Women Breaking Barriers In Navy, not SEALs yet

[Purron]

Interesting story.

One of those steps is the Navy's recent decision to allow women to serve on submarines. Of the 18 women selected for the program, eight will report to their submarines in November to serve as supply corps officers. Others will report to subs next summer.

Women breaking barriers in Navy, not SEALs yet - WTOP.com

 

[unclemick]

Interesting story.



Women breaking barriers in Navy, not SEALs yet - WTOP.com

Tryed to convince niece after making it through nuke school to try for subs.

Instead she married a Marine, became a civilian en-ga-neer!



heh heh heh - so much for advice from 'uncle'' Glad to see the women breaking barriers.

 

[Gumby]

Are we sure it shouldn't read: "After a nationwide search for women dropped on their heads as infants, the Navy has announced that it will be placing 18 women aboard four ballistic missile submarines" ?

 

[Nords]

What my daughter's learning at NROTC about the submarine force:
- irresistible challenge
- very hard to get into submarines from other communities
- the best officers
- the best chief petty officers
- the best enlisted
- the best food
- the best budget
- not limited by fuel constraints
- submarine pay
- $25K/year bonus contracts
- "COMMAND AT SEA" (her pronunciation)
- how to don an emergency air-breathing mask for time

What my daughter's not being told:
- no personal space
- minimal family life
- no work/life balance
- difficulty of leaving submarine community for SeaBees
- no women chief petty officers, let alone women enlisted
- no luxuries or creature comforts
- chronic fatigue (not that the other Navy communities are much better)
- the nuclear engineering mentality (which might be hard-coded in her DNA)
- worse liberty ports than surface ships
- long periods of boredom randomly interrupted by intense bursts of sheer terror (again, not that the other Navy communities are different)

What she finds impossible to believe:
- no laundry if you're underway shorter than two weeks
- laundry only once a week after the first two weeks
- minimal showers
- any story I tell her about sanitary tanks
- any story I tell her about supervising Deck Division

I'm still struggling with the classification issues of telling her about the Cold War missions I've been involved in. She doesn't have the clearances but IMO she definitely has "need to know", and by the time she merits the clearances it'll be far too late for her to make an informed decision. Unfortunately in her mind it's becoming very attractive to be a member of the club so that she can learn about all this cool stuff. I guess I'll have to wean her off "Wahoo" and "Thunder Below" and drag her attention back to "Blind Man's Bluff".

Of course she's also finding it increasingly difficult to understand how anything I did during my career has any possible relevance, let alone significance, to her plans for "today's Navy".

In the next month she'll enjoy a few days each aboard an aircraft carrier, a destroyer, and a submarine. I can't wait to hear the trip report!

 

[JOHNNIE36]

Tryed to convince niece after making it through nuke school to try for subs.

Instead she married a Marine, became a civilian en-ga-neer!



heh heh heh - so much for advice from 'uncle'' Glad to see the women breaking barriers.

unclemick, I like that en-ga-neer label! As an engineer, I remember an old saying that "four years ago I couldn't spell engineer, and now I are one".

On reading this thread, I'm thinking about the women in the military that are actually combat pilots. I know there have been a few in the Iraq war including carrier pilots. Anybody ever meet one? They have to be a rare breed and I would love to just talk to one.

 

[Purron]

On reading this thread, I'm thinking about the women in the military that are actually combat pilots. I know there have been a few in the Iraq war including carrier pilots. Anybody ever meet one? They have to be a rare breed and I would love to just talk to one.

I'll have to ask my nephew. Here are a couple of pictures of him. Mr. Purron and I are pretty proud of him! The second picture is off the coast of Iraq.

 

[HawkeyeNFO]

I'm thinking about the women in the military that are actually combat pilots. I know there have been a few in the Iraq war including carrier pilots. Anybody ever meet one? They have to be a rare breed and I would love to just talk to one.

I've met plenty of them. Just like other women anywhere else, they come from different walks of life, some are career-oriented, some can't wait to get out, some want the family, etc.

 

[ziggy29]

Instead she married a Marine, became a civilian en-ga-neer!

If he can put in his 20, they'll have the best of both worlds -- a private sector engineer's paycheck with a military retiree's secure access to health care and retirement benefits. What's not to like?

 

[JOHNNIE36]

Purron, thanks for the photos. You ought to be proud of him. I take it he is Navy or Marine as the plane looks like an F-18. However, in the second photo, I can't see the tail fins so it might be an F-16 (Air Force). Also,
F-18 in the background. I'm a jet fighter nut. While visiting my daughter and family in Okinawa back in the early 90's, I had a field day. They lived at Kadena Air Base and there were hundreds of F-15's. Part of the airstrip bordered the golf course which I played a lot. I couldn't concentrate on golf for all the goings on with fighters taking off and landing all the time.

 

[Purron]

Purron, thanks for the photos. You ought to be proud of him. I take it he is Navy or Marine as the plane looks like an F-18. However, in the second photo, I can't see the tail fins so it might be an F-16 (Air Force). Also,
F-18 in the background. I'm a jet fighter nut. While visiting my daughter and family in Okinawa back in the early 90's, I had a field day. They lived at Kadena Air Base and there were hundreds of F-15's. Part of the airstrip bordered the golf course which I played a lot. I couldn't concentrate on golf for all the goings on with fighters taking off and landing all the time.

He's Navy. Funny thing is his mom, my sister in law, is terrified of flying. Drives cross country to visit with him!

 

[Webzter]

I'm a jet fighter nut.

Well, not to brag or anything, but I spent my childhood (2-11) living on Nellis AFB. Home to, among other things, the Thunderbirds. It was actually a treat when the Angels came to town as we saw the Thunderbirds practicing practically every day (and sometimes rattling the windows).

Oh, and the MPs conclusively confirmed, multiple times, that it is possible for a kid to get too close to the flight line (dad snuck me and a friend on once but that's another story)

 

[HawkeyeNFO]

Oh, and the MPs conclusively confirmed, multiple times, that it is possible for a kid to get too close to the flight line (dad snuck me and a friend on once but that's another story)

When I was last deployed, the Air Force AWACS was there, and the "red line of death" had to be respected - there were guys with guns literally on that line 24/7, and you certainly didn't want to give them something to do.

I guess my family is lucky to live on a Navy base, because there are no flight line nazis like the AF has. I have taken my kids up to all kinds of planes here. At NAS Pensacola, I was able to take my girlfriend at the time right in to the hangar where the Blue Angels were parked.

 

[Webzter]

I guess my family is lucky to live on a Navy base, because there are no flight line nazis like the AF has. I have taken my kids up to all kinds of planes here. At NAS Pensacola, I was able to take my girlfriend at the time right in to the hangar where the Blue Angels were parked.

Very cool!

In my case, the nemesis was a sign next to the road that said "do not cross this line". We always went out into the desert and tried to stay on the green side of the line but out in line with the end of the runway

Invariably, the MPs would come out, wave us in, and bring us and our bikes back home.

 

[Nords]

We always went out into the desert and tried to stay on the green side of the line but out in line with the end of the runway

I think they refer to guys like you as "FOD"!

 

[Nords]

Are we sure it shouldn't read: "After a nationwide search for women dropped on their heads as infants, the Navy has announced that it will be placing 18 women aboard four ballistic missile submarines" ?

I was relaying your comment to my spouse, who reminded me that this could explain a lot: