Posted on 10/07/2009 5:15:32 PM PDT by SandRat
WASHINGTON, Oct. 7, 2009 – Navy Secretary Ray Mabus yesterday said women soon will serve on submarines, suggesting a reversal of the long-standing ban by the Navy.
Appearing on Comedy Central’s “The Daily Show with Jon Stewart,” Mabus signaled that the Navy is moving closer to allowing coed personnel on submarines.
“It will take a little while because you’ve got to interview people and you’ve got to be nuclear trained,” he said, referring to prerequisite steps before a sailor is assigned to a submarine.
Officials previously have cited a lack of privacy and the cost of reconfiguring subs as obstacles to allowing female crewmembers to serve aboard the vessels.
But Mabus is one of several top Navy officials recently to call for an end to the policy. The Navy secretary’s comments yesterday amplify his previous endorsement of ending the ban.
“This is something the [chief of naval operations] and I have been working on since I came into office,” Mabus, who was confirmed as Navy secretary in May, said last week. “We are moving out aggressively on this.
“I believe women should have every opportunity to serve at sea, and that includes aboard submarines,” he told reporters following a tour of Northrop Grumman Corp.'s Newport News shipyard.
Navy Adm. Gary Roughead, chief of naval operations, acknowledged that special accommodations would be a factor in the decision, but one that’s not insurmountable.
“Having commanded a mixed-gender surface combatant, I am very comfortable addressing integrating women into the submarine force,” he said in a statement last month. “I am familiar with the issues as well as the value of diverse crews.”
Roughead said he has been personally engaged through the years in the Navy’s debate of the feasibility of assigning women to submarines.
“There are some particular issues with integrating women into the submarine force -- issues we must work through in order to achieve what is best for the Navy and our submarine force,” he said. “This has had and will continue to have my personal attention as we work toward increasing the diversity of our Navy afloat and ashore."
Navy Adm. Mike Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, addressed the issue with the Senate Armed Services Committee last month.
“I believe we should continue to broaden opportunities for women,” Mullen is quoted as saying in response to written questions posed by the Senate Armed Services Committee. “One policy I would like to see changed is the one barring their service aboard submarines.”
Mullen, a champion of diversifying the services, said this month that having a military that reflects the demographics of the United States is “a strategic imperative for the security of our country.”
| Biographies: Navy Adm. Mike Mullen Ray Mabus Navy Adm. Gary Roughead Related Articles: |
Wanna get a NAVY WIFE"S opinion.?????
Diversity? What is this? Some kind of country club? I just find it silly that in order to please the social engineers constrained by the binds of political correctness, women must do every little thing that men do.
LOL!
I think you just gave it.
(And good on ya. Strong families are one of the big strengths of the military.)
.
I made it through six ships with male crews only before I finally got to a ship with women. Thank God it was my last ship. The best way to describe it was like being in high school again, with all the attendant drama. The esprit de corps from my previous ships just wasn’t there. It’s hard to form a real team when 3/4 of the crew is competing for the favors of the other 1/4. They certainly wouldn’t be doing the sub force any favors putting women aboard.
vive la différence! :)
One of the funniest movies ever, Cary Grant and a young Tony Curtis.......
America recently (since the 60’s) is God proving He has a sense of humor......You want idiots to run the government.....OK here’s some for you....
Every member of this admin. belongs on Comedy Central. They are right at home.......
Joined the USAF just before they opened several maintenance career fields to women for the first time. Out of the first 14 women we were assigned who did the same job as me, nine were pencil whipped on the lifting requirement and couldn't do it. 4 more didn't make it due to other reasons. After six months only one out of the group was left who could do the job. I never saw better numbers in subsequent years.
Had a friend who told me that the Air Force initially tracked how well the women were doing, but stopped when they saw how bad it was going. If it was an experiment it would have been marked as a complete and utter failure.
Women on submarines: a liability.
A submarine is supposed to be quiet underwater. One unexpected noise, whether it’s a cup dropped off a table, a wrench or the female submariner moaning can mean death for everyone on the sub.
I don’t know much about nukes, but it would have been interesting having women aboard my old diesel boat.LOL
I haven’t met many women that would have been able to tolerate that close of confinement or having everything they own smell like diesel. Hot racking would have been kind of messy too.
Brings new meaning to the old joke about the definition of a Submarine?
A Boat that leave port with 90 Sailors and comes back 6 months later with 45 couples.
I hope no-one has posted this yet (I didn’t scroll the whole thread).
Life Aboard A Submarine…
If you have never served aboard a submarine or do not know anyone who is or was a submariner, then this list may help you understand what life aboard a submarine is all about (Well..sort of anyway.) If you are a submarine veteran, you will probably find much to laugh about in the unique world of submarine life. These are but a few of the ways to experience (on the lighter side) life aboard a submarine. These are but examples, used for reference only, not for actual demonstration purposes. Read at your own risk.
Spend as much time as you can indoors during the daytime, stay out of direct sunlight. Go to work only before sunrise and come home after sunset.
Paint everything around you Sea Foam Green (Navy NSN Green, no substitutions) or Off-White to be sure you are living in a clean, happy environment. Every Friday, set an alarm on loud for a short, but hated, drill sound. Then get up and manned only with a bucket, sponge and a greeny. Clean one area over and over, even if it is already spotless.
Eat food that you can only get out of a can and requires water in order to eat it. Empty out your refrigerator and turn the temperature control down, turning the refrigerator into a freezer. Get rid of all fresh fruits and vegetables.
Repeat back everything spoken to you. Repeat back everything spoken to you.
Sit in your car for six hours at a time with the motor running. Keep hands on the wheel. But don’t leave your driveway. Log readings of your oil pressure, water temperature, speedometer and odometer every 15 minutes.
Put Lube Oil in your humidifier instead of water. Set it on high.
Buy a trash compactor; use it only once a week. Store the rest of the garbage in your bathroom.
Don’t watch movies except in the middle of the night. Have your family vote on which movie to watch, then show a different one.
Have the paperboy give you a standard Navy haircut.
Take hourly readings on your water and your electric meters. But only for a six hour period.
Sleep with your dirty laundry.
For you old mechanics, set your lawn mower in the middle of the living room while it is running. Only for six hours a day.
Invite guests but don’t prepare enough food for everyone. Serve food cold. Limit the time they sit at the table to 10 minutes.
Wake up at midnight every night and make a peanut butter sandwich, use stale bread. Better yet, make your own bread but cut 3 inch thick slices and use these. Optional: warm up some canned Ravioli or soup.
Make your family a menu for the week without knowing what food is in the cabinets.
Set your alarm clock for various times at night; adjust the volume to the maximum. When it goes off, jump out of bed, get your clothes on as fast as you can, run outside and grab the garden hose. Then go back to bed and do it all again when the alarm goes off.
Once a month take apart every appliance completely and then put them back together.
Use 18 scoops of coffee per pot and allow it to sit for 5 to six hours before drinking it.
Invite at least 85 people you really don’t like and have them stay for a couple of months.
Store your eggs in the garbage for two months and then cook a dozen each morning.
Have a fluorescent lamp installed under your coffee table and lie underneath it to read books.
Put a complicated lock on your basement door and wear the key around your neck on a special chain.
When making cakes, prop up one side of the pan when cooking. Use extra icing to level it off.
Every so often, yell “EMERGENCY DEEP!” run into the kitchen and sweep all pots, pans and dishes off of the counters onto the floor, and then yell at your wife for not having the kitchen area “Stowed for Sea!”
Put on the stereo headphones (don’t plug them in), go to the stove and stand in front of it. Say (to no one in particular) “Stove manned and ready” stay there for 3 to 4 hours. Say (once again and to no one in particular) “Stove secured”, then role up your headphone cord and put them away.
Pull out your refrigerator and clean behind it for 4 hours and then put it back when you are done. Have your wife come and check every 10 minutes with a flashlight to see how you are doing.
When doing your laundry fill it only 1/3 full, sit in front of your washing machine in your underwear and read a book or magazine you’ve read at least 5 times before in the last week. When the wash is done, only run the dryer for half the normal time.
Fix-up a shelf in your closet that will serve as your bunk for the next six months. Take the door off of the hinges and replace them with curtains. While asleep, have family members shine a flashlight in your eyes at random intervals and say either “Sign this!” or “Sorry, wrong rack!”
If you can do these. You can do just about anything!
I served on the USS McKee, a sub tender. One day, the captain came on the ship’s TV and announced the possibility of a WestPac cruise (6 month deployment). Two weeks later, I overheard the Chief corpsman loudly complaining about “the 13th pregnant female crewmember this week!”
I had friends that were a “couple” onboard, they found plenty of space and time to shag like mad on that ship.
There aren’t enough single, pregnant women in the Navy?
I frigging MISS Santana’s.
Carne Asada Burrito...MMMMMMMMM
In the Army, we call them REMFs: Rear Echelon M----r F----r's.
Actually, that term is applied to any officer who has no business being near troops.
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