A consideration – I found a very interesting idea at ‘The Stupid Shall Be Punished’ on 25 February 2010 @ 0912. Please note that this comment is quoted word-for-word with no editing by me.
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Anonymous said…
Women on boats. Ok, lets do something that the ignorant politicians have a tough time with, theory to practice before spending millions of dollars reconfiguring submarine classes to support this unproven progressive pipe dream.
Take the next hull to be razor blades and is getting low on the hours left. Assemble a crew of experienced bubbleheads. Identify and train female sailors slated for the submarine force. Assign the females to the training hull and fast cruise or really cruise for extended periods of time. Do a 6 month Westpac fastcruising or for real. Simulate or stay submerged for 6-8 weeks with no sunshine. Place everyone under the stress, fatigue and lack of sleep that is normal. Train, drill, qualify, go port and starboard, hotrack, FSAs, maintenance, occasional movie, survive mid-rats (mid-scraps or mid-crap) and all the boring and mundane things that comprise submarine operations. Bring a post-tour CO for adult supervision, bring a post tour COB for another set of eyes. Make the female test group large, 2 or more CDRs, 2 or more LCDRS, 6 LTs, 10 ensigns, 5 CPOS, 25 additional enlisted females of varying ratings. Decrease the male complement with the exception of the senior positions and force the qualified watch sections into high stress low sleep conditions for extended periods of time. Make the submarine crowded, uncomfortable and as much a stress producer as possible. Do this for at least a year. After a year, assemble all crewmembers, male and female and debrief and reconstruct everything. Let the crewmembers, both genders, speak honestly and document what they found out and what there perceptions are. Make this a real test and see what comes of this.
This is certainly not a perfect plan but there are smart folks who could make this into something useful. Conduct a REAL evaluation and feasibility study as opposed to some clueless rider with a notebook shoved in his belt to look cool who is a typical rider, movies, meals, laptop and rack.
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