Posted on 02/26/2010 4:44:12 PM PST by SandRat
WASHINGTON, Feb. 26, 2010 Female sailors will begin serving on submarines by the end of next year, with Naval Academy graduates leading the way, Navy leaders told a Senate committee yesterday.
Navy Secretary Ray Mabus told the Senate Armed Services Committee that the Navy is in a good position to move forward with integrating women onto submarines.
We think we learned a lot about integrating women in the services years ago, and those lessons are relevant today, Mabus said. Those lessons, he said, include having a critical mass of female candidates, having senior women to serve as mentors, and having submarines that dont require modifications: the SSBN ballistic missile and SSGN guided-missile subs.
Finally, Mabus said, We have the lesson learned to make sure any questions are answered, and were very open and transparent on how well do this. We think this is a great idea that will enhance our warfighting capabilities.
Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates notified Congress on Feb. 19 of the intended change to Navy policy. Mabus had pushed for the change since taking office in May. Adm. Gary Roughead, chief of naval operations, endorsed the change, saying in a statement released in September that his experience commanding a mixed-gender surface-combatant ship makes him very comfortable integrating women into the submarine force. The Navy changed its policy to allow women to serve on combatant ships in 1993.
We have a great plan, and were ready to go for the first women to come aboard in late 2011, Roughead told the Senate committee yesterday. In a prepared statement to the committee, he said the change would enable the submarine force to leverage the tremendous talent and potential of our female officers and enlisted personnel.
Besides the incoming officers from the academy, the first women submariners will include female supply corps officers at the department head level, Roughead said. The change will be phased in over time to include enlisted female sailors on the SSBN and SSGNs, he said. Women will be added to the Navys SSN fast-attack submarines after necessary modifications can be determined, he said.
This initiative has my personal attention, and I will continue to keep you informed as we integrate these highly motivated and capable officers into our submarine force, Roughead told the committee.
I took offense to several comments on the thread.
Do you think women should she be firefighters?
Yeah. pretty much.
Saftey of ship and sucess in her mission; everything else can pretty much be damned.
You, on the other hand, obviously think this social engineering is no big deal, and guys like me who are not happy about it are either prudes or perverts who should just get over themselves.
Submarines are not a game, High Tech Redneck.
If I am missing where you are coming from, say so - but you haven't said so yet.......
That’s not an issue.
The issue is that Subs run alone.
You are it. There aint no back up.
That’s not an issue.
The issue is that Subs run alone.
You are it. There aint no back up.
Isn’t safety pretty much overrated on subs?
:o
I never dealt with them, I do not know what they did other than negotiate contracts. I do not know if they were government.
I never said that the women should be on the submarines. I agree there is a lot of physical work on a sub that they may be unable to perform.
I did not like the comments of a few posters.
My statement stands. Hypersensitive, overly emotional and intellectually inferior women have no business being around men in any capacity whatsoever. Perhaps you should shield yourself and not visit Free Republic any more.
You seem to be an expert in coming to wrong conclusions.
If they pass all the physical trials and exams I do not see why not.
I would sure like to find a YouTube copy of that LA fire dept video from the 1990s showing those female fireman try outs, they were incredibly humorous, in a sad way.
oh ! scary, creepy, anything else im forgetting, ooooohhhh, chills.....
They negotiated contracts and such.
On your behalf right?
So your government did provide you protection and look out for your best interest?
Right?
I never dealt with them, I do not know what they did other than negotiate contracts. I do not know if they were government.
So you don't know anything about the government union that represented you? Who's contracts did they negotiate?
That's just it, they don't, it is just like the military, they had to make up a female standard for them to pass.
I don't want to over-react to your statement.
What do you mean - that submarines take safety too seriously; that submarines are not nearly as safe as commonly thought, or that submarines are more safe than is commonly thought - or am I still missing your point?
Building fire......If your on the 9 floor, incapacitated from smoke, who would you want to carry you down 9 flights of stairs, a male firefighter for female?
Can you be truthful here?
I’m just kidding.
I am offended by your being offend OK! Jeez give it a break. Somebody as sensitive as you could not have been a guard of anything. Baby.
When posters come off as misogynist it makes conservatives look bad.
In the past few months AI have seen some posts (wish I had bookmarked them) calling for the repeal of women's voting rights, justifying islamic wife beating, banning women from gun ownership, etc.
We are all conservatives, why name call and bash each other.
I posted that I did not want to misinterpret you, and asked you to explain yourself to me.
You responded with a weak, asinine, condescending statement about serious accidents on submarines.
I invited you to explain your intention to me.
You post a weak personal insult.
Okay. I think that I now know everything I will ever need to know about you. I'll stop asking for clarifications.
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