Being A Female In a Leadership Position Within The Military

The life of a woman in active voice agent forces service is non made up of cherries and cotton plant candy. Active phalanx life requires me to constantly cross various obstacles that be placed within my path on a daily basis. and unlike the other women who quit instead of trying to overcome the difficulties so that they can advance to the senior level po mountions, I chose to stay on and recruit that I am somebody who will invariably so summons the courage to become a expenditurey counterpart of the male soldier.I cannot pick the women who leave the service before they reach the senior grade levels though. Sometimes, the obstacles come out insurmount sufficient and endless so that it seems like it is no longer worth the effort to keep on fighting. The genuinelyity is that the Army was developed by males and having young-bearing(prenominal)s come into their ranks as soldiers and officers simply does not sit well with a vast majority of these people. Male soldiers wan t to believe that women will always be weak and feeble creatures.Which is wherefore it will embrace a immensely strong and influential female role model, a female in active service who will accomplish something so estimable that it will be im viable for the men to ignore the accomplishment to commute the male perception. Such an embodiment of female drawing cardship will in any case finally give the female soldiers a drawing card whom they can emulate, idolize, and promise to be in the future tense. The question female soldiers atomic number 18 now left over(p) with is Where do we find such a woman to adopt us? I give seen some females who could be the role model we research scarcely beca hold they are opinionated and sometimes seem more manlike than the males in an effort to pose themselves heard, these women get administratively charged and therefore fired or worse, they voluntarily leave because of the frustration they feel I will admit that building a conducte r as a female Army leader carries tremendous stress and frustration because we have to constantly prove ourselves, sometimes while facing overwhelming odds.We cope very well that the men want to see us pass out and the higher leaders already talk down to us and step down our confidence and ability to think as strong minded females, we politic voice our opinions &8212 but at a cost to our femininity. When I was part at Camp Taji in Iraq, there was a woman who came to the group and it seemed like the entire female population of the camp was discussing who she was and where she came from. Before she arrived on camp, we had a male leader who pretty much did not understand, or did not care that the female soldiers where not complying with the regulations.Maybe he was afraid of world reported for sexual harassment if he called a female on a violation. All of that changed when our female leader arrived. We began to take pride in our appearance and grooming because this leader was no t afraid to call us on any infractions we may have. Here was a woman who had the lenience of a ballerina, the posture of a military professional, and the attitude of a leader who knew how to get the ponder done. She spoke in the manner of a extremely educated person who was neither condescending nor rude. Not once did I ever catch her in a uniform that was not sharp pressed.Her hair was always tucked behind her head and her hat was always so crisp that it would stand on its own. She knew all about the Army Standard and insured that she would always uphold it to the best of her abilities. She did not care that she faced becoming an outcast because she was vocal about her beliefs figureing what was right for the army. She did not hesitate to use discipline when necessary and she let us fill in that if the Army cannot entrust you with small tasks, how could we be expected to complete real missions on the battlefront? Discipline was key.Sure she was called a bitch by most, but she was a bitch who got the job done. She knew that there were no acceptable excuses and form with the rules is all that mattered. For those are the traits of a real leader. She has been my role model ever since. Males believe that women who succeed in military life can altogether be either of 2 things. A bitch or a lesbian. Neither of which are true. I am severely hurt when I hear comments like this. More so when I hear it from familiar females. This is why when I was given the duty of a company leader, I told myself that I was going to prove them wrong.I can be an effective leader without being a bitch and still keep my femininity to use whenever I want to. Since I currently serve as a company leader, I find myself constantly having to push myself to perform my duties nonetheless more effectively than a man. With 6 platoons and a corresponding 6 male platoon Sergeants under my direct supervision, 3 of whom have been in active military service far longer than me, I can honestly say that it took a lot of heartache for me to be able to lead them because they never expected a female to come out of nowhere and be given the duty of streamletning a line unit.My outset few months as company leader were very difficult. I had to overcome the fact that my platoon sergeants chose to ignore my orders and would rather do things their own way. The problem with this spatial relation is that when all hell broke lose, it was my command responsibility and it was my bottom on the line. The men viewed me as a figurehead but, as they quickly learned, I knew how to get their attention and crack the whip upon them. It took some time but my corrective training eventually paid off and they now regard me with the same respect as they would a male company leader.I approached the smear the way a male company leader would. I knew barely what they could do on a PT challenge so I stepped up the requirements a bit for them. After 55 pushups, 100 sit ups and a 1300 run that left them w inded, they certainly had a clear message regarding who was in charge of the company. From then on, I never hesitated to reintroduce them to Army Standards as the need arose. Each time I run my company, I recall my experiences with that female leader in Iraq and remind myself that she was leaders in action.She was at the top of her game and although probably lonely at the top, she was prepared for all the challenges that came her way. I was able to aright do my job and was good at it because I chose to be an engaging leader. My job was to make sure that my soldiers received 100% quality training and I did not let the challenges posed before me because of my gender abide me from delivering what was necessary. It is unfortunate that these challenges to the female gender will always be present. work force will always develop a sense of anger and prickliness when a woman gets ahead of them.I have experienced being conspired against by my male subordinates because I threatened their m ale supremacy within the ranks. Which is why I try to seek a balance between the twain genders. I ask both the male and females for advice in order to prove to the males that I only want to work with them, not against them. Gender dissimilitude is not a right. It not a privilege either. It is an unacceptable touch that exists within the military because of gender bias and issues. There was a just point in time when all the intrigue was hitting me so hard that I contemplated leaving the military.I was frustrated and discouraged by what I believe to be the direction the military was headed in. Thankfully, I was talked out of it by the other females in the army who were with me in similar positions of authority. Through their mentorship, I came to the realization that I had to stay where I was regardless of the obstacles before me because the future of women in the military depended upon it. If every female who ever entered active military service were to quit, the males will have won and proven that females just do not have what it takes to survive in a world that they esteem to solely dominate.Men in the military are already an established paramount population. But that does not mean that the military can never be female ready. It is up to existing female military leaders such as myself to cultivate the new military world. Where women will be able to serve alongside men with a little restrictions as possible while taking care of ourselves on the field. After all, men take care of themselves on the battlefront. If women want to be treated equally in the military, they we should learn to become just as self sufficient and self-supporting on all the fronts. 2 years ago, females were finally allowed to see active combat duty in Iraq.I consider this to be a mastery for the females in military service. This is the militarys acknowledgement that men and women actually have the same skill level once trained properly and can both serve on the battlefront withou t being a hindrance to one another. Work Cited Bender, Bryan. (2005). U. S. women get closer to combat. The Boston Globe. Retrieved declination 4, 2007, from http//www. boston. com/news/nation/washington/articles/2005/01/26/us_women_get_closer_to/ RAND. (1997). Military readiness women are not a problem. RAND Research Brief . Retrieved December 5, 2007,