Co-Ed Military Training

Paper Summary:

This paper explains that, in 1998, a full scale investigation of the issue of mixed-sex training concluded unanimously that mixed-sex basic training and housing should be ended; however, the most that came from the report was that the Army agreed to install partitions in the barracks to discourage sexual encounters. The author points out that the panel urged the military services to keep the sexes in separate barracks at the platoon level for the ten week of basic training; yet, men and women would still train together. The paper relates that, while careful not to sound tolerant of sex crimes or harassment, critics declare that placing young men and women together during the first weeks of training and particularly placing seemingly all-powerful male drill sergeants in charge of young female recruits, is simply a recipe for trouble.

From the Paper:

"There were so many female recruits who were unable to pass hand grenade tossing tests at one Army base that authorities simply changed the standards, setting different requirements for male and female recruits, reports analyst James Anderson of the Heritage Foundation, in his paper, "Boot Camp or Summer Camp? Restoring Rigorous Standards to Basic Training" . Anderson says that in an effort to entice and retain women, basic training has become much more feminized, de-emphasizing toughness and rigor. At Great Lakes Naval Training Center, recruits are now shown a video that tells them that "anyone can make it through boot camp," when actually the point should be that not everyone can make it."

More papers on Co-Ed Military Training:

• Term Paper # 95514 : "Edmund Kemper - The Co-ed Killer"
• Research Paper # 112008 : "Same Sex vs. Co-ed Schools"
• Argumentative Essay # 74861 : "Co-ed vs Single Sex Schooling"

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