Posted on 08/01/2011 9:59:09 PM PDT by smokingfrog
HARTFORD, Conn. ---- For Ensign Peggy LeGrand, the biggest concern about serving on a submarine is not spending weeks at a time in tight quarters with an entirely male crew. What worries her is the scrutiny that comes with breaking one of the last gender barriers in the U.S. military.
"I have a feeling more people will be focused on us. Our mistakes and successes will be magnified more than they deserve," said LeGrand, 25, a Naval Academy graduate from Amarillo, Texas.
LeGrand is among a small group of female officers who are training at sites including Groton, Conn., to join the elite submarine force beginning later this year. While the Navy says it is not treating them any differently from their male counterparts, officials have been working to prepare the submarine crews ---- and the sailors' wives ---- for one of the most dramatic changes in the 111-year history of the Navy's "silent service."
The initial class of 24 women will be divided among four submarines, where they will be outnumbered by men by a ratio of roughly 25 to 1. The enlisted ranks, which make up about 90 percent of a sub's 160-sailor crew, are not open to women ---- although the Navy is exploring modifications to create separate bunks for men and women.
The female officers, many of them engineering graduates from Annapolis, are accustomed to being in the minority, and so far they say they hardly feel like outsiders. The nuclear power school that is part of their training, for example, has been open to women for years because the Navy in 1994 reversed a ban on females serving on its surface ships, including nuclear-powered vessels.
(Excerpt) Read more at nctimes.com ...
I worked in an all male unit and one of the most annoying things was when we had an attached unit that allowed females. Without fail (WITHOUT FAIL!) there would be several men just hanging around the area where females were. It is a constant distraction and NOONE dares say ANYTHING because it is a career death sentence.
I know there are many FReepers who served. Anyone have a different experience?
I talk to guys that were in THAT navy and I am stunned by the psycho crap that is eating away at the chain of command.
You just cant let people have special privileges.
It ruins mens ressolve when you add that sort of thing to the mix
I did war games with Army who put women in the field.
It was bizarre.
We had a lactating woman that was given special treatment and upwards of 4 men would shuttle her breast milk back behind lines for the baby.
4 men gone, with a vehicle and assets with us sitting there with a prima donna
I call this madness.
My brother, who served on a fast-attack nuclear submarine for 4 years, says this social engineering will be nothing short of disastrous.
You call it correctly, as does anyone with half-an-ounce of sense.
Women are too much drama for close quarters
and I imagine in a world war fight for survival all this silly shite will be tossed pronto
it’s an indulgence
but destructive
It will be nuclear but it won’t be an accident.
wait ‘till (any day now) openly gay males are serving on the subs and sharing those 2 showers
The Commander slot will be reserved for queers tho.
Why waste the time.
That was beyond a stupid situation. They couldn’t find something for the lady to do behind the lines?
It would be a fine testament to his years in the Oval Office...
Since pregnant females cannot serve aboard ships once their condition is known, I wonder what the Navy's contingency plan is to remove the pregnant females off the deployed subs and transfer them to shore stations?
If I was on a sub I’d demand to shower with a woman instead of a gay. We all know they BOTH would want me! So I should be able to make my own choice. I mean, choices is what it’s all about. Right?
This is wrong. Women do not belong on a sub with men. If they want an all female crew on a sub, okay fine, I guess. But mixed crew? No way. It’s wrong.
Is there enough room to find a private spot to "hook up" on a sub?
This is a big mistake. STS/2 SS
That is such horsesh*t!
Sorry, ladies. If you’re pregnant or nursing, you belong behind a desk on terra firma. You do not belong in a combat situation!
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