Women to begin serving on Navy subs in 2011, officials say

[RamboLiberal]

Source: CNN

The first women to serve on U.S. Navy submarines are expected to be on the job by fall of 2011, Navy officials said Thursday, ushering in a policy change to what has been an elite service open only to men since the start of the modern Navy's submarine program.

While Defense Secretary Robert Gates announced the change last month, the Navy had to wait for Congress to review and approve the policy change over a 30-day period which ended at midnight Thursday morning.

The official announcement came during a news conference at the Navy submarine base at Kings Bay, Georgia, later Thursday morning.

The change was recommended by the chief of naval operations and the secretary of the Navy in addition to Gates, a Defense Department official said, adding that there was no opposition to the move among Navy leaders.

A phased approach is being considered under which officers -- who already have separate living quarters -- would be the first to go co-ed, followed by crews, with the women bunking together, the official said. Crew space would have to be modified prior to that happening, the official added.


Read more: http://www.cnn.com/2010/US/04/29/women.submarines/index.html?hpt=T2

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Good.

[Captain Hilts]

1. Not enough willing and capable men, so they need to expand the talent pool. nt

[Submariner]

2. The submarine service used to be a volunteer unit

It is not the attractive job it used to be, so the Navy has been actually ordering non-volunteers into the sub service recently. I assume the women in the first group(s) will be volunteers itching for the new experience. Good on them.

[EXneoCON]

4. Submariner...

...what has happened to make the duty not that attractive?

[Submariner]

6. In some ways it used to be like the movie Operation Petticoat

I was on the last of the diesel-electric boats, so we used to pull into port often to re-fuel, pick up food, spare parts, and go on Liberty. Drinking and partying hard on shore between deployments at sea.

Nowadays, a sailor drinking will end in mandatory AA type classes. All the subs are nukes now, and they seldom pull into port, and when they do they more often than not have to wear civilian clothes, and I don;t think they have the fun we used to. We wore our uniforms ashore wearing our Dolphins and that is what appealed to public, and the wimmens, but those are days gone by I guess.

[EXneoCON]

7. I guess three months in a tube...

...with no Liberty might be a little harsh. I see your point. My dad was a Naval Aviator; flew biplanes off the rear gun catapult of the battleship Colorado pre-WWII. Now THAT was flying!

[happygoluckytoyou]

3. just no GAYS because of that sex thing.... its long, its hard, its full of seamen...

[CLANG]

5. Wow. I hope they stay safe.

There are predatory wolves living under the sea.