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The last bastion of male dominance in the US Navy is about to be swept into history. While the eyes of the nation are focused on the first woman to have a shot at winning her party's nomination for President, the Department of the Navy has unveiled a project underway since last summer that will put women in submarines.
Women in the Navy
Female sub force sallies forth
The New York Times
"This is way overdue," insists Lt. Hanne Bright, an up and coming naval officer. She is among 340 female officers and chiefs who have been selected to initiate an abrupt change in Navy policy; the manning of submarines by women.
Women in the United States Navy command warships and pilot combat jets off aircraft carriers today, but until now there remained one part of the fleet where they could not serve: aboard the nation's nuclear-powered submarines.
Now, as the Navy has begun building a new class of submarines, an influential military advisory committee reignited the debate over the exclusion, recommending that the Navy plan to allow women to join one of the service's most storied and traditional fraternities.
''It's important we re-examine what is still closed to women,'' said Sue Winkle, the chairwoman of the group, the Defense Advisory Committee on Women in the Services, the Pentagon's main body that recommends policies on the issues that face women in the armed forces.
Opposition to the time-honored all-male tradition has been strong. Submarines are extremely space limited and the Navy has always maintained that designing and maintaining co-ed subs would make them too expensive. Now, however, with the backing of outgoing President George Bush, the Navy plans to get women into submarines and avoid mixing with seamen by making two US Virginia class subs consist of all-female crew and officers.
One of the first female Prospective Commanding Officers for submarines, Commander Sarah Bentworth, is eager to get started. She spend two tours aboard the USS Virginia in order to prepare for her first sub command. The Navy spokesman says the plan should be implemented by Dec 2009.
In a speech to the Naval Submarine League last summer, Donald C. Winter, the secretary of the Navy, signaled support for integrating the submarine fleet, but the controversy over his remarks ignited a flurry of protest. He warned in the speech that the ''submarine community'' -- a tightly knit cadre of crew members and officers -- risked becoming dangerously out of touch with society if it did not adapt to include women, as well as more minority submariners.
''The most Narcissus-like thing about creating something in your own image, about being in love with your own image,'' he said, ''is the continued and continuous existence of this segment of the Navy as a male preserve.''
What few mention is the likelihood that the Navy is pushing ahead with the female submariner program to avoid involvement of the US Supreme Court, scheduled to hear a case this May, Bishop vs. the State of Connecticut. Captain Bridget Bishop, an accomplished career naval officer argues that prohibiting women from serving aboard submarines limits their career potential. "If history and social progress are any measure, this rule keeping women serving their country in submarines, one of the last forms of discrimination, is not tenable," says Rachael Perperam.
"In the past, all right, there were solid reasons to keep the submarine force all male," said Lt. Commander Katrina Van Tassel, sitting in the officers' ward room, which serves as dining hall, conference room, chapel and, in case of medical emergencies, operating room. "But this is the 21-st century, women can vote, drive cars, wear pants--why can't they be in charge of a nuclear attack sub?"
Chief Petty Officer Doug Wilson disagrees. "Close quarters with mixed crews produce romantic relationships. Our culture has given up on sexual purity, so why do we expect people will magically become `professional' and abstinent once they are crammed together inside a 350 tube?" He shakes his head. "I went to submarines to get a breather from my wife and her mother. Especially her mother. Now I have to spend 60 days underwater with women? You know how long they take in the bathroom."
"I can tell you one thing," Lt. Bright says, "we may or may not have a woman president this time next year, but we will have women submarines at sea. Move over, sailor."
Reporting was contributed by Scope Handley, Tip Biggelow, and other employees of The New York Times.
Women in the Navy
Female sub force sallies forth
The New York Times
"This is way overdue," insists Lt. Hanne Bright, an up and coming naval officer. She is among 340 female officers and chiefs who have been selected to initiate an abrupt change in Navy policy; the manning of submarines by women.
Women in the United States Navy command warships and pilot combat jets off aircraft carriers today, but until now there remained one part of the fleet where they could not serve: aboard the nation's nuclear-powered submarines.
Now, as the Navy has begun building a new class of submarines, an influential military advisory committee reignited the debate over the exclusion, recommending that the Navy plan to allow women to join one of the service's most storied and traditional fraternities.
''It's important we re-examine what is still closed to women,'' said Sue Winkle, the chairwoman of the group, the Defense Advisory Committee on Women in the Services, the Pentagon's main body that recommends policies on the issues that face women in the armed forces.
Opposition to the time-honored all-male tradition has been strong. Submarines are extremely space limited and the Navy has always maintained that designing and maintaining co-ed subs would make them too expensive. Now, however, with the backing of outgoing President George Bush, the Navy plans to get women into submarines and avoid mixing with seamen by making two US Virginia class subs consist of all-female crew and officers.
One of the first female Prospective Commanding Officers for submarines, Commander Sarah Bentworth, is eager to get started. She spend two tours aboard the USS Virginia in order to prepare for her first sub command. The Navy spokesman says the plan should be implemented by Dec 2009.
In a speech to the Naval Submarine League last summer, Donald C. Winter, the secretary of the Navy, signaled support for integrating the submarine fleet, but the controversy over his remarks ignited a flurry of protest. He warned in the speech that the ''submarine community'' -- a tightly knit cadre of crew members and officers -- risked becoming dangerously out of touch with society if it did not adapt to include women, as well as more minority submariners.
''The most Narcissus-like thing about creating something in your own image, about being in love with your own image,'' he said, ''is the continued and continuous existence of this segment of the Navy as a male preserve.''
What few mention is the likelihood that the Navy is pushing ahead with the female submariner program to avoid involvement of the US Supreme Court, scheduled to hear a case this May, Bishop vs. the State of Connecticut. Captain Bridget Bishop, an accomplished career naval officer argues that prohibiting women from serving aboard submarines limits their career potential. "If history and social progress are any measure, this rule keeping women serving their country in submarines, one of the last forms of discrimination, is not tenable," says Rachael Perperam.
"In the past, all right, there were solid reasons to keep the submarine force all male," said Lt. Commander Katrina Van Tassel, sitting in the officers' ward room, which serves as dining hall, conference room, chapel and, in case of medical emergencies, operating room. "But this is the 21-st century, women can vote, drive cars, wear pants--why can't they be in charge of a nuclear attack sub?"
Chief Petty Officer Doug Wilson disagrees. "Close quarters with mixed crews produce romantic relationships. Our culture has given up on sexual purity, so why do we expect people will magically become `professional' and abstinent once they are crammed together inside a 350 tube?" He shakes his head. "I went to submarines to get a breather from my wife and her mother. Especially her mother. Now I have to spend 60 days underwater with women? You know how long they take in the bathroom."
"I can tell you one thing," Lt. Bright says, "we may or may not have a woman president this time next year, but we will have women submarines at sea. Move over, sailor."
Reporting was contributed by Scope Handley, Tip Biggelow, and other employees of The New York Times.
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