Women have long been an active part in the United States Armed Forces, performing a variety of tasks and fulfilling a variety of roles, from helicopter pilots to engineers. A number of them have seen active duty, and some have even made the ultimate sacrifice in the line of duty.
This does not mean, though, that the entire Armed Forces are integrated. Setting aside thoughts of discrimination, there are duties and deployments that may make it difficult to accommodate a mixed-gender population, one of them being the close quarters that sailors on submarine duty are forced to be confined to for extended periods of time. Another arm of the military that is yet to see integration is the Navy SEALs – having a G.I. Jane, until now, remains to be possible only in Hollywood.
Things, however, are reportedly bound to change, at least for submarine duty. A feature on the Examiner indicates that as early as 2011, women sailors may be given the chance to serve aboard submarines.
News reports have reportedly surfaced about the decision of high-ranking Navy officials to allow female sailors to be given submarine duty. Support for integration has reportedly been heard from Ray Mabus, the Secretary of the Navy; Admiral Gary Roughead, Chief of Naval Operations; and Admiral Michael Mullen, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.
Integration will reportedly begin from officers, who will be able to serve on the Ohio class of submarines. These submarines are larger than other submarine classes, which probably takes care of the issue of closed quarters during extended mission. There is enough officer accommodations on board the Ohio class, which means that there will be no need for modification. The Ohio class includes ballistic missile and guided-missile vessels.
Additional specialized training lasting for about a year will be undergone by College and Naval Academy graduates in relation to the integration.
October 8th, 2009 - 7:56 am
These senior officials–SecNav Mabus, CJCS Mullen, and CNO Roughead–are all former or current Surface Warfare Officers, but none have served on an operational U.S. submarine nor qualified in submarines. Similarly, none of these officials have attended nor completed the Navy’s Nuclear Power School training pipeline, which is overseen by Naval Reactors, a joint U.S. Navy and U.S. Department of Energy entity. As such, none have ever been qualified to directly supervise the operation of Naval nuclear reactors for either surface vessels or submarines.
October 8th, 2009 - 8:59 pm
Its not the fact that women wouldn’t be able to handle to job, because that just isn’t so. Its the fact, as any submariner can attest to, there just isn’t the room. The Submarine force is a very stressful, very tense working environment; we don’t need to add any male/female relationships/horseplay.
There can be zero distractions for a submariner; the opposite sex is a major distraction.
October 9th, 2009 - 6:53 am
Some women are not being asked to serve, they are being forced to serve on the submarines.
February 23rd, 2010 - 3:58 am
[...] at Smith College, New Hampshire. They became the United States Navy’s first African American female officers when they graduated on December 26, [...]
February 24th, 2010 - 6:37 am
[...] at Smith College, New Hampshire. They became the United States Navy’s first African American female officers when they graduated on December 26, [...]
February 25th, 2010 - 5:26 am
[...] the United States submarine force in the year 1900, no woman has ever been able to serve on board a submarine, despite the integration of women in general into the Navy and the fact that women have been [...]
March 4th, 2010 - 7:42 am
[...] at Smith College, New Hampshire. They became the United States Navy’s first African American female officers when they graduated on December 26, [...]
March 15th, 2010 - 6:06 am
[...] shared the following in the statement, indicating that the Navy intends to do the integration of women in submarine crews gradually and that it plans to start with the bigger subs, the facilities of which can accommodate [...]