Advice for women on BMQ and other courses [MERGED]

[oblivioneclipse]

=) Thanks.

Lovely thing, the search engine.

 

[WZukon]

Bojangles, to answer your question “Where are the women in the CF”…they’re in the Reserve.  In the RMS trade.  The Reserve is about one quarter female, the Regular Force waivers around 13%.  That may not seem statistically satisfactory to women, but neither is it unexpected.  We all choose our occupations according to our interests and life goals, AND self-expectations, so today’s gender balance reflects the social values of a generation ago.  Often, to avoid being separated by a posting, one service spouse, usually the woman, would release and join the Reserve, and perhaps remuster to a trade that is needed everywhere, RMS being a good one.  Not too long ago there was not a lot of employer support for the service woman who chose to start a family, neither in policy nor in practice.  This has changed big time, in policy that is.  Legacy attitudes and practice still persist.

Now let’s look at lucky you, or any young woman considering artillery or infantry.  Starting your career when the CF stands as probably the best equal opportunity employer in Canada.  Add to that the push to increase women’s participation in peacekeeping operations.  The push stems from international recognition that almost all trafficking in humans is of women and girls, and that women and girls in areas of conflict are particularly vulnerable.  In 2000 the United Nations passed Security Council Resolution 1325 on Women, Peace and Security, which sets some pretty ambitious goals, including the goal of one third women on peacekeeping operations.  Canada is, of course, a signator to this Resolution.  In the years to come, women with the smarts and skills that can only be gained with the Land Forces will be assured of exciting, rewarding,…and demanding…careers.

 

[navymich]

Bojangles, to answer your question “Where are the women in the CF”…they’re in the Reserve.  In the RMS trade.  The Reserve is about one quarter female, the Regular Force waivers around 13%.  That may not seem statistically satisfactory to women, but neither is it unexpected.  We all choose our occupations according to our interests and life goals, AND self-expectations, so today’s gender balance reflects the social values of a generation ago.  Often, to avoid being separated by a posting, one service spouse, usually the woman, would release and join the Reserve, and perhaps remuster to a trade that is needed everywhere, RMS being a good one.  Not too long ago there was not a lot of employer support for the service woman who chose to start a family, neither in policy nor in practice.  This has changed big time, in policy that is.  Legacy attitudes and practice still persist.

Now let’s look at lucky you, or any young woman considering artillery or infantry.  Starting your career when the CF stands as probably the best equal opportunity employer in Canada.  Add to that the push to increase women’s participation in peacekeeping operations.  The push stems from international recognition that almost all trafficking in humans is of women and girls, and that women and girls in areas of conflict are particularly vulnerable.  In 2000 the United Nations passed Security Council Resolution 1325 on Women, Peace and Security, which sets some pretty ambitious goals, including the goal of one third women on peacekeeping operations.  Canada is, of course, a signator to this Resolution.  In the years to come, women with the smarts and skills that can only be gained with the Land Forces will be assured of exciting, rewarding,…and demanding…careers.

Considering Bojangles (sigopgirl) posted the original thread over 2 years ago, I'm sure that she is just fine with where she is as a female in the military now.  And she is certainly not "starting her career" anymore either.  :

 

[armyvern]

Not too long ago there was not a lot of employer support for the service woman who chose to start a family, neither in policy nor in practice.  This has changed big time, in policy that is.  Legacy attitudes and practice still persist.

Now let’s look at lucky you, or any young woman considering artillery or infantry. 

19 years ago (tomorrow to be exact) I joined this outfit; at the point in time when the women of the CREW trials were just making their great inroads into the combat arms trades and the army of which you speak. To this date, I have YET to experience that 'legacy' attitude and practice you speak of above.

 

[geo]

19 Years?
Already?

You young pup!

 

[armyvern]

19 Years?
Already?

You young pup!

Is that a legacy attitude I hear??  ;D

Thanks Geo!!

 

[geo]

Legacy attitude?

Nope.  from someone who joined in 1970, pert much everyone is a young pup

 

[armyvern]

Legacy attitude?

Nope.  from someone who joined in 1970, pert much everyone is a young pup

Geo, maybe your oldsheimers is kicking in, but I've got to tell you that if you've been around since 1970 (I was 2!!); you are indeed one of our legacies!!  ;D

 

[geo]

Hehehe
.... I am not on the DA,
there is no NSN stenciled upon my backside (or so the Mrs tells me)


Only 2.... Ooooo - I like em young (though there are limits on how far I will express that affection")

 

[armyvern]

Hehehe
.... I am not on the DA,
there is no NSN stenciled upon my backside (or so the Mrs tells me)

Wait for it!!

Only 2.... Ooooo - I like em young (though there are limits on how far I will express that affection")

I'm quite sure that what you meant to infer here....is that at your current age, you'd like girls who were only 2 when you joined....

 

[Ex-Dragoon]

Bojangles, to answer your question “Where are the women in the CF”…they’re in the Reserve.  In the RMS trade.  The Reserve is about one quarter female, the Regular Force waivers around 13%.  That may not seem statistically satisfactory to women, but neither is it unexpected.  We all choose our occupations according to our interests and life goals, AND self-expectations, so today’s gender balance reflects the social values of a generation ago.  Often, to avoid being separated by a posting, one service spouse, usually the woman, would release and join the Reserve, and perhaps remuster to a trade that is needed everywhere, RMS being a good one.   Not too long ago there was not a lot of employer support for the service woman who chose to start a family, neither in policy nor in practice.  This has changed big time, in policy that is.  Legacy attitudes and practice still persist.

Now let’s look at lucky you, or any young woman considering artillery or infantry.  Starting your career when the CF stands as probably the best equal opportunity employer in Canada.  Add to that the push to increase women’s participation in peacekeeping operations.  The push stems from international recognition that almost all trafficking in humans is of women and girls, and that women and girls in areas of conflict are particularly vulnerable.  In 2000 the United Nations passed Security Council Resolution 1325 on Women, Peace and Security, which sets some pretty ambitious goals, including the goal of one third women on peacekeeping operations.  Canada is, of course, a signator to this Resolution.  In the years to come, women with the smarts and skills that can only be gained with the Land Forces will be assured of exciting, rewarding,…and demanding…careers.

Dude you are talking out of your @ss. Have you ever been to either Esquilmalt or Halifax or been on any of the ships? Obviously not, because if you had you would not have posted such an out to lunch comment.

 

[armyvern]

Ex-Dragoon

+2

 

[17thRecceSgt]

WZukon


1 question.

Have you ever been in the Reserves?  In uniform?

Ok, so thats 2 questions.

The Reserve unit I belong to for a mere 17 years now has never been 25% female.  We, for a long time, had more females in the troops (Recce Sqn) than the O.R. had.

:

 

[Navor86]

Moin,
first let me introduce myself
I'm  a 21 year male from Germany. I will start my military service as a Fallschirmjäger this July. So up till now I have more or less no military experience. Because of the latest developments (our Leopards for you) I got interested in Canadian Armed Forces.
Most relevant Intel I needed I got from wikipedia.
But One point I was not able to find, namely the employment of women in direct combat Units like Arty,Tanks and Infantry.
I used the search engine and found for example the 42 Page Thread about opinions on women in this roles,but after reading through about 20 pages and other search results  and getting no results I decided to ask my question directly. Hopefully the mods will not slain me for this.
So how many women are directly employed in Infantry Fighting Coy's, Recce and Tanks Squadrons or Arty Batteries?
Are there Numbers available or at least the average percentage of women in Combat Arms Bns?
Are they very few in Number or do they take a great portion?
Greetings Navor

 

[niner domestic]

The CBC recently did a story on Canadian Women in Combat Arms, included in the article was the stats for the Army. 

http://www.cbc.ca/news/background/cdnmilitary/women-cdnmilitary.html

DND  (www.dnd.ca) also has several reports on females in Combat Arms:
http://www.forces.gc.ca/site/Minister/eng/cls-gis/sep-2.
http://www.vcds.forces.gc.ca/dgsc/d2000nws/1998/dec98/art15_e.asphtm
http://www.forces.gc.ca/hr/cfpn/engraph/2_05/2_05_iwd_e.asp

and finally at the search page just using "women in Combat Arms this list came up:

http://www.index.forces.gc.ca/Search.aspx?language=en-CA&Screen=Basic

Also you can find information of females serving in combat arms at: http://www.minervacenter.com/ - this site is largely an academic site on the study of women in the military but there are some good resources available.  Hope this helps.

 

[TN2IC]

Einige wenige die Frauen im Heer dienen.

 

[Michael OLeary]

Captain Nichola GODDARD, MSM

 

[Scoobie Newbie]

http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/20060312/afghanistan_female_soldier_060312/20060312?hub=TopStories

and I served with 2 others last tour in the Infantry (can't speak on the other Cmbt arms).

 

[medaid]

Recently with the collaboration between The Librarian and I, we've come up with the 'Gender and Recruiting' post on top of the Recruiting Forum. I started that post two nights ago, because I couldn't bare reading the comments posted by some of the potential applicants when it came to gender, and the replies by some forum members to these comments.

Needless to say I was outraged and at times extremely annoyed at these posters. Why, you ask? The answer is simple.

I do not believe in gender differences and limitations. Yes, I will admit when I was a little younger, I thought of stupid things such as women should not work in certain fields. I will tell you straight up right now, that I no longer think that way, and I don't think anyone else should.

We all have had bad experiences with people who don't carry their own weight in our work places, but why does gender automatically come into play when we become critical of these individuals? Should a soldier be counselled differently if they were of a certain gender? NO! There should absolutely NO reason to do that.

A member of the Canadian Forces is a member of the Canadian Forces. Gender has NOTHING to do with their work ethic, performance or place in the Chain of Command. The PERSON does. I will honestly tell you that I will follow anyone of any gender into anything as long as they have proven to me that they can lead. That they can plan and prioritize and most importantly they can do their job. I don't care if you are a male or a female. If you mess up I will rip you a new one, the same degree, the same intensity, and the same quality every single time. By going 'lighter' or 'harder' on different genders merely reinforces the stereotype that we treat our soldiers differently.

Keep in mind that this does not come into play when we are talking about basic compassion and everyday interactions with your fellow coworkers. Courtesy and common sense still prevails and exists here folks.

But sometimes people argue 'by treating me this way or that way, you are enforcing gender stereotypes'.

NO I AM NOT! I am treating you this way, because I treat all people this way. I open doors for both genders, I DO push seats out for the ladies and I do stand when a lady leaves the table. Does that mean I am reinforcing gender stereotypes? Maybe. But I think I am doing it to be polite.

Now, what sparked this little rant is because people these days place WAY too much on the small things in everyday conversations. By saying 'man power' instead of 'manpower' could be a simple mistake. Why are we going reading it as if it was the worse affront to people everywhere? Mistakes happen. Get over it!

'But, MedTech, you're not being sensitive to the issue at hand here! This is just a sign that oppression of genders still exist in modern day society. We want equality!'

Well, fine, we can sit here and argue all day about oppression, equality and so on and so forth, till the current TF returns home, the next one deploys and returns home, and we'll still be at it. By crying out everytime something so minor happens, you are merely reinforcing the image you are trying to get away with! This is not saying that everyone should puff up their chests, work out like crazy and act 'manly', it just means, be yourself, take everything with a pinch of salt. If you REALLY have problems with something, there are channels to deal with that. Something as simple as addressing an e-mail a certain way, well go and talk to your boss. If you feel really offended submit a grievance.

The point is, the Canadian Forces has already done much to improve the working environment for BOTH genders. That's right read it again, BOTH. Some will say that certain genders have no 'right' to be in a trade, organization blah blah blah blah blah. Get over it. It's a changing world. If a soldier can do a job just as well as the next soldier, there should be no reason why they cannot be in certain trades and so on.

When any one joins the military they need to realise that this is the MILITARY. The military is routed IN and surrounded BY the traditions and methodology of the ARMY. Why? Because we've fought on land longer then we've fought on the Seas and the Air combined. The ARMY was always dominated by only ONE gender, now it is changing. The change is slow, but it is progressing.

So PLEASE everyone. Calm down. Time only goes forward for those of us who doesn't own a time machine. Gender equality will NEVER come because that is not how life works. But we're trying pretty damn hard to make it work. Please don't throw in wrenches?

End of rant.

 

[Yrys]

Recently with the collaboration between The Librarian and I, we've come up with the 'Gender and Recruiting' post on top of the Recruiting Forum.

Link : http://forums.army.ca/forums/threads/62718.0.html