THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: MONDAY, June 27, 1994 TAG: 9406270087
SECTION: FRONT PAGE: A1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY SUSANNE M. SCHAFER, ASSOCIATED PRESS
DATELINE: 940627 LENGTH: ABOARD THE NORFOLK-BASED CARRIER DWIGHT D. EISENHOWER
``It's past the experiment stage. It's working, and it's working well,'' Perry said after spending the night on this nuclear-powered behemoth, the nation's first combat ship to have women assigned full-time to its crew.
{REST} There are about 100 women on the aircraft carrier, with 500 scheduled to join before it begins a six-month deployment in the Mideast in October.
The women will include combat jet pilots, cooks, bomb handlers and military police, ranging in age from late teens to mid-30s.
The ship - a floating airport with a 6,000-person crew - was conducting training exercises off the coast of Puerto Rico in preparation for its mission when it hosted Perry.
``I commend each of you for your maturity, your competence, and your can-do attitude in tackling this truly historic first,'' Perry told 2,000 assembled officers, sailors and Marines in the ship's hangar bay. ``You have set high standards for all of those who follow you.''
During several hours of briefings with crew members, Perry said, he'd ``seen no evidence of any problem that can't be ironed out.''
Perry said the ship has successfully built separate quarters for men and women, but a problem still exists with putting women on submarines, given their limited space.
``But there's no reason why it can't be done, and indeed it will be done, on board all the other surface ships of the Navy,'' Perry said.
Seven more combat ships are to take on female crewmembers this year. Women already serve on more than 60 noncombat ships.
Capt. Mark Gemill, the ship's soft-spoken commander, said he dislikes the term ``experiment'' regarding female crew members.
``The Navy doesn't need experiments with women at sea. We know how to do it and we know how to handle the issues,'' he said, noting that women have served on noncombat ships since 1978.
Gemill captained a supply ship, with women on its crew, that sailed to the Persian Gulf twice during the war against Iraq.
Even the most emotionally charged issues, including sexual relations and sex harassment, don't rattle him.
``Sexual activity (among crewmembers) is not helpful for good order and discipline. . . . That doesn't mean people can't be friends. . . . Some intensely emotional relations will develop. Is that bad? I don't think so, but there may be a boundary where it might be bad for good order and discipline. And we do have good common sense,'' the captain said.
Pregnancies have been no more of a problem than people who leave work with broken arms, he said.
The process is working, he said, because women are being brought on board as jobs open up, and men aren't being pushed off to make room for them.
Another help is that the crew worked more than a year on a wide-ranging plan that devised training to help deal with the deployment of women.
Yet such a revolution still has its uncertain moments, particularly in light of the Navy's searing experience with the Tailhook sex-abuse scandal and many male service members' uncertainty about how to act around women in their once-sacrosanct workplaces.
Lt. Cmdr. Jam Hambe, 35, who boarded the ship in March, recalled nearly tumbling onto a male officer as she learned to get around on the ship's steep staircases.
The officer instinctively turned to help but stood back, afraid to touch her, when he saw she was a woman, Hambe said.
She regained her footing and laughingly reassured her colleague, ``I'd rather be groped'' than suffer a broken leg, she said.
Hambe and other women interviewed said most women on the ship are finding the men are welcoming them, because many of the women have enough experience to show they are capable of doing their jobs.
``My khakis tell them I'm a chief petty officer. I've already proven myself, so they accepted me as a shipmate,'' said Mary Brackett, one of the dozens of crash-helmeted figures who take care of the sleek jets that pound down on the 4.5-acre flight deck.
Machinist's mate Anthony Hall said the integration has caused little commotion, except that some ship areas are now off-limits to men and the training courses are numerous.
``Overkill, I'd say, because it just amounts to common sense - don't look down on people, treat them well, and you're OK,'' Hall said.
{KEYWORDS} WOMEN U.S. NAVY CARRIER by CNB