Another Glass Ceiling??

As a child of a mother who both served and retired from the Air Force, I am aware of the many barriers that women must go through while in the military. The most recent issue that females of the military forces of the United States of America are facing is the lack of women that are allowed to join front-line combat units. Though the ban has been lifted as the Pentagon continue to gather information on whether or not the thousands of combat-related jobs reserved for men should be opened to both sexes, the lack of urgency used by the Pentagon to resolve the situation has put the military in danger of losing some of its most-qualified and committed female soldiers if there are no chances for them to be a part of combat.

            While reading an article  on this subject, I learned that there is currently a federal lawsuit that is seeking to lift of these restrictions. The argument against those women that are trying to seek justice is that there is fear that women lacked the strength and agility to fight and survive in the harshest conditions with their male counterparts. Though thousands of women have been a part of ground units in recent wars, many have still prevented from being on the front-line units that are trained to be engaged with the enemy. Many women who do have combat experience have been facing the tough decision of whether not to reenlist in the military since combat experience is crucial to the advancement of their careers

            Personally, my view on this situation is simple. There are plenty of physical tests and courses that one must complete in order to be considered fit for front-line combat. If women are able to pass those tests, they should be fairly considered to a part of those units that are engaged with going against the enemy. As much as physical preparation plays and important part of combat, so is mental stability. There isn’t any argument about whether or not women are more mentally acceptable versus men, so why question their physical abilities if they are able to pass the tests that are necessary to be qualified? Is this another case of a “boys only” mentality in the armed forces?

The Gifts That Keep Giving

Prior to this semester, I was oblivious to the contributions that veterans make to society after serving. The presence of Veteran Foreign Wars (VFW) in the military community is one of those of those contributions. Recently I met a gentleman by the name of Howard Adams who is the post commander of Post 194 Meuse Post in the Salisbury, Maryland area, and learned about the impact that this organization has not only their fellow veterans, but also within the community that they are located and other charities throughout the country.

According to their website, the VFW has made its mark in the military world since 1899, when veterans of the Spanish-American War and the Philippine Insurrection founded local organization to help secure rights and benefits for their service. Since then, the VFW has grown immensely in numbers and has contributed in the creation of the Veterans Administration, creating a GI bill for the 20^th century, and the development of the national cemetery system.

While speaking to Adams, it wasn’t the fact that their VFW helps veterans with their transition of coming home after being overseas or serving at a particular branch and giving those men and women a place to be amongst their peers and have a haven to bond and relax that necessarily impressed me. It was their willingness as an organization to continue to give to this country and help those in need. The nearly 2 million members of the VFW contribute more than 8.6 million hours of volunteerism in the community. Raising money for a number of charities throughout the country, even providing over $3 million in college scholarships and savings bonds to students every year, the VFW has been another vehicle for these selfless men and women that are veterans to continue serving this country and display their giving ways.

It amazes when I think about it that majority of the members of the VFW has been sacrificing and giving back to this country for majority of their lives without looking for much in return. It shows the great amount of generous people that are in this world that are consistently overlooked and never given the proper acknowledgement. Are you aware of other veteran organizations that contribute to our country? If so, which ones?

No Home for the Brave

 

 

 

 

Homelessness is one of the many issues that occur to many military veterans. Though veterans are less than 8 percent of the population, past studies has shown that veterans make up about 20 percent of Americans without stable living. No one, let alone those that risked their lives to protect our country should be in the position of not having a permanent home of going to. But what is the cause of so many veterans being homeless? The answer is simpler than what you think.

          Now many would think post-traumatic stress, brain injuries and drug abuse are the main factors to the homelessness problems of those veterans. But the mismanagement of money, has been the pitfall that many have become victim to, and potentially is the easiest problem to address.

            Researchers from the University of North Carolina and Duke University, recently found that of a 1,000 of veterans from the Iraq and Afghanistan era, one-third of them has gone over their credit limit, written a bad check or been contacted by a collection agency. The median income for that group of veterans was $50,000, so the financial problems they were inheriting weren’t due to low-income.

            One solution to this epidemic amongst veterans is the military providing financial education to those serving. For at least the first three years of their service, military workers should be required to attend a seminar of some sorts that educates them on how to properly manage their money. They could teach them how to create a budget, avoid financial scams, and balancing a checkbook. But the financial education should not stop at the beginning of their service, post-term classes should be offered for free to those veterans to inform them how to preserve and smartly invest their money after leaving the service.

            Veteran Affairs has found that homeless veterans are six times more like to consider suicide than those who are financially stable. This is even more of a reason why the lack of monetary competence should no longer be an issue that is ignored and be addressed soon to help keep our veterans in a home.

A Helping Hand Goes So Far

With the government going into a shutdown, President Barack Obama quickly signed a partial-spending bill that would ensure active-duty of the military would get paid during the length of the shutdown.

           

            But what about those government workers who are not in uniform? They still have bills to pay, food to buy, and rent or mortgage that is due to keep a roof over their head. Who will give a helping hand to those furloughed, yet are still under the employment umbrella of the government?

           

            Well many businesses in the Washington, DC has decided to offer a few discount/free to those workers. Bar owners has offered free drinks, restaurant chefs opening two hour windows for free sandwiches everyday of the shutdown and more have come to the forefront of lending a helping hand of those workers.

 

            But that helping hand can only go so far. A family can't pay their rent with a sandwich or their favorite vodka drink. At some point the water level of this shut down, will eventually be too much for these furloughed to swim in. If the shut down continues beyond the means of the workers- what will the government do? These freebies, though a good deed by those that offered, is not enough. At some point, those that are in business with these furloughed workers should be allowed to cut them some slack.

 

            Personally, I believe that if the government shut down goes beyond two months, those government workers that were furloughed, should receive assistance of their own. It's unfair that those who are in charge of deciding when the shutdown, are continue to receive a paycheck and live their normal lives, while those who are impacted by the decision, lives continue to be in limbo. So if the government is able to take thousands of job from people due to failure of making an agreement. An agreement should at least be made to provide for those that would be impacted from their decision. No, they're not at the same level of active-duty members who should continue receiving a paycheck during this time. But, they are still people who agreed to work for the government, and in turn - should be supported by their employer at this time. Whether, it is vowing to paying the monthly spending that those workers have to make for housing, or supplying food and other needs for free. The government must make a stand for their employees, instead of leaving a large group people out to fend for themselves.

 

The Forgotten Soldiers

Recently, I read an article by Moni Basu on cnn.com about rape and suicide in the military, and how those two unfortuante events are the high-profile problems that are plaguing the military. The article profiled Jack Williams, a former member of the Air Force, that was raped three times by his assistant drill sergeant almost 50 years ago. Williams, like many others after hum, kept this a secret for years and even looked to suicide for a solution for the pain that internally dealt with.

When it comes to sexual assaults, many automatically assume that it pertains to just women. Though women make up only about 15% of the active-duty force and account for 47% of sexual victims - men, who make up most of the Military's sexual assault cases are less likely to report their assaults. A survey held by The Pentagon, found that 13,900 male victims, but 76% of men victims do not file complaint.

Unfortunately, the victims of sexual assaults and rapes do have a direct correlation with the large amount of suicide attempts by former servicemen and women. A study by Craig Bryan, a former Air Force psychologist, shows that military victims of violent assault or rape were six times more likely to attempt suicide that non victims. This shows that the government should try to become more educated on this particular subject, and be proactive in being preventive of these suicide attempts, by those who feel as though it is the right thing to do.

Recently, more attention has been given to the matter, as past victims has come together trying to get Congress to pass legislation -- known as the STOP Act -- that would take the reporting, investigation, prosecution and oversight of sexual assault cases out of the chain of command and place it under the jurisdiction of an autonomous oversight committee. This will give the victims a fair chance to obtain justice, as it takes away the leverage military has with command officer's authority.

I think it is important that this particualr aspect of military life continues to gain attention, and more assitance is given to those victims. Especially with men, who feel as though it is a sign of weakness to admit to the action occuring to them and think it is best to keep it within. With them becoming people who only do what they are instructed, it is much easier for them to become victims.