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i The stereotypical image is guaranteed to evoke horror—a
1 hapless woman at sea, covered with grease and gore. But the
' reality—as those with first-hand experience know—shows a
The Coast Guard Example
By Master Chief Sonar Technician Robert H. Gooch, U. S. Navy
The issue of whether the Coast Guard will remove women from its ships during a war is debated every time the National Military Command Center conducts a maj01 exercise. This drew the wrath of a former Coast Guam Commandant Admiral James S. Gracey. “I flatly refuse to [remove them],” he said. “If I have a woman commanding a ship in the Bering Sea, I am not about to bring that ship home, nor am I about to fly a helicopter out there to pick up its commanding officer just because she happenS to wear a skirt once in a while. Forget it.”2
The position of the current Coast Guard Commandant-
The Coast Guard has been sending women to sea for more than a decade, imposing no restrictions whatsoever. This means that women in the Coast Guard serve in law enforcement and drug interdiction roles—the closest types of operations to combat that any seagoing forces are experiencing these days, outside the Persian Gulf.
The Navy, on the other hand, allows women to serve only on noncombatant ships. It is moving slowly toward further integration, studying each step before it acts.
The Navy could save some time and trouble. Instead of convening study groups and commissioning reports, it should look to its sister seagoing service, the Coast Guard, to see what happens when institutional bias toward women is eliminated on board ship.
Women Afloat in the Coast Guard__________________
A law prevents Navy women from serving in combatant ships. So how is it that Coast Guard women can serve on all types of ships? According to the late Captain J. A. McDonough, Jr., U. S. Coast Guard:
“In May of 1977, Secretary of Transportation Brock Adams, in his commencement address to the Coast Guard Academy, announced that women in the Coast Guard would be going to sea. For a few months prior to that time, the new administration had asked questions of the Commandant [Admiral Owen W. Siler] on the use of women, such as ‘What law is it that keeps you from sending women to sea?’
“There was no law! There never has been a law that prevented Coast Guard women from going to sea. There is a law that does prevent women from being assigned to combat [ships] in the Navy. Because of the . . . law that specifies that the Coast Guard becomes part of the Navy upon declaration of war or when the President so directs, the Coast Guard had applied the same constraints as the Navy on its assignment of women.
“When Secretary Adams asked, ‘Why not assign women to sea?’ the answer was ‘Because we never have, sir!’ So, the Commandant agreed that, yes, probably women should go to sea. There was no law to prevent it. There was communication with the Chief of Naval Operations and it was concluded that, because of the law about the Coast Guard becoming part of the
Navy during a declared war, women would not be assigned to ships under Navy operational control. No"' the lawyers say that the law doesn’t apply to that situation, but to be ready to become a part of the Navy in a military readiness role, the decision was made that would have men identified on shore that would come on board and take the place of the women. This was the initial concept. Since that time, that restriction has been removed. I have now been advised that there is no restriction on my going to refresher training, or operating with the Navy in a Navy exercise, under Navy opera tional control, with women on board.”1
Admiral Paul A. Yost, on this issue is not so direct: “Cur rent assignment policies for women in the Coast Guard am’ long established. They are consistent with laws that appv to us in peacetime. 1 recognize different laws and poling might apply in a wartime environment if we report to the Department of Defense as part of the Navy. We will crosS that bridge when we come to it.”3
Besides providing equal career opportunity, the Coasj Guard—like the other armed services, but unlike m°s civilian organizations—pays men and women equally One would think, therefore, that women would be limn^. up at Coast Guard recruiting stations, and that the ratio1’ men to women in the Coast Guard would be nearly 50-^1' This, however, is not the case. (See Table 1.)
The best explanation for the dearth of women in tivj Coast Guard seems to be lack of money for recruiting a° advertising.
“The Coast Guard budget is miniscule compared w*. the other armed services, and our public affairs budge1 lS barely large enough to buy even 30 seconds of TV corn mercial time during the Super Bowl,” said Command^ James C. Clow, U. S. Coast Guard. “The Coast Guard
I
Since October 1978, when Congress removed the
Vy "u,‘ to expand sea billets for women by 9,000."
jnen currently make up 9% of the Navy’s personnel. PhpUt t*le most vi°lent reactions have resulted from the Cq °rnen°n of men and women working together on non- cjaatants, and the specter that combat ships may some- y he integrated.
-^Afloat in the Navy
strict' '-'Jiign-aa luiiuvm mu re
m Hpn on women serving in noncombatant ships, the °ne ^ Spolicy on females has been very controversial. For SCf ^irig’ women trying to enter the Navy are still Urr).ened differently at recruiting stations because of the lteh number of billets available to them. tl^j'Pfesentative Beverly B. Byron (D-MD), Chairman of int H°Use Armed Services Compensations Subcommittee, \V()r^Uced a bill on 17 December 1987 that aides said t0 h f°rce all of the services to open combat support jobs a r .(]nien h°r a two-year test. This is apparently becoming for 8 *n lhe Navy, with no need for the bill, owing to dp,!^ Secretary of the Navy Webb’s 5 December 1987 7*sion '
l\jkUed most Navy supply ships and tenders since the y began its experiment in coeducation in the 1970s.”6 USr-“Ptain 1- D- Sharpe, Jr., commanding officer of the vit\H^!?0ry Land (AS-39), provides another point of NUv ' , ^ Women do make a valuable contribution to our y* he said. ‘‘They endure the same hours and workloads as their male counterparts. They, for the most part, take seriously their commitment to the Navy, as well as to their families. Without these high-quality, generally well- qualified women, this command, for one, would be unable to perform its mission.”7
To resolve these opposing points of view, consider how the Coast Guard women are faring in ships.
Women at Sea ► Sexuality: Men and women grow up and go to school with each other and have worked together in all occupations. But women have not traditionally served at sea with men. This raises problems with jealous spouses left ashore who fear their marriages will fail as a result of temptation caused by the proximity of the opposite sex.
A male Coast Guard commander said: ‘‘My wife is not the jealous type at all. I was already in the Coast Guard when we got married and she was used to me being gone for six months at a time. It wasn’t until I got off the ship that she told me [my working with women on board] bothered her. She was a mature spouse compared to others; she was the senior woman in the communications chain, and was constantly getting calls from people about problems including romances on board. She said she never let on about her fears. I was surprised when she told me, because
coveralls, with grease-stained hands and forearms, wiped her hand on her coveralls before shaking mine- was incongruous to see that her nails were painted, but
She
It
had
I thought only those with weak marriages needed to worry.”
A female seaman from a Hamilton (WHEC-715)-class cutter said, “My boyfriend, a civilian, is nervous about me on the boat with all those guys, but you don't really have time, with all the work. On liberty, we go ashore with a group.”
She said that most of the divorces on board were caused by time away from each other. “One guy’s wife said he was never home, and she couldn’t handle it by herself.”
“I was surprised how many men were married on this boat,” the seaman added. “There’s only one married woman aboard. There’s like 15 guys to every giri. 150 guys and 12 girls."
" A chief petty officer in a Cape-class patrol boat said that his girlfriend would say during arguments, “Tell it to your little bimbettes on the ship!”
The women on shore duty I spoke to wore uniform skirts or pants, and makeup. Those on board ship wore coveralls, as did the men, unless they were on watch at the quarterdeck when they wore trousers in keeping with the uniform of the day.
A lieutenant (junior grade) explained: “When I'm on a ship I wear no or minimal makeup, no perfume (although the guys wear their after-shave; maybe they’re trying to attract the few females aboard). I'd look silly with heavy mascara and bright red lips boarding a vessel saying, 'Hi, I’m here to arrest you!”’
Two female seamen from a Hamilton-class cutter complained they never felt like women until they went ashore: “You feel just like a male on this ship,” said one. “We always wear these coveralls, just like the guys; the only time you feel like a female is on liberty .... We go all out and dress like females. I got dressed up in a black miniskirt with high heels and make-up, and they said, ‘Is that you?’ ”
The officer from the icebreaker much preferred having women enforcing the female dress code rules, including “when they were on liberty in foreign ports ... or when they went out to sunbathe on deck. If they were wearing something borderline or tacky—something that would make it difficult for the males—a good, tough senior enlisted woman wouldn’t let them out of the berthing space.
“If a woman in my department was wearing something on liberty in foreign ports that I thought was too provocative,” he continued, “I’d be hesitant to say anything about it, because it could appear discriminatory, although
I did tell the males if I thought they were wearing some thing inappropriate for a foreign port.”
A female ensign I spoke to arrived for the interview >n grease around the edges. I pointed that out, and she grinned and said she had been at a party the night before and had not removed the nail polish.
There was infidelity in the Coast Guard, she said, but i was not because of the presence of women in the shtps- “One wife thought I’d messed around with her hus band. I was really hurt; she didn’t even know me. I c°n' fronted her, because I didn’t feel I could go to sea in th;1 ship, with her husband aboard, if she had that impressi°n' I worried about my reputation.
Talking to her, I found a lot of wives worried [ab°u shipboard romances], but “if they have good marriage5’1 shouldn't be a problem. The wives should worry about t red light districts overseas, not the women on board- ► Fraternization: This is generally defined as “intimue personal relations between members of different rank °r rate. It is not unlawful. It is, however, against the ride of various commands. Individual commanding offic_erS make their own rules on this issue, generally prohibit'0? demonstrations of affection on board ship.
“I was ordered to place two crew members on report kissing each other after quarters,” said a Coast Guar female lieutenant (junior grade). “She was an SA [seam*? apprentice] and he was a first class. They were going wlt each other, which is okay ashore, but [displays of affeC' tion cannot be tolerated) aboard.”
I asked Coast Guard women about shipboard romance^ One answer seemed to prevail: “[Because] you see the5 guys every day, you have to work with them . . ■ >< J11.^ wouldn’t work out. Besides, this boat is a gossip mill-5 you couldn’t be by yourself with anyone; people w011 L talk.” ,,
“It all has to do with the person’s moral standard5, said a female ensign: “I would never be involved vV' someone on the ship; that’s career suicide. 1 do go ash° with the guys in the wardroom. After spending hours watch with them, you get to know them, but liberty >5 nl| different than being on the ship; we’re just shipmate5-, don’t believe you have to worry about 11 or 12 women 1 a ship being temptations to the men.” .g
Another Coast Guard woman officer mentioned that5
| Table 1 Men | U. S. Coast Guard Personnel* Women | Total | % Wonten |
Officer | 4.826 | 197 | 5,023 | 3.9 |
Enlisted | 28,644 | 2,507 | 31,151 | 8.1 |
Warrant Officers | 1,394 | 5 | 1,399 | 0.4 |
Total | 34,864 | 2,709 | 37,573 | 7.2 |
♦These figures are current a | s of February 1988 |
|
|
|
tr . —^*uen [from me] than ^ t0 ^'n<^ out wf*at was 8°mg on- C>n short trips—less the months—there were no problems, but I think
bfeg, °ast Guard has problems when women are on ice- With i^rs f°r l°ng deployments. Even when you start out ni2 . rd-line rules, in black and white, the military orga- Probl'°n t0 f*0^ 'ts own against human nature. The cent em ^Sn t Vagrant or widespread, but a certain per- everv*h- °f people are not following the rules. They do the ^ta'n§ they can to keep it hidden, because they know c0mC°nSequences °f being caught, but it generally be- ► COmmon knowledge throughout the ship.” the Qrr‘aSe: Married personnel may not serve together in Same Coast Guard unit, at sea or ashore.
Se® when he was a chief on the same ship in which she ^rved. Although they were very discreet, dating in towns removed from homeport, they were discovered any- 0yay’ by a shipmate who intended to “hold the information 0[,£r They promptly submitted requests to see each
reCr SociaHy. Because of their continued discretion, the blaUfStS.were approved, thereby ending the threat of t^mail. They married, and were subsequently assigned different units.
pos female skipper of a 110-foot cutter believes that the Co abilities of sexual activity “must be addressed by the C*** early on. It should be acknowledged and con- sn^nted’ as Policy statements to the crew, and in talks to Use groups.”
emae also said that as a cadet at the Coast Guard Acad- lecf' S^e aiK* ot^er female cadets were called aside for a $ecUre a,30ut not having sex with male cadets. She did not bot^y lbis lecture was delivered to females only, since re1Tlen and women should have an equal share in acting P°nsibly where sexuality is concerned.
Wern 'cebreaker officer said that on his ship “the rules °n tCLenf°rced hard and fast. Couples wouldn’t sit together Coue mess deck, even the ones everybody knew were tba f cs. Their getting together constituted nothing more Wase'n§ seen talking with each other. If anything else thin ^°in8 on aboard, [the couple] . . . would do every- 8 they could to cover it up because they knew of the n!0rcement policy.
WasAs a senior officer, a certain amount of romancing htdden [from mel . ... At the same time, I was
“I guess people are concerned about a sexual relationship, whether they can have joint quarters or staterooms together or that type of thing,” said Captain J. A. McDonough, U. S. Coast Guard, in 1982. He continued, “The Coast Guard tries to station its married personnel within 60 miles of each other. They are not assigned to sea duty simultaneously. This enables them to raise children, since one parent is always ashore. This is not easy in a small service, but the Coast Guard manages to do it.”8
A female Coast Guard lieutenant (junior grade) does not think spouses should serve in the same ship. “You can’t show affection aboard, and I personally wouldn’t want to work with my husband in the same office ashore. Rank and position would get in the way. Besides, it’s nice to have something different to talk about when you get home. At sea, I don’t think it would work out too well. A 45-day stretch at sea would be too frustrating when you couldn’t even hold hands!”
A female Coast Guard junior officer explained that she and her husband were stationed 600 miles from each other, but that it was a career choice: He accepted a warrant officer’s billet and she took a desired job as commanding officer of a Cape-class patrol boat. She also said she intended to leave active duty when she was ready to have children.
“I was raised by a nanny,” she explained, “and don’t want to subject my children to that kind of upbringing. I’ll stay in the reserves, and then, hopefully, come back on active duty when my kids don’t need my constant presence anymore.”
Another woman, a Coast Guard ensign, considered it too difficult for a couple to have dual careers. “One of the two of you is going to have to sacrifice the career. My mother gave up a teaching career to raise her kids, and I’m grateful for that.”
The female skipper of the 110-foot cutter is married to
an°ther Coast Guard officer. She and her husband jok- ln§ly remind each other to “leave those guys (girls) alone, ?°w when one or the other goes to sea.
Pregnancy: “We had four or five pregnancies while I Served in a Hamilton-class cutter,” said a lieutenant (ju- n>or grade). “They were petty officers, seamen recruits, M|Sefmen apprentices who became pregnant acciden- Jy- ’ Only one father was a fellow crew member; the a a>rs took place ashore.
No one I spoke to indicated that they believed any °man had become pregnant on purpose to get off sea y- But it was reported that some men complained that Q0rr*en could escape sea duty via pregnancy since Coast
policy does not allow pregnant women to serve in
'PS. This creates a replacement problem. The same ^r°blem, however, can result from other factors, such as ^ru§ abuse, homosexuality, and illness. Although preg- ncY only occurs among females, unplanned losses occur ^ °ng aH crew members.
Dr Paren,s: Female single parents have the same 0 lems as male single parents. In fact, in the Navy, the^ ^ more s'ngle fathers than single mothers, because re are far more men than women in the Navy. Single theents’ male or female, must make provisions to care for ‘[ children, using whatever facilities are available in the
Lilian
or military community. (The Navy Family Service
n — v-fi UlUIlclI
nter Program may serve as a referral agency for child- or h ^ro^*ems-) ^ a parent cannot find ways to care for his onl 6r or children a hardship discharge may be the 1Tl y answer. As always, the needs of the service are para- triUnt- Other Western countries tend to make day care a UattCr Pub*‘c policy, but child care is up to the individ- ^ ^‘n our country.
Gi\<XUa^ harassment: No one I spoke with in the Coast ard mentioned any problems with sexual harassment— an ? °ne Wornan officer who said that a friend of hers, in herher sh‘P* had experienced a drunken sailor entering de while she was in bed. (The situation was easily
. W11WllCn thf* ” ' ” f ^ 1 /I tKn pmlrtr lamra llP
His behavior Sexual harassment.) sion PParently, the Coast Guard has arrived at the conclu- acn lHat women and men are equal and should be treated C^gly. This mutual respect has developed in an en- sjtlenrnent where having women and men working side by ^ Was the norm, rather than the exception.
^ing Spaces: The Coast Guard recruits and details sPa °Ut re§arcI t0 gender, except in considering berthing So .?e 0n board ship. There are no mixed berthing spaces, Wo E <“oast Guard must be able to fill a berthing area with ent]Tleri- The new Bear (WMEC-901)-class cutters pres- aSsj^ Joining the fleet with units under construction are
adjoining head space. No modification was made to the ship. I had heard and read in the press that one of these compartments was converted for use by the women, so, when 1 came aboard, I went down and said ‘what did you do? Let’s look at the conversion.’
“Well, the conversion turned out to be taking the men out, and putting the women in! There was absolutely no physical change made. There is a philodendron growing in the urinal, if that’s an alteration.”9
The icebreaker mentioned earlier did have to make some physical changes. Her engineer said, “We had a female berthing area, and we had to rewire some of the electrical distribution on the ship .... We had a real problem. When males had used that space, although the load-bearing capability may have been marginal, we didn’t blow fuses or circuit breakers. But when females moved in, and were getting ready to go on liberty, out came the hair dryers, curling irons, irons, and electric make-up mirrors. I had to put another generator on the line to carry the load.
“As it turned out, we just threw the problem back at them. We had some highly talented female electricians, and they dealt with the redistribution and wiring, so it was no longer a problem.”
One problem occurred in a Hamilton-dass cutter: So many women were sent to the ship that they had to open another ten-person space for females only. That meant that
“The Coast Guard has [concluded] that men and women are equal. . . . This mutual respect has developed in an environment where having women and men working side by side was the norm, rather than the exception.”
(jjj ^hh when the woman told the sailor to leave, and he tute His behavior was inappropriate, but it did not consti-
cHss
gning women to every other vessel. The Hamilton-
s‘§ne<jUftCrS *iave e‘t*ier one or two ten-person spaces
as-
women.
ofp nen Captain McDonough reported as commanding nUn^r of the Morgenthau (WHEC-722), he said that “the s^j er °f enlisted women was based on the fact that the accommodations are basically ten-man areas, with
nonrated women were living in a ten-person space normally occupied by petty officers, while rated males were relegated to a 30-person space normally meant for nonrated personnel.
A similar problem occurred in a 210-foot cutter that had women reservists coming on board; the women, a third class petty officer and a seaman, were berthed in a two- person stateroom with a private head, causing complaints from more senior male petty officers.
I wondered about female chief petty officers (CPOs): Do they have to sleep in female-only quarters, away from their fellow chiefs? Coast Guard CPOs in Hamilton-class cutters have rooms, so female CPOs are not turned out of their quarters because of their gender.
On the icebreaker, the engineer said, “We had no female CPOs, but if we ever got one, the female chief would live in sickbay. There was a very nice, very large sickbay; the male chiefs would not have complained, although living in sickbay would be relatively luxurious compared to the CPO berthing area.”
In another ship, it was reported that “there was no
'roc
■eedings / Nava| Revicw |988
129
As the Navy opens more seagoing billets to women, shipboard promotions like this one will become more common. If the Navy can follow the Coast Guard’s example, it should eventually come to the realization that having more women at sea on major ships is no big deal.
en’s physical strength limitations. It had nothing to 0 with their mental abilities or toughness. The only women who chose to remain as MKs [a combination of an ^ gineman, a boilerman, and a machinist’s mate] were big, strong ones. There was no problem with the femJ electricians’ ability to perform their jobs. And we did ha female seamen; deck work is obviously a labor-intensi job, but they did fine.”
► Professional Training: Coast Guard men and worn are given the same training for the same jobs. There is difference. As of February 1988, there were 112 fenra_ cadets at the Coast Guard Academy, fulfilling the sart1 requirements as the men (or failing, the same as nie°( Training for law enforcement teams for the drug intern' tion program is the same for men as for women.
A female lieutenant (junior grade) said, “I was execU tive officer on a patrol boat and the senior boarding off'c for drug enforcement. My first boarding was on a Ha'tuk freighter at about 0300. The vessel was suspected
The icebreaker engineer agreed: “On liberty is
the problems start. On board, no one dares start a mance. You’ve been aboard for months, and when y°^ey
with-
separate female head; there was one head for forward officers, and one head for after officers. Each head was designed to serve about 20 people. When we rehabbed them, we put an enclosure around where you get in and out of the shower. And we put a sliding sign on the door to the heads, saying ‘male’ or ‘female.’ It was routine to knock on the door, and wait to hear what kind of voice answered; then you either waited or went on in. As the trip went on, people became more comfortable; you’d find one person taking a shower while a member of the opposite sex was using the restroom; this proved more practical.”
► Physical Strength Limitations and Pain: Jobs are most intelligently assigned according to an individual’s ability, not gender. Some women are stronger than some men. In the Morgenthau, Captain McDonough said, “I try to make assignments of the entire crew based on rational judgment. If a woman had a job that she couldn t physically do, I think the logical thing would be to avoid assigning her to it. We have some lighter-weight guys and there are certain jobs that they couldn t physically do either.
A woman deck seaman said that often the men would provide help when she didn’t need it. "It’s the little sister’ syndrome,” according to her division olticer, the Hamilton-class cutter’s first lieutenant.
The seaman agreed: “The guys say ‘You can’t lift that, give me that,’ or ‘if you can, if you’re strong enough, take care of that job.’ There's lots of stuff I can pick up. They don’t realize I can handle it. I would rather do things myself than have some male come along and do it for me.” Three Coast Guard women I spoke to, an ensign and two deck seamen, maintained that women would rather keep pain to themselves than be considered incapable.
“I broke my finger, but went ahead and practiced at the firing range,” one of the seamen said. “I didn’t want them to make fun of me.”
The ensign added, “I’m not out to prove that I can take anything, but I don’t want people to say ‘she’s just a girl.’ I’d rather go the long way around, to manuals, rather than asking anybody when I was trying to qualify [as an engineer].” She wanted to build respect by doing it on her own. “I don’t mind grabbing a wrench, although I remember standing there wiping up the oil and stuff, sweating like a pig, wondering ‘what am I doing here?’ but it was part of learning the job.”
She also said that she was “strong as an ox, and athletic; I’m 5' 11" and in charge of a repair party. I’ve found nothing in the repair lockers that women can’t handle; they do just as well as the guys.”
On the icebreaker, the commander stated that “the women were up against the same thing as the men, they held up equally, with no difference in job performance.” However, there was, he said, “a migration of women out of the heavy engineering ratings, because of the worn-
Jti
smuggling people [Haitians] into the United States, situation was tense, but I felt very comfortable with weapon and the support of the rest of the boarding Part' ’ was the boarding officer, again, on a boarding made on stateless vessel suspected of smuggling marijuana. 1 ^ training I’d received prepared me well to arrest a ,, seize. ... I was as capable as my male counterparts- A female third-class petty officer who boarded a fish"k boat on the Great Lakes said that “some fishing boat caP^ tains don’t like women stepping on board their boats. ^ came at me, and I was able to put him on the decktraining worked automatically for me; I didn’t have think about the right moves.” , t
She also said that the Coast Guard was sued by 1 skipper, but he lost the case.
► Perceptions: Liberty ashore presents particular Pr,. lems and misperceptions. When men go ashore vV' women, people talk about it. When women go ashore w women, they may be accused of being lesbians. Yet m have, and continue to go ashore with their male shipm3 and it is not an item for gossip. s
One female Coast Guard officer mentioned that she quizzed by wives of men aboard the cutter she was serein: “What did my husband do when he went ashore-
whefe
roll port, a couple goes off and dates on liberty. When return aboard, it’s impossible to turn off those feeli*1^ Fortunately, everybody had the maturity to realize y don’t start a relationship with someone you work
Whether anything is really going on between people °nietimes doesn’t matter as much as the perception that nothing may be going on. Appearances are everything. e had a female officer and a male warrant officer who ere going everywhere together. I knew there was nothing s°ln8 on, because I knew both of them well. But it just emed as though they were always at the same place at a,e Same time, perhaps coincidentally. I talked to them °ut h, and they became quite upset, denying the impli- the'°n an^ romance- ^ emphasized that it didn’t matter if re was anything going on; if the crew thinks there is, tQa PercePtion causes the discipline in the rest of the ship reak down. If the crew thinks there are two officers holH ^ £ett'n§ away with it, then no one else is going to u„. back. He was married, she was single, so the possi
bility
ble
°f his wife’s having a negative perception was possi-
too
“T,w° Coast Guard enlisted women complained that e gossip is terrible! You might go out to dinner and two*2 ^ancan8’ hut the stories fly. If a girl comes back at n, , a'm-> she hears about it, but a guy coming back late is 0 big deal . .
Some of them think we’re just here for he] ■” sh°uld realize that we like going out to sea and jobP!,n8 People just like the guys do; we just want to do our
^ ^ asked a Coast Guard commander if he preferred the that‘m^en tPere were no women m ships. He admitted sor.
"'ho
eaother thing to have some girl sitting there crying her °ut. There are comparable problems, but it’s much the e.^'Ppicuh for the supervisors, especially those facing e <'ituati°n for the first time.
0fj. ut 1 don’t think that’s any basis for keeping women $hi ■ sb'PS- We shouldn’t go back to the male-only theF
thei
m. ■
life was certainly simpler, especially for the supervi- It is certainly easier to deal with an 18-year-old male s having problems due to lack of maturity . . . it’s
why a military sea service should not recruit and assign women on an equal basis with men. The Coast Guard concluded that having women serving alongside men at sea, at least for the shorter cruises, is a perfectly normal way to operate.
If the Navy were to allow women to serve at sea equally, as the Coast Guard does, would it have problems? Yes. Would the problems be any worse than they are now, with women serving only in noncombatants? No. In fact, many problems would go away, such as the perception that “women have got it made,” or “women are taking our shore duty.” The Navy would also learn how to better manage the existing problems of sexual harassment and pregnancy among single women.
The problem of women on long cruises with the men is one to be overcome with the growth process. The Navy has matured in recent years: the drunken sailor is no longer acceptable; fighting in every port is not condoned; and the Navy is eradicating drug use by taking charge of the situation and dealing with it. Moral standards may be improving, also. Whether women are in ships or not, those who want to chase women during cruises will do so. Having women on board may improve the social climate. One instant result of having woman aboard is that the profanity level decreases. The males generally clean up their acts.
The Coast Guard experience proves that women do not have to be treated differently. It shows that there are problems to be dealt with, but they can be managed intelligently. It would seem easiest for the Navy to stop trying to adopt halfway measures, to follow the Coast Guard’s example, and become an equal opportunity employer.
l(]ePs' Women’s rights have progressed a long way. I think in f ^ave a r‘§ht to be there as much as anybody else. I’m comavor of those rights, and I think one of the things that meiie,s, with it is defending their country along with the
Th
e female commanding officer of the 110-foot cutter are H10ned a number of times that we in the armed forces pre*ending democratic ideals of equality, and should serv 'Ce vv*lat we Preach 'n the treatment of women in our
serv'C^S’ Pee^s s^e ^as a and an ohhgut*011t0
Ve her
Capt. J. A. McDonough, U. S. Coast Guard, “Gender Integration in the Military: Presentations Given at the Naval Postgraduate School” (during 1978 and 1979), edited by Richard S. Elster, Alexandria, VA: Defense Technical Information Center, Defense Logistics Agency: 1982.
2Jennet Conant, et al., “Women in Combat?” Newsweek, 11 November 1985, p. 36.
telephone interview: F. Armfteld with Rear Admiral T. T. Matteson, U. S. Coast Guard, 12 February 1988.
4Cdr. James C. Clow, U. S. Coast Guard, “Can the Coast Guard Save Itself?” Proceedings, September 1986, p. 134.
5James Longo, ”15,000 Seagoing Billets Being Opened to Women.” Navy Times, 4 January 1987, p. 1.
6Lt. Niel L. Golightly, U. S. Navy, “No Right to Fight." Proceedings, December 1987, p. 48.
7Capt. J. D. Sharpe, U. S. Navy, comment on “Women in Ships: Can We Survive?” October 1987 Proceedings, p. 16.
“McDonough.
9Ibid.
10Ibid.
country.
~°nclu
sion
Co' °dSt Guard personnel don’t consider women in the of^1 Gimrd—or in ships—a big issue. It is discussed sati anded'y; strong emotion doesn’t enter into the converts t;n- ®ut sound logic, based on experience, gives clues o how to deal with women at sea.
Ion .u§h the commander’s comments on women on
|han,
its
deployments (greater than three months) are ger e> the Coast Guard experience with its women, now in cond decade, indicates that there is no solid reason
Master Chief Gooch enlisted in the Navy in 1961. He has served in the Henderson (DD-785), Topeka (CLG-8), Joseph P. Kennedy Jr. (DD- 850), Claude V. Ricketts (DDG-5), MacDonough (DDG-39), and Capodanno (FF-1093). Besides his duties as a sonar technician, he has been an instructor, course supervisor, maintenance and material management coordinator, chief master-at-arms, and has worked in human resource management billets. He is currently an instructor at the Surface Warfare Officers School in Rhode Island. He is also a previous Proceedings contributor.
Editor’s Note: The author conducted his interviews with Coast Guard personnel during the period from December 1987 to February 1988.
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