The Dept. of Defense's long track record of gender inequality

The Dept. of Defense's long track record of gender inequality

“Blatantly and overtly bias toward women…”

The “crowning” achievement of Leon Panetta’s tenure as Secretary of Defense was his lifting of the ban on women serving in Combat Arms MOSs (Military Occupational Specialties), reports the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. Sen. Patty Murray (D-Wash.) agrees, telling MSNBC’s Rachel Maddor that Panetta’s move was a “historic step for equality.”

Yet, for all the bluster and the huzzahs from liberals, gender inequality remains a bedrock principle within the Obama-run armed forces.

Examples Abound…

Male soldiers are allowed 10 days of non-chargeable paternity leave upon the birth of their child. In contrast. female troops are granted 45 days of non-chargeable paternity leave.

Why the disparity? The Department of Defense explains that women need more time to “prepare family care plans and to establish a pattern of child care.”

In a similar vein, once a female member of the military has given birth, she receivesa minimum four-month deferment before being assigned to a deployable unit.

The army revised its  policy in mid-2008 to provide female soldiers a 6-month deferment, up from four months. The air force, navy, and Marines made similar provisions — but only for women. No such provisions are in place for men.

The DoD’s Office of Diversity Management and Equal Opportunity (ODMEO) has established the Federal Women’s Program (FWP). Per the DoD order, the FWP addresses employment concerns of all women regardless of race, religion, national origin, or disability.

The Soviet Union Also Had Political Officers…

Each DoD military department and defense agency is required to appoint a Federal Women’s Program Manager to fulfill the following responsibilities:

  1. Serve as the principal advisor to those responsible for personnel management actions impacting women.
  2. Assist the EEO Officer with affirmative actions planning to help eliminate any discriminatory underrepresentation of women that might exist in all occupations groups and at all levels of employment.
  3. Identify issues, examine policies, assess climate and develop proposals, recommendations, strategies and/or positions directed toward resolving specific issues.

There is no such federal program for men.

The Department of Defense also offers the following awards that are specifically based on gender and/or ethnicity:

  • Annual Women’s History Month Observance and Awards Ceremony.
  • Women in Aviation International Conference.
  • Women of Color in Technology Awards.
  • Latina Style Symposium.
  • Federally Employed Women (FEW), Inc.

There are no such awards for men.

Individual branches of the military have professional organizations membership in which is available to women only . Examples include t

  • he navy’s Society of Women Engineers (SWE) and t
  • he Air Force’s Women in Combat.

No corresponding organizations exist that are men-only.

Pulling Up The Slack…

The same order cites:

It is noted that women comprise 14.5% of the total force, and 10% of the deployed force.

Yet the same order ignores that the remaining 4.5% of the extra work required to complete missions must be done only at the doubled efforts of male service members.

Grooming Regulations…

The Marine Corps has always been notorious for having the most stringent grooming regs of all of the armed forces. The absolute longest the hair on a male Marine’s head can be is  inches in length. Yet female Marines are allowed to wear their hair as long as they like,

  • provided it is pinned-up while they are in uniform.

In a world of supposed gender equality, males still aren’t denied the same fashion choices as their comradettes-in-arms.

T. Kevin Whiteman

T. Kevin Whiteman

T. Kevin Whiteman is a retired Master Sergeant of Marines. He has written for Examiner, Conservative Firing Line, and other blogs.

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