Narrowing The Stereotype
By Mike Freismuth
At five in the morning the sun is just starting to shine on the star light sky. Most of the town still slumbers, hours away from waking to greet the day. However a not so average college sophomore, Morgan Ackley, is up at this ungodly hour. A student at Colorado State University, she is one of the few female Army ROTC cadets and she is about to join the other cadets for their morning physical training.
Ackley is one of 140,000 women carrying the flame of a tradition that is longer than the United States itself. For more than 230 years women have served a vital role in the United States Army. And over that time women have continually proven that limiting their choice of occupation in the military is wrong.
The physical training is “too easy,” Ackley says, “PT is nothing more than a maintenance program.”
After all Ackley did post one of the highest scores as an incoming freshman for the Physical Fitness Test and she was one of the few female cadets that competed in the Ranger Challenge. At 6:00 am cadets are to be at CSU’s intramural fields and in formation. After a quick roll call the Cadets break up into groups for a timed run up to five miles.
Just as in Army recruit training, male and female ROTC cadets train together, from PT to classroom sessions even out in field exercises, there is little segregation between the male and female cadets.
It hasn’t always been that way however, when the United States first created an Army during the Revolutionary war, women served more traditional roles such as nurses and camp cooks. As the years progressed so did the integration of women in the military.
In 1942 Congress approved a bill to create the Women’s Amy Auxiliary Corps, later re-named the Women’s Army Corps. Upon completion of basic training in the WAC women were assigned to units that had spaces for clerks, typists, drivers, and cooks.
Shortly after World War II the WAC schools and training centers were closed down, and it wasn’t until 1948 did President Eisenhower sign a bill integrating the WAC into the regular Army.
1962 marked the WAC’s 20th anniversary. The WAC’s strength grew to nearly 9,500 female soldiers.
It wasn’t until 1976 that women were admitted to all academics in the Army that men were admitted to, such as ROTC. One hundred twenty women enter the US Military Academy, to become the first female graduates in 1980.
After her grueling morning PT session, Ackley and the other Cadets attend military science classes twice a week, which provide leadership and tactical training. The classes provide Cadets with training beginning with basic military structure and conduct to tactics and battle scenarios, preparing them for their weekly labs.
The labs teach everything a Cadet needs to know for success as an Army Officer. They consist of weapons familiarization to battlefield tactics. “Even the females learn how to perform attacks and defenses,” says Junior ROTC Cadet Alex Bass, “because of the way the battlefield is changing; women are finding themselves closer to the front lines than ever before.”
This is very much true, due to the way war has changed in the modern era. Women casualties have undoubtedly increased from previous wars fought. Mainly due to the fact that there are no distinct front lines, women that go on convoys are vulnerable to attack. According to the U.S. Department of Defense over 900 females have been either killed or wounded in Iraq and Afghanistan.
The goal of the labs is to prepare the Cadets for Leadership Development and Assessment Course, which all Cadets take in the summer between their Junior and Senior year. LDAC is a five-week long leadership evaluation that takes place in Fort Lewis, Washington and is the Cadets’ capstone course. This course is designed to put Cadet’s in roles that they will test their leadership abilities as well as their ability to take responsibility of a large group of soldiers.
“Ackley is one of the most fearless young women I have seen come through the program,” says Lt. Col. Channing Moose, commanding officer of the CSU Army ROTC “Ram Battalion.” Not only is Ackley fearless but she is unselfish as she is always open to help out junior Cadets who may be struggling to grasp the knowledge.
Upon graduation of college Cadets are commissioned as 2nd Lieutenants in the Army. Before the end of their Junior year, Cadets pick a branch of the army, whether it is active, reserve, or national guard, and from there they decide on a Military Occupational Specialty. Men are completely unrestricted from what MOS they want to select, whereas women are barred from choosing an MOS that is a ground combat position.
Ackley carries on the legacy from the first women ROTC graduates in 1980, however she wants to begin a new legacy for women in the future.
“It really sucks,” says Ackley about how she feels about the Army’s policy to restrict females from being in combat roles. Ackley feels so strongly about how unfair women are treated in the military that she has written multiple papers on the subject, even a speech for one of her classes. She wants to be one of the pioneer women to serve in a combat unit. While it may be difficult to accomplish, it helps starting as an officer as it allows her to talk to key figures within the Army.
Despite the lack of opportunity, Ackley really enjoys the rewards that come with being an Army ROTC cadet; she has been able to ride in a black hawk helicopter. She has learned how to shoot a M16 assault rifle as well as how to take it apart and put it together in under two minutes. She has competed in the ROTC Army Ranger Challenge, which she vows never to do the grueling event again. She has spent three days in the mountains eating nothing but Meals Ready to Eat, and not being able to shower or sleep much. And maybe one day Ackley and other women will prove the stereotype wrong and integrate women into combat units.