[Vision2020] Navy Moves to End Ban on Female Submariners

[Tom Hansen]

Courtesy of the Army Times.

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Navy moves to end ban on female submariners
By William H. McMichael , Military Times writer

Top Navy and military leader­ship are “moving out aggressively” to end the
ban on female crew members aboard submarines.

And while the motivation may be fairness in the force, it is fraught with
controversy. Assigning women to sub duty sets a spectrum of issues
squarely before the submarine com­munity, from how and when, to cost and
training, personal privacy, frat­ernization, and even how sub­mariners’
spouses will react.

Rapid solutions are needed, as Navy Secretary Ray Mabus is pushing the
issue hard.

“I believe women should have every opportunity to serve at sea, and that
includes aboard sub­marines,” he said Sept. 24 in a statement to Navy
Times.

His comments came one week after Joint Chiefs Chairman Adm. Mike Mullen
told lawmakers that it was time to open subs to women. Mullen’s successor,
Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Cary Roughead, said he is “very
com­fortable” addressing crewing.

Navy Times requested responses from Mabus and Roughead after Mullen called
for ending the ban, which was part of submitted answers to written
questions posed by the Senate Armed Ser­vices Committee.

Roughead stopped far short of announcing any major policy changes.

“Having commanded a mixed­gender surface combatant, ... I am very
comfortable addressing inte­grating women into the submarine force. I am
familiar with the issues as well as the value of diverse crews,” he said
in his statement.

News quickly ignited debate in the sub community.

Initial responses to Navy Times from submariners were mostly against the
idea, because of the nature of submarine life.

Submariners live in close quar­ters, even taking turns sleeping in the
same bunks on some sub­marines. Officials have said lack of privacy and
the cost of reconfigur­ing subs make it difficult to intro­duce female
crew.

Mullen, who became chairman two years ago, asked the subma­rine community
to look at the issue during his 2½ years as CNO, said Capt. John Kirby,
Mullen’s spokesman then and now.

Women, who make up about 11 percent of the 1.2 million U.S. ser­vice
members on active duty, are by policy excluded from tradition­al
front-line combat jobs. But com­bat roles have become blurred during the
wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, in which irregular war­fare marked by
roadside bombs and a lack of the front lines evi­dent in traditional
warfare have brought women into harm’s way.

Some young female sailors are already stepping forward for duty. “Where do
I sign up?” asked Electronics Technician 1st Class (SW/AW) Shannon Harter,
assigned to Tactical Training Group, Pacific, in San Diego. “It is
frustrating being told I can’t do something because I am a woman and then
have to listen to my peers whine about equal opportunity.”

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Seeya round town, Moscow.

Tom Hansen
Moscow, Idaho

"The Pessimist complains about the wind, the Optimist expects it to change
and the Realist adjusts his sails."

- Unknown