FREE ESSAY ON WOMEN IN THE MILITARY

WOMEN IN THE MILITARY

Equality for Women in the Military: A good idea?
Self~Pity
I never saw wild thing
Sorry for itself. 
A small bird will fall frozen dead from a bough
Without ever having felt sorry for itself.
Chances are that some of have seen the movie GI Jane and have cheered along with Demi
Moore's character as she spit in the face of her commanding officer as he proceeded to
beat her to a pulp to prove a point about womens' inferiority and how their presence can
make the men weak. I was cheering with the best of them at the time, but now I'm not sure
that if I saw it again, I'd be cheering with the same zeal.
When I first started to write this paper, I was drowning in my preconceived opinions
about women's involvement in the armed forces, but I currently find myself at a loss for
a well-established, solid ground to stand on. I have explored the opposing viewpoints of
this issue and I'm still torn. I have always had a great deal of respect for the armed
forces and at one time even visited a recruiter. Sometimes I think that the dream still
isn't dead in me, especially since this past Thanksgiving.
This year, my family (my mother, my sister and I) decided to be a host family to two
Great Lakes Naval Base Boot Camp members for the holiday. On Thanksgiving morning, my
mother and I went to pick up our two 'recruits'. I was so stuck in a cloud, dreaming of
spending my holiday with tow muscle-bound hotties, that it never occurred to me what
happened next. Two young ladies approached us and introduced themselves as Midshipman
MacIntosh and Shipman McDonough. Recovering from the initial disappointment, I found
myself, over the next few hours, greatly appreciating the fact that we were assigned
women instead of men.
These two girls were more than eager to answer our numerous questions and share their
experiences while proceeding to talk our ears off, gain our respect for them and in turn
the U.S. Navy and also, to find a place in our hearts. It was definitely the most
memorable Thanksgiving that we could've hoped for and have ever had. I don't believe that
any of this would be true if we had hosted young men instead.
Recorded history shows that women have served great purposes in the military since as
early as World War I. In fact, women make up almost fourteen percent of its active force
today. Myth has it that the first women to serve in combat were Margaret Cochran Corbin
who loaded and fired the cannon herself until she was wounded by grapeshot, which tore
her shoulder, mangled her chest and lacerated her jaw. The second was a woman by the name
of Molly Pitcher, who fetched water and swabbed barrels for the Continental Artillery
during the Revolutionary War. World War I brought on the establishment of the
'yeomanettes', a 12,500 strong force of women who were recruited by the Navy and the
Marine Corps to perform clerical jobs that would 'free the men to fight'. This number,
however, does not reflect the combined forces of these women and the many nurses that
served. When that number is included, the total involvement swells to a whopping 34,000
in size!
In World War II, each of the armed forces found it necessary to establish its own female
components. First came the Army with its Women's Auxiliary Army Corps or the WAAC. The
Navy followed with the WAVES: Women Accepted for Voluntary Emergency Service, then the
Marines, the Coast Guard and finally the Air Force which in 1941, created the (WASPs) or
Women's Air Service Pilots. These combined forces made up 350,000 female participants in
World War II wartime activity.
There are many arguments for and against the involvement in the military that are up in
arms to this very day. Of course the most obvious argument for womens' involvement would
be the past performance that they have shown. In the book, 'Women in the Marines' by N.R.
Rowan, Drill Instructor Wayne Moore from Parris Island, SC, Marine Training Facility
says, "I've been in the Marines for fourteen years, and I can tell you, the females
listen up! They make better recruits overall than the males. They are better motivated,
adapt better, take instruction better and seem to retain what they learn better. I've
never had a female recruit refuse to jump off the 45-foot rappelling tower. So far three
males have refused to jump".
In the same book however, the following fact is stated, 'the average female recruit's
rifle test score is 200 compared to the average male recruit's score of 212'. The passage
goes on to explain that this is most likely caused by women's and men's physical
differences. The test calls for the recruit to be in a lying-down position. Since women
typically have shorter arms than men, while in a horizontal position, it is harder for
them to maneuver their trigger finger. Another argument against the advancement of women
in the military was made by Brian Mitchell, a decorated Navy intelligence agent, in his
book 'Women in the Military: Flirting with Disaster', when he stated that in Korea in
1976, when war was hours away, numerous requests were received from females asking to be
transferred to the rear. When their requests weren't responded to, many of the women
simply abandoned their posts.
This kind of action caused the DOD (Department of Defense) to write the 'Combat Exclusion
Laws' which limit the areas of service available to women. As yet, women are still not
cleared to be stationed on the front-line where hand-to-hand combat is needed, but
feminists and women alike are fighting for that right everyday.
For lack of a better example, I am forced to refer to the movie GI Jane once again in
which a piece of equipment referred to as a 'female aid' was introduced. The 'female aid'
was a boost that was to be used by Moore's character to get over an obstacle on a course,
bringing her to where she'd be able to compete with the men. This same idea was expressed
again when Moore's character came in last in the previously mentioned course exercise,
yet passed while men who'd finished ahead of her had to complete it again. When
questioned about this, the superior officers said that it had been through 'gender
norming' that this resulted.
This sense of special treatment or favoritism was initially supposed to expand only to
the physiological differences between men and women, which the law required, but it
definitely went far beyond that and this is exhibited by the following examples. These
examples span from easier treatment in training exercises, a separate grading scale and
even the modification of weaponry! At West Point, women carried M16 rifles for rife-runs
and bayonet drills, while men continued to carry the much heavier M14s. West Point women
were initially allowed to brace the M14 on their knee when drawing back the bolt for
inspection. Later, the bolt springs were shortened to reduce tension, thus making the
bolt easier to draw.
The special treatment affected the morale of the classes at West Point and Annapolis
desperately. As the special treatment extended to such luxuries as more privacy in the
form of the issuing of shower curtains to females or even something pidd'ly like the fact
that women did not have to get the standard 'Army haircut', the low morale was verbalized
in the following ways. Male students of all the academies registered overwhelming
disapproval of the changes. Surveys of midshipmen at Annapolis showed that 81 percent of
upperclassmen and 74 percent of underclassmen still opposed the integration. As much as I
hate to admit it, with the presence of such dissention in the ranks, there is no doubt in
my mind that performance and overall quality of these classes would suffer.
I wanted to know more about the dissention that could occur within the various military
institutions. While I could not get in touch with anyone from West Point or Annapolis, I
did manage to locate an individual who attended the Citadel. The Citadel has a 153-year
tradition of accepting males only, but on August 11, 1995 all that changed when 20-year
old Shannon Faulkner was admitted to the schools' 2000-member cadet corps. After just a
few days though, Faulkner called it quits complaining of illness, but I'm sure it had a
lot to do with the massive amounts of hazing she must've endured. In that same year, 3
other female cadets were admitted to the Citadel and one Nancy Mace was just last year
named the first woman to graduate from the institution. Her scores were very high among
the men as one of just four freshmen to pass their fitness test the first time around.
Along with these physical triumphs Mace added a Magna Cum Laude academic performance to
her list of achievements. These achievements may stem from the legacy that her family has
left, her father Emory is the Citadel's most decorated living graduate, her sister is a
1992 West Point graduate and her brother is in his freshmen year at West Point. All this
considered, interviewed a gentleman I came across that had attended the Citadel in the
early 80s to get an insider's viewpoint. He gave the following information:
My name is Mark Shutock, I attended the Citadel from August 1978 ~ May 1982. In my first
class (Senior) year I held the rank of Cadet Lieutenant Colonel and the position of Cadet
Battalion Commander. The Corps of Cadets is organized as one regiment with four
battalions.
I was in favor of the college remaining one of a small minority of all-male military
colleges throughout the United States. There are several reasons for my feelings.
First, I feel that the brotherhood formed by a group of males in a tough environment such
as the Citadel would be eroded by admitting female cadets. My life at the school was a
Spartan one with a total lack of privacy. I don't see how this could be maintained with
females in the barracks.
Secondly, the college was forced to admit females against the will of the school and the
students. Many students enrolled because of the all-male policy, and school was not able
to offer that to them for their entire enrollment. As you probably know, the Citadel
participated in a lengthy and costly legal struggle to maintain its all-male status. We
lost, and were forced by the courts to admit female cadets. Many all-black, all male
institutions, and all female schools filed 'Friend of the Court' papers in support of my
Alma Mater. Their support consisted of evidence that an all-male environment is conducive
to the learning process. Women seeking a military career have a variety of other options
for a military education, such as The Military Academy, The Naval Academy West Point,
etc. I don't see that it is wrong to allow males to attend an all-male institution if
they so choose.
Finally, there is the concept of tradition, foreign in most places today. The school has
been cranking out quality male citizens and military officers since 1842. I don't see the
need to change a concept that works. I'm glad that I attended the all-male Citadel.
Lest you think that I'm a hopeless male misogynist, I am still a staunch supporter of my
college and a firm supporter of females in the military, who have served since before
WWI. Currently, many Military Occupational Specialties are still restricted to women,
those that require direct access to combat. The list has been reduced somewhat of late. I
agree with the policy for several reasons. I think we both know what will probably happen
to females if they are captured by enemy forces. (As in the recent Gulf War). The demands
of combat weigh heavily on the body, such as carrying extremely heavy loads of weapons,
ammunition and equipment in the case of light infantry units. I won't even address the
issues of males protecting females, menstruation, pregnancy and prostitution, which have
been documented as issues in combat zones as well.
Whether the kind of equality that has been strived for all along will be achieved or not,
there is no question in my mind, since it has been proven that the squeaky wheel gets the
grease and feminists seem to do nothing but squeak, even so, when this 'win' does occur,
will there be celebration or devastation?
I think that my final opinion on this issue is best defined by the following statement.
There should be no overall ruling on the case of women's involvement in the military, I
believe that it is necessary to judge each instance on a case by case basis, with deeply
researched and fair decisions that are well documented so as to be referred to and taken
into account when similar cases arise.
Bibliography
Bibliography
Weekly Reader: Should a Woman Enter an All-Male School? Anonymous
Tribune News Service: Judge Puts Another Woman on the Citadel's Front Line