Veterans' services director fired amid controversy

April 04, 2013

The director of Arizona’s veterans’ services department is now out of a job. He was forced out Wednesday after hiring a female former state representative who then slammed women troops in combat.

A spokesman for Gov. Jan Brewer said that Joey Strickland submitted his resignation effective immediately. He had hired former state Rep. Terri Proud after Brewer explicitly told him not to.

Proud was fired after she said menstrual cycles might be too problematic for women to be in combat. She made the remarks in an interview with the University of Arizona's Arizona-Sonora News Service.

Brewer's spokesman Matt Benson says Proud's comments are indicative of why Brewer told Strickland not to hire her.

Strickland was named veterans services director in 2008.