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 don’t 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 we’re very open and transparent on how we’ll 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 we’re 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 Navy’s 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 went on a war exercise with an army unit.
There were female troops involved.
One had just given birth to a child and was breast feeding.
Well, the soldiers gave her special treatment. She didn’t sleep in the dirt like the rest. They set up a sleeping quarters in the tunnel connecting the cab of a modified bradley and the operational area in the vehicle defeating the purpose of egress and regress that the tunnel was designed for.
Then she would pump breast milk and put it in a bottle and a couple of guys would take a hummvee and drive it out of the box and take it to others outside of the operation to deliver to a caretaker on the outside.
This took troops and vehicles away from the mission and mission readiness as their focus wasn’t on the mission at all.
I bet that was great for the crews moral.
Sorry, I was away from the computer for a while. This thread is now over 300, so while I catch up, let me just say that because you don’t like what I posted isn’t the same as having a logical reason to dispute it.
There was nothing pathetic about what I posted. What I posted was an indication that the topic of women on submarines is more than, and can’t be reduced to, simply male chauvanism.
Men and women aren’t the same. That is good, not bad. It is a fact, not an opinion. The question then becomes if that difference affects the operation of a submarine or not.
So, answer and dispute,not dismiss, the questions raised or concede the point that women on submarines may not be a good thing.
I’m open either way but want facts or reasoned opinions, not your personal prejudice or inclination.
My bet and would be a pretty safe-one I think is that the ones who dreamed up the idea and the supporters of the idea are Airedales, Skimmers, Ground Pounders or Pants Shiners / Stainer's. With the majority of them from the latter category.
DACO-TWITS I knew it.
Don't sexual harassment rules work against lesbian harassment? Or is it too un-PC for them to take up the charges?
I would imagine that they are smart enough to not pull pranks that are actually dangerous. Part of the purpose of the pranks is to find out how the new guy is going to react, on the viewpoint that the time to discover that a guy is a jerk, an ass, or a hysteric is BEFORE the stuff hits the fan.
It's not just in the military. At one point I was a young guy in a small startup, working long hours and hanging out with the other guys there. When we got a couple of female developers, it completely changed the group dynamics, and not for the better. They were thin-skinned and demanded that we change to suit them.
Guys behave differently when it's just us guys, and have closer relationships.
see FR Mail for answer to question.
In a situation where the rest of the guys have decided that your low performance puts them at physical risk, you WILL get a "blanket party" to convince you to improve to their standards, or get out.
Sons of Anarchy...yeah, i watch that.
Hmmm, interesting. And by your statement, I conclude that you believe a man’s face would not have been broken by a punch that hard. Yeah, I have to agree....men’s heads are so much harder than women’s.
He is indeed fortunate to have a wife with such an insight.
Oh, you’re so kind ... I grew up around all loving and kind big brothers who only beat me up when I needed it (!!!), no sisters. Husband and I have been married for 20 years; God willin’ and the crik don’t rise, we have many more years together ahead. My folks have been married for 62 years tomorrow!
Congrats! That is so wonderful. I wish my parents had lived long enough to make 62 years. They did make 50 at least.
My sisters rarely thought so even though I only beat them when they needed it. You post was right on the money and not something you see from a woman all the time. Smart man your husband, candy for beer, make that trade all day.
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