Equal Opportunity for Women NCOs in the Romanian Army
Abstract
The Romanian Army has an ethics problem with respect to female NCOs. Most of the senior NCOs and officers joined and were trained during the communist regime. Under communist doctrine, men and women were treated equal but in practice this was not the case. Women had the same job and pay as men but the expectations were different. Women only worked in the office and were excused from the extra duties such as staff duty NCO or duty NCO. For Romania and the Romanian Army the year 1989 was a crucial one because on December 22 communism collapsed and all political and military systems began reform. In a short period of time communist military procedures were replaced with NATO style procedures. Unfortunately, senior NCOs and officers are still adhering to the old customs and traditions they were trained in. Before the Romanian Revolution the Army comprised approximating 2 percent women; today there is more than 5 percent with an end goal of 20 percent in 2010. In 2002 the Romanian Anny created a new NCO position based on the US Army model. One of those positions was CSM for battalion level and higher. The duties of the CSM were previously done by officers. According to the job description the CSM is in charge of all warrant officers, NCOs, and lower rank enlisted personnel from his unit. In 2003 the 811th Infantry Battalion was assigned the new battalion CSM. The battalion CSM was one of the first senior NCOs trained under the new system. Upon arrival he included women on the NCOs' battalion duty and the battalion commander approved it. The roster was implemented without incidents or complaints.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Nov 15, 2005
- Accession Number
- AD1120525
Entities
People
- Vicentiu O. Berende
Organizations
- United States Army Sergeants Major Academy