a lesser distinction, but as an Irish Catholic from Dunmore, no less exciting.
"My high school peers, that I hadn't seen in years threw a huge party. It was like a high school reunion."
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