A new research by the United States Army Special Operations Command found that women serving in the Army’s elite Special Operation Forces face considerable discrimination, including sexual harassment and sexism from male counterparts and having to wear ill-fitting equipment.
Women still face discriminatory and sexist impediments to full integration into the special operations community, according to the Women in Army Special Operations report completed in 2021 and released on Monday.
Male senior non-commissioned officers and company-grade officers were found to have a “overtly sexist sentiment” towards their female coworkers, as evidenced by anonymous comments that superiors recognised were misogynistic on Monday. Additionally, it was discovered that “nearly all female soldiers” in ARSOF are issued ill-fitting body armour, a problem that has plagued female military members for years and has forced many of them to buy their own.
Women serving in special operations is “not a nice to have, it’s a must,” said Lt. Gen. Jonathan Braga, commander of USASOC, on Monday. We need everyone when we talk about defence of our nation, not only in the Army but on a global scale, as President Obama put it: “If you just take the protection of United States and the most critical threats we have out there, we need everybody.” The success of our objective depends on it.
Although Braga found the study to be “disappointing,” it did detail the steps USASOC had taken to implement the study’s 48 suggestions.
One example is the “Women in ARSOF Initiative” head, who “focuses on female specific modernization efforts… mentorship and sponsorship, and health & readiness,” nominated by the US Army Special Operations Command. The investigation found that there were “considerable issues” with the location of childcare centres for the 7th Special Forces Group, so additional funding was acquired for those centres.
Additional measures are in the works. Leaders want to boost mentorship possibilities for women, and the study’s conclusions will be included into the onboarding process for soldiers coming to the Army’s Special Warfare Centre and School, among other places. The United States Army Special Operations Command (USASOC) has previously offered its “dating etiquette course” to the 75th Ranger Regiment in an effort to raise awareness about sexual harassment and assault in the military.
USASOC Command Sgt. Maj. JoAnne Naumann stressed during a media roundtable on Monday that the study is “not about accommodations for women,” but rather about offering “tools that allow women to maximise their performance and continue to serve at all levels.”
“I am proud that we took this initial step to see ourselves and where our organisation stood,” Braga stated in a press release on Monday. Successful Army special operations units require top personnel, thus fixing the problems highlighted in this report is crucial.
According to a report by the Government Accountability Office from this year, women make up less than 10% of special operations troops. By March of 2022, over a hundred women had completed the Army’s rigorous Ranger School, and in 2020, the first woman had entered the ranks of the elite Green Berets. Only about ten women are Green Berets, Braga said on Monday, but they are “making a fantastic difference and changing people’s minds with how impressive they are.”
Women have served alongside special operations personnel for decades, long before those landmarks were reached. It’s true that women have been a “critical” part of special operations groups since at least the Revolutionary War, as Braga pointed out when she recalled the women who fought in such capacity during that conflict.
Braga said on Monday that women can be found serving in all branches of the military, from Special Forces to civil affairs to psychological operations to the Rangers and the enablers. Everyone has women, and they are essential to our current level of success around the globe. I’m really happy for them and proud of them.
Disparity between men’s and women’s views on difficulty
While the study detailed several obstacles, it also showed a significant gender gap in how men and women in ARSOF units saw these obstacles.
Researchers discovered that 40% of female respondents considered gender bias in the workplace to be an issue, and that sexist comments made by male respondents were “common sentiment” and “not outliers.” Included in those were claims that women just “have no place” on a Special Forces team.
The study cites the opinion of a senior non-commissioned officer who says that women who join special operations forces “are looking for a husband, boyfriend or attention.” One respondent remarked, “I hope I am retired by the time a woman arrives on a team,” while another said, “I dread the day a woman arrives on a team.”
Many of the comments, Naumann said on Monday, are “ignorant” and “simply because people are uneducated, and they don’t understand.”
Participants’ female counterparts shared this view, noting that they and other women should be held to the same standards as men if they are to serve in ARSOF units or in positions of command. They also voiced opposition to having these requirements decreased or to being given positions solely because they are women. Although the study found that standards had been made easier for women, nearly half of males still held this view.
Women in the poll spoke of the everyday struggle to establish oneself, whereas men rarely endure such scrutiny.
One woman was quoted as saying, “I have to work hard to prove my excellence while men have to work hard to prove their mediocrity.”
“During deployment, I realised through several candid conversations with various men that the battle to be seen as competent despite my sex would be there for the entirety of my career in ARSOF because of enduring assumptions and opinions of women’s abilities,” another stated. “I have proven myself to men I worked with only to be told ‘I’m the exception to the rule,'” she said. “My success didn’t seem to contribute to the overall negative view of women many of these men have.”
One-third of women report experiencing sexual harassment at work, but the survey found that reporting of harassment is “exceptionally low” because victims are afraid of retaliation, social isolation, and the end of their careers if they come forward.
“Women are simply not reporting sexual harassment,” the study concluded.
However, the men polled reported feeling “hesitant” or “afraid” to approach the women in their unit for fear of harassment, assault, or an inappropriate relationship allegations. The men surveyed also expressed concern that their wives might object to them working closely and deploying with a woman.
Despite these obstacles, the study indicated that 72% of women would support their daughter’s desire to serve in ARSOF, and 57% of women in ARSOF thought the culture was better than in the traditional Army.
One soldier claimed, “I felt less gender discrimination in ARSOF than conventional.” “Results are what count, not who you know.”
On Monday, Braga admitted that it will take time to transform the community’s culture, despite efforts to address the worrying results having barely begun.
“It’s not just one briefing, and we talked to the force, and we talked to one person – it takes take time,” Braga remarked. But I believe that we have come a long way… but we have to become better; we have to get better; the fate of the country depends on us.
