Further progress in feminization of armed services, including the Marines

Vincent Chiarello writes:

For those who have consistently and ardently opposed the role of women in the military, there are signs that Gen. Casey’s dangerous dictum that “diversity is the major goal” of the U.S. Army has metastasized into all the other branches of the military, big time. This mindset, which posits that men and women are interchangeable in their military roles, and which is also central to liberal ideology, is now making its “long march” through the military institutions, aided and abetted by an administration that sees military culture as one more vestige of male domination that must be eliminated, and a military hierarchy that will not openly oppose such measures for fear of its irretrievable damage to their careers.

The repeal of the Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell (DADT) was a symptom, not the cause, of the present military malaise. For more than a decade, under both Republican and Democratic presidents, the inroads of feminism and its offspring political correctness into the military ethos have been visible to anyone who cared to look. But the situation, as was predictable, has gotten worse a lot faster than most expected.

The U.S. Marine Corps had been the last barrier to the destruction of a former military ethos which was, to describe the Code of Bushido, “the way of the warrior.” The USMC had resisted the feminization of its service, and up to now had succeeded in relatively small ways, such as keeping men and women recruits barracks separate. Their outgoing Commandant, Gen. James Conway, had also warned of the Secretary of Defense of the consequences of the repeal of DADT, and was unceremoniously shown the door. The current Commandant, Gen. James Amos, seems far more likely to approve of personnel changes that favor “diversity.” In fact, as of June 17, the new Commander of the Parris Island Recruiting Center, which is a major basic Marine training installation, is Brig. Gen. Lori Reynolds. The Marines have surrendered.

As for the U.S. Navy,—which is now, in my view, the unchallenged service leader in accommodating political correctness—the results of its feminization have raised serious problems. For example, I’ve written about the decision to include women in the crew of nuclear submarines, a policy that was strenuously opposed by submarine commanders. But actions also have consequences: over the last 18 months, 29 naval officers, three of them women, have been “fired,” nine of whom were removed from their positions “for sexual harassment or inappropriate personal relationships.” In 2003, a total of 26 commanders were relieved of command. The Washington Post described the summary removal of the officers in a front page story on June 18. The article quotes Norman Polmar, a naval historian who has been a top adviser to Navy officials: “There is something seriously wrong.” I believe most seamen could identify the problem; unlike Mr. Polmar, they have to live with the consequences of political correctness.

Posted by Lawrence Auster at June 22, 2011 09:19 AM | Send