And the idea of integrated units bothered both military wives and husbands. Officers were concerned about sexual harassment and improper relationships. Or they worried that women incapable of the physical demands would be brought in anyway. Male soldiers fretted that their unit’s readiness will be degraded because of what they term “women issues,” such as pregnancy and menstrual cycles. The questionnaires, and the focus groups that followed them, showed that younger men and those who have served with women in the last two years are more open to the integration, while mid-level soldiers - particularly those in units such as infantry and armor that have not yet included women - were more hesitant.Īnd there were nagging stereotypes. The surveys are helping to shape the education and preparation that women, men and top leaders need to put in place to insure the integration goes smoothly. “The women don’t want to lower the standards because they want the men to know they’re just as able as they are to do the same task.”īrinkley’s office at Fort Eustis is filled with charts, graphs and data the Army is using to methodically bring women into jobs that have been previously open only to men. “The men don’t want to lower the standards because they see that as a perceived risk to their team,” David Brinkley, deputy chief of staff for operations at the Army’s Training and Doctrine Command, told the AP. And they asked senior female leaders to say whether they would have chosen combat jobs if they’d been given that chance 10 or 20 years ago.Īll agreed the physical standards for the jobs should remain the same. The results from the survey sent to women showed that just 2,238 - or 7.5 percent - of the 30,000 who responded said they would want one of the infantry, armor, artillery and combat engineer jobs.Īrmy officials also polled men and women on their concerns about the integration. Throughout last year, the Army emailed questionnaires to active duty, reserves and Army National Guard members to gauge soldiers’ views on the move to bring women into combat jobs.
That’s roughly 20 percent of the force, though the direct-combat front-line fighters make up roughly half of that or about 9 percent. The Army says that about 200,000 of its 1.1 million jobs are either direct combat or related jobs such as field artillery, combat engineers and so on. The services must open as many jobs to women as possible if they decide to keep some closed, they must explain why. Last year top Pentagon officials signed an order saying women must have the same opportunities as men in combat jobs and the services have been devising updated physical standards, training, education and other programs for thousands of jobs they must open Jan. The level of interest is similar to that of other countries that have integrated women into combat roles, officials said. Of those, an overwhelming number said they’d like to be a Night Stalker - a member of the elite special operations helicopter crews who perhaps are best known for flying the Navy SEALS into Osama bin Laden’s compound in 2011. Less than 8 percent of Army women who responded to the survey said they wanted a combat job.
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