University Daily Kansen, October 19, 1981
Page 7
KU women take on challenges in ROTC units
By PAM ALLOWAY Staff Reporter
Dressed in a big, blue sweat shirt and gray sweat pants, Denise Serrano could have been easily mistaken for one of the Frisbee players in front of Allen Field House during a recent Naval Officers Training Corps physical fitness test.
That is until 122 NROT3 midshipman came to attention at her command.
THE FITNESS TEST, which included sit-ups, pull-ups or push-ups and a three-mile run, made some allowances for women. Serrano said women must do push-ups rather than pull-ups, and are required to run only two miles.
Serrano is the first female battalion commander at the University of Kansas. She is also one of 32 women on the ROCC team in various breaches of the ROCC program
The petite senior from New Paltz,
N. Y., takes her job seriously.
"I'm viewed as a midshipman and an officer, not as a woman. You have to set the tone yourself and act professionally. I'm a peer and a midshipman too. I expect to be treated as such." Serrano said.
The ROTC program has seven women in the Navy branch and 116 men. In the Army branch, there are 32 women and 180 men, and in the Air Force branch, there are 13 women and 72 men.
which is part of the Navy's program. This year there are not any women in the five-man unit.
Serrano started out in the Marines the KU campus in her aerobehp year.
"I was impressed with the Marine Corps, but I just don't fit the mold. It takes a certain type of person. It's hard to be physically compatible. They're very physical," she said.
In addition, there is the Marine Corps
AFTER GETTING out of the Marines, Serrano joined the Navy and got her chance to ship out to sea last summer. She served on a supply ship in the Indian Ocean. She was one of six women in a crew of 1,200.
Serrano said she became interested in the military at her mother's suggestion, but she was not a 'military wife', who came from a military family.
"My mother said you should try everything at least once. And I'm glad I did. It's more of a challenge being an officer, you're in charge of people," she
"I was shocked when I found out I had gotten it," she said. "You never really realize things like this, until you're actually standing in the shoes.
Serrano said it wasn't all glory. At times, she over-compensated for being female and was more businesslike than she might otherwise be, she said.
"One thing I've really learned since I've been in ROTC is that if you think you're at your limit, you can always go further."
Serrano was chosen battalion commander by regular Navy unit officers
She said other women frequently were curious about her position.
at KU. She said candidates were ranked on such factors as grades, military performance and overall personality.
"There's a curiosity, every female is fascinated. The military is generally not considered a woman's world, it's still a man's world. My situation makes them wonder why I did it and makes them think, why couldn't I do that. Most women don't even consider going into the military."
CAPT, CLAUDIA AKROYD, from the Army branch of the ROTC program, said there were some different rules for women, although for the most part women were treated as equals.
She said women don't have to do as many sit-ups or push-ups as men, but they do have to do the same kind of exercises.
Men must choose two combat divisions, but women are only required to choose one.
Although women choose a combat division, the Combat Exclusionary Policy, passed by Congress, excludes from the infantry and armor divisions.
"Women can't be in a combat unit and that's just the way it is," Akroyd said.
Another difference involved where graduating officers go after they graduate. Cadets must prepare five students for the Army's training and the Army they would like to serve in.
Women also are not allowed on submarines or other combat ships.
submarines or other combat ships.
Pam Luthey, Topeka senior who is in the National Guard, said certain personnel were needed for her because she was a woman.
The National Guard program is included in the Army branch of the ROTC
"Sometimes you just have to try harder to get the same recognition as men. For example, in one situation we were using jeeps and an officer picked a gun to drive it rather than me. I was kind of upset at first and then I thought, what would I do if it broke down. The guy the officer picked had been a mechanic. He had experience I lacked."
LUTHYE ALSO said while she was in
the room she was the only woman in
a unit of 99 men.
'I got pretty lonely, had to either stay in the same tent with officers or be
BOB GREENSPAN/Kansan Staff
Denise Seranno, New Paltz, N.Y., senior, explains a physical fitness test to Midshipman Joel Schleicher, Lake Bluff, Ill., senior. Serrano is the first female battalion commander at KU.
Akroyd said regulation differences were mainly dependent on physical stature and in several cases women outdid men of their same size.
"Women in the military act basically the same as they would in a similar civilian situation. You may tend to be a woman who has been dominated or dominated environment," Akryd said.
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