Field Artillery (Wo)men - Time for a Relook?
Abstract
Lead elements of the division have penetrated the initial obstacle belt of the defending Iraqis with minimal casualties. The second obstacle belt is another matter. CPT Mary Smith leads her company smoke vehicles forward to lay down a thick haze to mask the engineer team's breaching efforts while 1LT Sarah Williams personally leads the FOX vehicle to conduct chemical sampling. Two vehicles take direct hits from fortified enemy tank positions. Meanwhile, a platoon of Kiowa and Apache helicopters arrive, commanded by CPT Susan Jones. 1LT Diana White scouts forward in a Kiowa to locate the fortified enemy positions and relays the location to Captain Jones who then moves forward and engages with hellfire missiles. Suddenly, emergency radio traffic a SCUD missile is tracking toward the breaching effort. Colonel Heidi Brown's unit scrambles to action and soon two plumes from Patriot missiles are observed in the distance, successfully destroying the SCUD. At the same time, additional plumes are observed as CPT Michele Ray's MLRS unit engages the SCUD launch site with two ATACMS missiles. This scenario did not play out on the Arabian Peninsula in 1991. In fact, it could not have. The reason for this has nothing to do with the type of battle being waged. Captains Smith, Jones, and Ray, lieutenants White and Williams, and Colonel Brown would not have been serving in the positions described in 1991. U.S law said they could not. All are women. Fast-forward to 2003 and a similar scenario. Every women listed could, and real women do, serve in the positions described except one. CPT 'Michele' Ray would have to be named 'Michael' Ray; the Field Artillery still does not allow women officers to serve in units below the brigade level.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Apr 07, 2003
- Accession Number
- ADA420057
Entities
People
- Christopher T. Fulton
Organizations
- United States Army War College