Arms And The Enlisted Woman

B. Women at Sea

APPENDIX B Women at Sea Women have long been taboo at sea. There seems to be a sense that they do not belong there, and even that it is dangerous to have them there. Still, the Women at Sea Program that followed Judge John L. Sirica's decision in the Owens case was not completely unprecedented.l During World War I, Navy women who served in France, Puerto Rico, and other overseas locations went there by ship, as did the lO,OOO Army nurses who served abroad. Moreover, many of the Navy's 12,500 "yeomanettes " were formally assigned to tugs on the bottom of the Potomac River because regulations then required both that all yeomen be assigned to ships and also that women not be assigned to sea duty.2 Two decades later, during World War II, Army officers (including nurses), Army enlisted women, Red Cross women, and stewardesses served on ships, but ironically, except for nurses, Navy women did not. In that war they were restricted by law to service in the United States; later (1944), they were permitted to serve in U.S. territories, particularly Hawaii and Alaska. Yet Navy women were less restricted in their job choices than women in other services. One in four worked in aviation, and one thousand women taught instrument flying. The Navy was apparently happy to have women do nontraditional work; it just did not want them doing it at sea.3 Following that war, and in accordance with the restrictions of § 6015 of Title lO, U.S.c., some Navy women saw duty on transport and hospital ships, and one woman line officer was assigned to a ship as an assistant transportation officer.4 However, as ships ceased to be used to transport dependents, and as hospital ships were decommissioned (the last in 1971), Navy women found themselves high and dry. Almost immediately , though, a new way was found to provide some in-ship opportunities for women. In his Z-Gram 116, then Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Elmo R. Zumwalt, Jr., initiated what would be a three-year pilot program for women on a recommissioned hospital ship, the U. S. S. Sanctuary. Pilot programs are not necessarily good tests, because they are likely 264 Copyrighted Material Women at Sea - 265 both to attract highly motivated participants and to burden those participants with press scrutiny. All the women in the Sanctuary program were volunteers, and the ship was not at sea much. In fact, its principal function was to provide medical care as a shore station. During the program 's first year, the ship was underway only 42 days; it spent 100 days in upkeep (maintenance) status, 25 in port visits, and 199 in overhaul and renovation. At the end of the first year, only 53 enlisted women were on board (21 in the hospital, 9 as deck hands, 4 in supply, 3 in Operations , 10 in resale, 5 in administration, and 1 in engineering). Ten had been transferred; 2 had been sent to naval hospitals for observation (for alleged homosexual activity ashore) and 4 for treatment; 2 were given changes of station; 1 had deserted; and 1 had swapped her billet. Nine other women had been discharged at the convenience of the government -7 for pregnancy and 2 for unsuitability.5 Enlisted women's doubts (really complaints) about the experiment focused on (1) loss of femininity through having to wear male work clothing ; (2) being treated like men; (3) vulgarity and gross behavior (by both males and females); (4) poor living conditions; and (5) lack of privacy. * Official conclusions drawn from the study were (1) that storage space was inadequate for women and (2) that more senior women petty officers were required. Each woman brought aboard a sea bag plus a (recommended ) footlocker, several suitcases, and frequently an iron and a hairdryer . Women also required washers and dryers for clothing not up to the perils of the ship's laundry. As for privacy, women's berthing facilities (like the men's) were designed for seventy-five, with bunks three high in an open style. A better design was possible but was not used because the Navy preferred identical arrangements to guarantee that there could be no charges of favoritism. t More petty officers were needed for supervision during nonwork hours. Usually berthing areas include all individuals from a particular work space, and the same supervisors direct work and quarters assignments. The women's berthing area, though, included women from...