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Women on ships?
Last month I alluded to this controversial evolution in the science of Naval warfare. Actually, it's probably not that controversial anymore since it appears that it's here to stay.
I spent my time on ship in a simpler era. It was time when you just put 5,000 happy souls on board an aircraft carrier and expected them to get along for nine months at sea. These happy young warriors
were from every part of the country. They were of every race, creed and color. They had different jobs and different politics.
Yet, somehow it worked out. For the most part, they managed to keep on task and avoid getting their hands around each other's throats.
Although, during the end of the cruise -- when the war task was done and everybody had short-timer's disease -- the tensions began to erupt into some violence. The particular problem in those days, the
late 1960s, was between blacks and whites. In the last few weeks as we headed for San Diego, I saw several fights on the mess decks. I also heard of one sailor who inadvertently (and probably drunkenly)
wandered into a "black" bar in the Philippines and got his clock cleaned. They almost killed him.
Anyway, my point is that even under the best conditions, keeping everybody happy on a ship is dicey. It requires good discipline, good supervision, and a certain dedication of the crew toward the common
goal of running a good ship.
Now, they have added women into the mix.
I ran into a guy recently who had served on the same ship I did but about 30 years later, and I asked him how it was with women on board. Now, understand, this was an old, crusty chief, but his answer was
immediate. "It's a disaster," he said.
He elaborated that the problems caused by having two genders on a ship were insurmountable. Nature will take its course, and nothing in the Uniform Code of Military Justice is going to supersede that
spark of romance that can ignite at any time between young, single people. When you have romances, you have all the baggage that comes with it including jealousy, intrigue, broken hearts, hurt egos, and
holding hands on the hangar deck.
None of that is conducive to a squared away ship.
As I said at the top, it's a situation that isn't going to go away. One reason is that the Navy in order to find qualified, talented people is going to have to delve ever more deeply into the pool of
female candidates. Secondly, women deserve every benefit and chance for advancement that men do. In the Navy, that means the opportunity to go aboard ships and use their skills.
So, then what? How do you make the problem go away?
Well, you could have ships that are gender specific, only men on some ships and only women on others. But that's sort of like apartheid in South Africa or segregation in the U.S. -- neither of which
worked very well.
The Navy, as might be expected, has decided to rely on its centuries-old tradition of discipline. I'm a traditionalist and on ships at sea, discipline will always be absolutely necessary. But there are
limits.
I am aware of one case in recent years where a young sailor, who had an important job on a ship of war, smoked marijuana at a party. With its zero tolerance program, the Navy booted this sailor out with a
less than honorable discharge overnight. Does that make any sense? Everyone should get a second chance, including highly (and expensively) trained young people who are dedicated to their jobs and their
service. There must be a smarter way to handle this situation. Maybe flogging is the answer -- at least the offender gets to retain some dignity.
On the recent PBS series "Carrier," a model sailor who was actually active in giving lectures on avoiding gender fraternization on ship, had sex with another sailor while the ship was in port. The two had
been drinking. They had been out at sea for a long time. The sex was consensual. It was a big mistake.
The punishment? This sailor will not be eligible for promotion for five years. That pretty effectively throws his career into the dumpster. The TV show didn't say what happened to the female sailor.
Does it make any sense to throw away such a valuable asset because of one mistake? Yes, you've made an example of out this sailor, but was it worth it?
I guess what I'm getting at is that harsh, unreasonable discipline will probably not solve the continuing problem of a bi-gender Navy. And harsh, unreasonable discipline will not solve the problem of
young sailors smoking dope with their friends.
You can't remove the humanity from human beings by immovable, unblinking adherence to a no-tolerance code of conduct. People are people, even if they go to war.
Aboard a ship it's imperative that every person can be relied on to do their job. You don't want them spaced out on loco weed or smooching behind the scuttlebutt when there's work to be done. Discipline
is necessary.
But, and this sounds like treason to the old guard, it might be a good idea to ease up a little bit to make this two-gender Navy work. The problems are not going to go away, so why load extreme
punishments on people who make mistakes? How could it be that a petty officer first class could give a lecture on avoiding sex one day and then commit that very act the next? Because he's human.
Back in old Navy, where the ships were made of wood and the men were made of steel, we were not allowed to grow beards. (This was in 1969.) And then Admiral Zumwalt issued one of his Z-grams that suddenly
opened the door to have beards. At 21 years of age, I had a tough time actually cultivating fur on my face, but when I finally did I felt good about it. I think it made me a better sailor. The Navy was
on my side.
If there is a conclusion to this meandering piece, it's that putting both genders on a ship is going to produce some real human problems. It's inevitable. To deal with those problems, the Navy is going to
have to develop some real human solutions. Blind discipline and hanging sailors' careers from the yardarm isn't going to get it. It's bad policy for the Navy to waste such precious talent, and it's bad
policy for the sailor who deserves another chance to prove his or her worth.
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