Where I Stand — Mike O’Callaghan: Don’t vacate the arena

Tuesday, May 2, 2000 | 9:53 a.m.

Mike O'Callaghan is the Las Vegas Sun executive editor.

The military people in the Pentagon respond to the orders of civilians assigned by each new occupant of the White House. Some things never seem to change, and other practices ebb and flow with the change of civilian bosses and congressional majorities. Studies come and go to prove political, military and social points of view. If the study results don't agree with the popular or politically correct ideas in vogue they are ignored and filed for future reference. Some small studies are just cast aside or wind up in a shredder.

Today, after several years of being forced to downgrade physical demands in basic training of men and women together, only the Marines have refused to have them together in boot camp. Several studies have seriously questioned the wisdom of lowering physical demands to please those pushing to have women become members of ground combat units.

Recently Scribner published Stephanie Gutmann's "The Kinder, Gentler Military" which asks: "Can America's gender-neutral fighting force still win wars?" The author seriously questions if an honest positive answer can be given this question. The inability of the Army to keep up the signing of enough new recruits is already being answered negatively. In addition to recruiting problems, the inability to retain large numbers of highly qualified commissioned officers and non-coms has become a very expensive load for the Pentagon budget to bear.

The author quotes the late Amelia Earhart saying, "Men would rather vacate the arena (of combat) altogether than share it with women." After 275 pages of laying out the attempts to feminize the military forces she writes: "Amelia was right. The '90s have been all about soldiers 'vacating the arena.' "

She is convinced the brass should try some of the old methods they have been forced to replace with the politically correct new methods that have failed.

Gutmann wraps up her book with some solid recommendations that can, if adopted, in the long run serve both our military and nation well:

Restore "back of the neck" recruiting. If gender quotas are removed -- and racial quotas, too -- recruiters can spend less time frantically trying to fill "recruiting goals" and more time targeting and working on the most likely prospects.

Now it's time for our civilian decision makers to read Gutmann and try the suggestions made in her latest writing. She could be right on target, and ground combat troops may benefit.