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THURSDAY, JANUARY 31, 2013
ROTC
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
GEORGE MULLINIX/KANSAN
Sophomore Kendall Gregg, freshman Brittany Mesa and freshman Brittany Simel listen carefully as sophomore Susan MBrachter, explains her strategy of attack. The ROTC cadets use different color strings and other objects to prevent obstacles on the battlefield.
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Women considering new paths in the military
EMILY DONOVAN
edonovan@kansan.com
Members of the University's Reserve Officers' Training Corps are reconsidering their career paths as the U.S. Department of Defense opens options for women.
Brittany Simek, a freshman from Leavenworth and one of 23 female cadets in ROTC, had previously been interested in joining the military police. Now that more positions in the Army will be available for her, she is considering joining the infantry.
Defense Secretary Leon Panetta announced last week that women will be allowed to serve in frontline infantry positions by Jan. 2016. A 1994 Pentagon policy previously barred women from being assigned for duty below the brigade level. In short, Panetta's announcement will allow women in the military to enter the infantry and elite commando units. Military services may seek exceptions to the policy if they believe any positions must remain male-only.
"It's definitely an eye-opener," Simek said. "I think it's life-changing."
Opening these military positions to women will grant them more career opportunities. Without infantry or commando experience, women have had difficulty earning
promotions to high military rank and being trained for certain military situations.
profession, Cadet Mohrbacher has found respect and camaraderie between her fellow cadets. The male cadets treat her as if they were her big brothers, she said. "It's not as big of a deal as you would think," Mohrbacher said. "As long as you get your job done and you do it well and you work well with other people, I feel like people usually respect you and will be respectful."
"Many women have fought in combat but they don't necessarily receive the same training as men," said freshman cadet Brittany Mesa. "Even though they end up in the same situation, they aren't given the same training. That's just as much of a disadvantage and it just doesn't seem right."
The positions being opened
to women include more than just the soldiers who are sent out on the front line. Sophomores Susan Mohrbacher and Kendall Gregg, pre-nursing and premedicine majors respectively, are more likely to pursue medicine than combat
That mutual respect is no surprise. The military, said Master
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Each infantry battalion includes a Medical Corps officer who runs a troop aid station. Previously, only male officers could hold this position—making life and death decisions for wound$^4$ soldiers immediately after they are injured. With Defense Secretary Panetta's release, women can enter down this career path.
BRITTANY SIMEK Freshman from Leavenworth
Despite the initial, temporary intimidation of entering a field of study that's typically seen as a man's
SergeantChad Brown, is a system where people must earn their positions. He brings that view to RTOCT at KU, where 20 percent of the approximately 125 students enrolled are female. On a national level, 14 percent of soldiers serving on active duty in the U.S. Army are female.
"We don't look for types of people—gender, training, color of race or anything—what we look for is that merit to be in our program." Brown said.
On his last deployment to Iraq, he was moved to a brigade special troops company that was 30 percent female.
Brown, now the University's Senior Military Instructor, has served in the army as first sergeant of an infantry company, the branch currently closed to female soldiers.
"Any prenotions that I had prior to that were dispelled in the time that I was in that company," Brown said. "The army is truly a merit-based system. We award and promote people that work hard. It really is a system where it's not who you are, it's what you do that matters."
to where—after they see how hard you work and how much you want it and how much a part of the essential team you are just as they are—it doesn't become a problem."
All members of the U.S. Army must pass a basic physical fitness test twice per year: a two-mile run, two minutes of sit-ups and two minutes of push-ups. Standards for males require more push-ups and a faster running time than those for females.
Cadet Simek believes that Panetta's announcement will not only open more career opportunities to women, but eliminate the barrier between genders to help soldiers work as a one unit.
Workout standards for women at the University's ROTC, however, are on par with men. Regular physical training lasts from 6-7 a.m. three days a week and focuses on exercises included in the fitness test as well as platoon competitions requiring teamwork. An optional Ranger detachment last from 5:30-7 a.m. five to six days a week and includes weight training and sprints.
"Coming into the military, there is an aspect of being a female where you have to prove yourself, especially physically-wise," Gregg said. "But you do form that team bond
"It's really going to bring us together," Simek said. "And I think it's going to make a lot of females be interested in the Army or be interested in the service."
the cadets at the University, said Master Sergeant Brown, will have their career options greatly broadened by these nationwide decisions from the Department of Defense.
Although the ban is lifted, women will not immediately be seen in the infantry until the training system is revised and running. Women soon to enter their military careers like
"Not to sound romantic—and I guess if you stay in the Army as long as I do, you kind of feel that way about national pride and stuff like that—but these students are unbelievable," Brown said. "I can sit you down with who it's really going to affect. And you can look in their eyes and say, 'Wow, that's a fellow Jayhawk that's on the cutting edge of America right now in the news and potentially could be on our honor wall as a general in 30 years."
Edited by Kyle Crane
CAMPUS
Student Senate votes to wait on renovations
The Student Senate Finance Committee voted to postpone a bill to fund renovation of the Student Involvement
and Leadership Center.
David Mucci, director of the KU Memorial Unions, presented the bill and said they are looking to create
Mucci
more access for the 560 regular student groups on campus, increase engagement and offer more storage for the SILC.
The bill asked for a sum of $60,000 from the Student Senate Reserve Account. KU Memorial Unions has agreed to match Student Senate's distribution for the project if approved. Mucci said the project would take an estimated $120,000 all together.
Mucci presented three different design options from three different companies. Josh Dean, chair of the Finance Committee, wanted to postpone the bill for the next committee meeting on Feb. 13.
"We should postpone this until we figure out exactly how it will be done." Dean said.
The Finance Committee voted to wait until KU Memorial Unions presents one final design or until Senate appoints a committee that will choose the design after the bill is passed for funding.
Hannah Barling
UNIVERSITY
In its first regular meeting of the spring semester the Student Rights Committee approved a resolution in opposition to concealed carry of firearms on campus last night.
Student group opposes campus concealed carry
Senate's Government Relations Director Zach George said that the resolution was a collaborative effort involving other universities in Kansas.
"We have spoken to administrators and campus police," George said. "And both
institutions are against concealed carry on campus. This resolution passed by the Senate would be sent to all legislators in the state." The resolution will be passed to full Senate for a vote on Feb. 6.
The resolution is a response to a proposed measure in the Kansas Legislature that would open the doors to guns on campus.
While passing the resolution, committee members suggested to George that he inform any student groups that support concealed carry on campus about the resolution.
Also passed at the meeting was a funding measure for the KU Natural Museum student group, and development of a bill to align non-discrimination language in the Code of Student Rights and Responsibilities with University policy. The changes include adding "gender identity" and "genetic information" to the code.
Another bill that would have given the committee oversight of a student judicial review board was held due to a miscommunication between the committee and the student executive staff.
Vikaas Shanker