Posted on Aug 4, 2015
Women In Field Artillery, In The United States Army. Is This The Way Forward?
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In my opinion the Army is heading in the right direction (equality for all).
In a recent Armytimes Artice:
The Army plans to open to women all but one field artillery MOS, the service's top officer said Monday.
With the exception of the 13F military occupational specialty, "we have decided … we are not going to ask for a waiver to keep it closed," said Army Chief of Staff Gen. Ray Odierno.
This decision, which opens up MOSs such as cannon crewmember (13B) and field artillery automated tactical data system specialist (13D), comes just weeks after the Army opened the combat engineer (12B) MOS to women.
It also follows a decision from more than a year ago to open all field artillery officer positions to women.
A decision about the 13F, or fire support specialist, MOS will be made when the Army makes a decision about whether to open the infantry and armor specialties to women, Odierno said.
"We're going to do that with infantry and armor because they're embedded with infantry and armor units," Odierno said.
These changes are the latest in an ongoing campaign to eliminate the Direct Ground Combat Assignment Rule by dismantling, in phases, policies that have barred women from serving in combat units below the brigade level.
The campaign began in 2012 when the Army opened 13,000 positions previously closed to women; the goal is to open most positions to women by the end of 2015.
Since 2012, the Army has conducted extensive tests as it tried to determine which MOSs should be opened to women and how it should be done.
"We've done a lot of pilot programs, we've done a lot of physical testing, we've done a lot of testing on how we integrate women into units, and those are all going well," Odierno said. "We want the best person, if they're qualified and meet the standards, we want to give them the opportunity to do whatever they want."
For the field artillery MOSs, using data from the physical studies, "we felt women, as part of an artillery crew, could do all the things necessary to do that [job], so we've opened that up," Odierno said.
Army senior leaders have not made a decision about whether they will ask for a waiver to keep infantry and armor closed to women, he said.
"We're headed in the right direction, but we still have some work to do," said Odierno, who is wrapping up his tenure as chief of staff later this month. "That was a decision I wanted to make, but, frankly, we didn't have the data in time for me to make that decision."
The decision about those remaining MOSs will fall to Odierno's successor, Gen. Mark Milley, who is pending Senate confirmation.
http://www.armytimes.com/story/military/careers/army/2015/08/03/odierno-army-open-most-field-artillery-jobs-women/31083303/
In a recent Armytimes Artice:
The Army plans to open to women all but one field artillery MOS, the service's top officer said Monday.
With the exception of the 13F military occupational specialty, "we have decided … we are not going to ask for a waiver to keep it closed," said Army Chief of Staff Gen. Ray Odierno.
This decision, which opens up MOSs such as cannon crewmember (13B) and field artillery automated tactical data system specialist (13D), comes just weeks after the Army opened the combat engineer (12B) MOS to women.
It also follows a decision from more than a year ago to open all field artillery officer positions to women.
A decision about the 13F, or fire support specialist, MOS will be made when the Army makes a decision about whether to open the infantry and armor specialties to women, Odierno said.
"We're going to do that with infantry and armor because they're embedded with infantry and armor units," Odierno said.
These changes are the latest in an ongoing campaign to eliminate the Direct Ground Combat Assignment Rule by dismantling, in phases, policies that have barred women from serving in combat units below the brigade level.
The campaign began in 2012 when the Army opened 13,000 positions previously closed to women; the goal is to open most positions to women by the end of 2015.
Since 2012, the Army has conducted extensive tests as it tried to determine which MOSs should be opened to women and how it should be done.
"We've done a lot of pilot programs, we've done a lot of physical testing, we've done a lot of testing on how we integrate women into units, and those are all going well," Odierno said. "We want the best person, if they're qualified and meet the standards, we want to give them the opportunity to do whatever they want."
For the field artillery MOSs, using data from the physical studies, "we felt women, as part of an artillery crew, could do all the things necessary to do that [job], so we've opened that up," Odierno said.
Army senior leaders have not made a decision about whether they will ask for a waiver to keep infantry and armor closed to women, he said.
"We're headed in the right direction, but we still have some work to do," said Odierno, who is wrapping up his tenure as chief of staff later this month. "That was a decision I wanted to make, but, frankly, we didn't have the data in time for me to make that decision."
The decision about those remaining MOSs will fall to Odierno's successor, Gen. Mark Milley, who is pending Senate confirmation.
http://www.armytimes.com/story/military/careers/army/2015/08/03/odierno-army-open-most-field-artillery-jobs-women/31083303/
Leadership
Army
Women in the Military
13F: Fire Support Specialist
Edited >1 y ago
Posted >1 y ago
Responses: 32
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If they can do the job, by all means... sad to say I've had some male Soldiers that couldn't!
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It's not equality until females like males have to register for the draft.
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I'm in AIT for 13F right now and we have 5 females in our battery. Not sure if this article is old or not
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SGT Foxy Brown
they were 13 something in the 90's. Just starting to talk about females more in combat. They did they the same as males even then. I didn't because I choice support MOS 92y.
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Most of the more strength requiring MOS jobs should be sorted out during training. If someone not up to the task, and are assigned, it is dereliction of duty on the part of leadership.
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I am convinced that women who are both warrior and bright should be encouraged to pursue any specialty where we might have unique talents which will add to a specialty which would be not only a value added but would allow the doubtful to admit it with grace :)
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Katheryn Sato
p.s. look up 14 Intelligence Co and the Special Reconnaissance Regiment (UK). An ex-Hereford close friend was surprised that I heard of them. Very satisfied with what women brought to the team.
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Precisely, MAJ. That was my first thought as to the weight of the round. If you have a casualty that leaves one individual that has to load/reload and they can't hack it, it becomes a huge problem when that round is necessary down range. As always, if the individual can handle the open the position, male/female and all other categories in the military today, have at it.
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When I was in HHB I Corps Arty, we had several females in our unit. Our battery commander was a female at one time. The females in our unit were very capable.
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Yes open up all MOS to women. But the standards remain the same no gender norming. The weight of an artillery round does not adjust to the strength of the SM. The SM must adjust to the weight of the round.
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I disagree with one women choice, if she decides to become artillery let it be her choice, don't drag other with your life decision.
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As a former LNO with HHB 1st Corp Artillery, I worked with many women in our unit. Our battery commander at one time was a woman, and she did a remarkable job. We also had a few that did AFATDS as well. At the Corp and Brigade level 13F is a whole different job. They work in several different capacities and could use some women to fill those jobs. At that level we are more charts & darts and mission coordinators than those who call for fire.
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