When did you serve ? How long? What branch of the military? What did you do?June 5, 1985 - December 24, 1996, USAF. Medically retired as an E-6 (TSgt). What did I do? You know that could be a long story!
My job was in Accounting and Finance, but as you may know, military people also do a lot of other stuff in addition to the regular job. I did a LOT of work training others for deployment, working as an inspector/evaluator during military training exercises, as well as the dreaded "additional duties" we all get to do during exercises.Your perspective on females in the military in general? What about on the front lines?
I was in the Air Force, so my perspective is sure to be far from what a Marine or whatever will tell you. Also, I worked in a job that had more women than many other jobs. That said, I never really gave it much thought--female/male issues weren't really "issues" in my experience. Sure, there are the sexual harassers and stuff like that, but from what I saw, far less than in the civilian world. FAR less. In general, I think most military men respect the women equally as long as the job's done. The military is a TRUE meritocracy.
Women on the front lines? They're already THERE, whether we choose to acknowledge it or not. My opinion is pretty simple: if a woman is capable by the SAME standards as men, then why shouldn't they be "on the front lines?" When I first enlisted, I wanted a fighting job, actually...and I also wanted to eventually go through the whole thing to fly fighters. Even twenty years ago, I was actually shocked that I couldn't. It was actually the first time I had EVER been told by anyone that I couldn't do something because of my gender--I'm fortunate to have parents who didn't see gender as an impediment or even make it an issue in any respect. So I guess that's where my perspective comes from--what's the difference if you can do the job?
I'm not naive about sexual tension, but I think the hysteria some have about the women getting "knocked up" if they're in combat is really kind of disingenous. That's going to happen anywhere.
You perspective on the military in general?I don't even know how to answer that, really. I think everyone could benefit from service, but more importantly, it's about duty, honor, country. I also think most civilians have a grossly distorted view of who's in the military. Almost everyone I knew was well-educated and came from regular middle-class families. It's not the dropout, disadvantaged mob using the military as a "last resort" as the anti-war jerks like to proclaim, I'm living proof of that myself. People come from ALL walks of life into the military--which in itself is a benefit, in that you are exposed to all kinds of people. That brings better perspective to life itself.
One memory during your service that you'll never forget:
My TDY to Zakho, Iraq for Operation Provide Comfort. If you could have seen the Kurds there...you'd have absolutely NO hesitation whatsoever about the war we're in now. The Ba'athist apologists--those who call the murderers "insurgents"--are either evil, liars, or just completely and willfully ignorant. That vile situation alone was enough reason to invade Iraq, in my eyes. I won't ever give an inch on that point. Period.
And of course, I won't forget the Gulf War, but that pretty much goes for anyone. My ex-husband was in Saudi Arabia during it, and I begged to go too, but my commander didn't want to send both of us ("we can't afford to lose both of you," was his final answer). Whatever.