I'm curious if there are leaders out there that have genuine concerns about HOW to lead female Soldiers?

MAJ Private RallyPoint Member — Tue, 22 Mar 2016 01:11:35 -0400

Response by SSG Private RallyPoint Member made Mar 22 at 2016 1:15 AM

SSG Private RallyPoint Member — Tue, 22 Mar 2016 01:15:58 -0400

I am a squad in a military police company and I have a squad of 12 male and female soldiers. There is no difference soldiers are soldiers regardless of gender. Just because a soldier is female doesn't mean you have to lead them differently in the end we are all the same

Response by SFC Wade W. made Mar 22 at 2016 1:29 AM

SFC Wade W. — Tue, 22 Mar 2016 01:29:13 -0400

I was a Military Police for 25 yrs. I had female leaders and led many female soldiers during my career. All soldiers are led the same, with respect. Training is equal, responsibility is equal, duties are equal. Absolutely no preferential treatment under any circumstances. Do that and your soldiers, peers and leaders will respect you for your fairness and leadership.

Response by PO1 William "Chip" Nagel made Mar 22 at 2016 5:01 AM

PO1 William "Chip" Nagel — Tue, 22 Mar 2016 05:01:34 -0400

What concerns, My Leaders, Most of my Upper Echelon during my Tour as LPO CNO WWMCCS Tech Control from my Project Manager Capt Maggie Turner thru my Dept Head Female Lt to my Info Sec Officer Female Lt and her Senior Enlisted Female DPC (Friend from my Tour in London). Head of Training Female LTJG.

Response by CPT Mark Gonzalez made Mar 22 at 2016 6:22 AM

CPT Mark Gonzalez — Tue, 22 Mar 2016 06:22:45 -0400

The exact same way as your other Soldiers.

Response by CSM Michael Chavaree made Mar 22 at 2016 6:36 AM

CSM Michael Chavaree — Tue, 22 Mar 2016 06:36:06 -0400

Absolutely, some of us have not had the opportunity to work with females. It can be intimidating at first, but it all works out eventually. I had some great female Soldiers that eased my transition. This is a great topic, and a genuine concern from what I have seen.

Response by SGT David A. 'Cowboy' Groth made Mar 22 at 2016 7:02 AM

SGT David A. 'Cowboy' Groth — Tue, 22 Mar 2016 07:02:12 -0400

As long as they do their jobs and don't try to sluf it off, their in the clear.

Response by Maj Dennis Turriff made Mar 22 at 2016 7:19 AM

Maj Dennis Turriff — Tue, 22 Mar 2016 07:19:17 -0400

In my experience, you lead the same, but are very aware of the differences. Not necessarily from my perspective, but the rest of the troops. Some females attempt to take advantage of the "lap doggs" that think by carrying her gear it will get them somewhere. As well as the males that may prey on the females and take advantage of them. I also never put myself in a position where my integrity was put into question. Meaning, I gave no special favors, took advantage, or was alone with a female where allegations could me made against me. From my point of view, I didn't care what you did or didn't have hangin', but could you do the job.

Response by SSG Private RallyPoint Member made Mar 22 at 2016 7:57 AM

SSG Private RallyPoint Member — Tue, 22 Mar 2016 07:57:39 -0400

I'm not sure exactly what it is that is being asked here... Am I missing something? Are there different techniques to leading female soldiers that I'm not aware of? Should I be treating my female soldiers differently? There is only one standard, and go deviate from that based on gender is just begging to have my three stripes reduced to just one.

Response by SGM Erik Marquez made Mar 22 at 2016 9:06 AM

SGM Erik Marquez — Tue, 22 Mar 2016 09:06:37 -0400

I'm curious to know what the perception is that any NEW or different leadership technique is needed?
SOLDIER, male, female, other.... leading them is the same process, understand the individual, apply the appropriate leadership technique for the individual, task, supervise, inspect move on to next task.
Its the human your changing leadership technique for, not the gender.
Some males handle a quite correction with an immediate desire to change, improve do better. Some females need to be led to discovering a better way making it their own, some of both gender need some directive discussion and a second helping of negative reinforcement there is not gender leadership technique.

Response by GySgt Private RallyPoint Member made Mar 22 at 2016 9:19 AM

GySgt Private RallyPoint Member — Tue, 22 Mar 2016 09:19:26 -0400

None whatsoever, we're supposed to treat all of our subordinates the same and hold them to service standards. It's pretty cut and dry.

Response by SSG Private RallyPoint Member made Mar 22 at 2016 9:29 AM

SSG Private RallyPoint Member — Tue, 22 Mar 2016 09:29:32 -0400

A true leader would know there is no difference

Response by MSG Private RallyPoint Member made Mar 22 at 2016 9:47 AM

MSG Private RallyPoint Member — Tue, 22 Mar 2016 09:47:21 -0400

I treat my female Soldiers the same as I do the male Soldiers........with no difference other than their respective biological functions and needs.

Response by LTC Private RallyPoint Member made Mar 22 at 2016 9:55 AM

LTC Private RallyPoint Member — Tue, 22 Mar 2016 09:55:33 -0400

Coming from the enlisted Navy side, in a job that was predominantly male (90+%) and serving on two all male crew ships - I had never worked with a female service member until my 6 year mark, when I PCS'd to shore duty. I didn't think much of it at the time - as I related it to normal life...as a civilian, you will most likely be in a co-ed environment. When I transitioned to the Army and went to OCS - I had no real fear of leading women...as I treated them the same as their male counterparts.

I think if a "leader" has genuine concerns about how to lead female service members - then I'd question their leadership ability.

Response by SSG(P) John Newcomb made Mar 22 at 2016 10:20 AM

SSG(P) John Newcomb — Tue, 22 Mar 2016 10:20:50 -0400

The same as every other Soldier. For most of my time as a leader I was assigned female Soldiers. I treated them exactly the same. Assigning tasks, developing, promotions, corrective actions, everything.

Response by SFC Craig Dalen made Mar 22 at 2016 10:24 AM

SFC Craig Dalen — Tue, 22 Mar 2016 10:24:05 -0400

It's too easy, lead them as a Soldier and nothing else. If a female chooses to join than they are a Soldier just like anyone else. I was a Drill Sergeant and know for a fact if you treat them as all I see is a uniform there are no problems...

Response by SGT William Howell made Mar 22 at 2016 10:37 AM

SGT William Howell — Tue, 22 Mar 2016 10:37:50 -0400

As NCOs we should always lead the same and treat all soldiers the same.

In saying that, I had a female NCO that I worked under. She would destroy a female if they were out of reg. She was ruthless to make sure females were squared away. Oh she got us males too, but not like she did the females.

Response by SCPO Penny Douphinett made Mar 22 at 2016 10:47 AM

SCPO Penny Douphinett — Tue, 22 Mar 2016 10:47:55 -0400

Cpt Megan Jantos, I'm not really sure anyone answered your question. I have been out of the Navy since 2001, but my experience then was the issues you brought up were not dealt with by male leaders, they all scurried off to look for a female officer or senior female enlisted to deal with the issue. As a Senior Chief, I was tasked with speaking to an Ensign about hygiene issues because there were no other female officers down range. I would insist the person's supervisor be present so they could deal with such issues in the future. They were amazed at my technique "You stink, take a shower, put on a clean uniform and report back here in 20 minutes, dismissed". Same thing I would say to a male, which was the point I was trying to get across, and it would be followed by a counselling session for the offending Sailor.

The issue of breastfeeding and the need to pump on duty is certainly a challenging one. You want to support a new mom but don't want to be seen as giving preferential treatment. The time needed is an invitation for workplace "unhappiness"; she just got back from at a minimum 6 weeks leave and now she gets 1 or 2 extra breaks a day, even worse if she feels entitled to them. I would check with her doctor and then have her split her chow break up into her pumping times.

I know this was a long-winded answer to your question, but I do think it is important, especially for female leaders, to not be seen as giving preferential treatment. We do need to treat our people the same on a day to day basis, but real life, even in the military, has a way of showing us the differences. In the Navy there used to be an old joke about men submitting a chit to get the afternoon off, the reason: 'my wife is getting pregnant this afternoon and I'd like to be there'! It always was approved.

Response by 1LT A. Uribe made Mar 22 at 2016 11:03 AM

1LT A. Uribe — Tue, 22 Mar 2016 11:03:07 -0400

I give all my EO brief, in that I explain the difference of taking care of Soldiers and having favoritism on Soldiers. I emphasize on the pay schedule that all Soldiers regardless of sexual orientation fall under a grade and that grade is equal across the board. Therefor, I expect all assignments to have an equal distribution of SM under me. As long as you do the right thing, no one can ever slam you.

P.s. There is also no evidence that a female should shower every 3 days either. The vagina is a self cleaning body part, this I learned in RN school.

Response by PO1 Brian Austin made Mar 22 at 2016 12:10 PM

PO1 Brian Austin — Tue, 22 Mar 2016 12:10:39 -0400

Treat all the same. When you differentiate you run into problems. Female Sailors that worked for me did the same as male Sailors. Whether is was working parties, field day, classified burn (very hot and sweaty in a burn suit) painting fan rooms and passage ways or on loading SRBOC (chaff decoy, each 70lbs or so).

I can say the vast majority of female Sailors i had working for me felt the same way.

Response by CPT Pedro Meza made Mar 22 at 2016 12:45 PM

CPT Pedro Meza — Tue, 22 Mar 2016 12:45:36 -0400

My advice to commanders is that you do your part as a leader and insure that your soldiers (men and women) are properly trained, equipped and utilized according to their MOS and abilities. Apply the principal that you can not bash a head with an M-4 but with an AK.

Response by SFC Private RallyPoint Member made Mar 22 at 2016 3:49 PM

SFC Private RallyPoint Member — Tue, 22 Mar 2016 15:49:07 -0400

I honestly doubt if any self respecting SGT or ^ would question their ability to lead any soldier. There will certainly be a learning curve for MOS's that have never had females inside of them, Infantry, Cav, Artillery, etc.... but those are going to be the things like ASU set up, hygienic issues that are female specific and that must be learned from scratch as there will be no basis of reference available at first. At the end of the day, a female will bring a unique skill set to the table, just as any male will. She will have her strengths and limitations, just like every male will. How leadership applies these traits will determine the speed of which the integration process happens.

Response by SFC Kim Armstrong made Mar 22 at 2016 10:20 PM

SFC Kim Armstrong — Tue, 22 Mar 2016 22:20:32 -0400

Mam with all due respect there should be no distinction on how to train female vs males. Male leaders I have found are afraid due to them being vulnerable in addressing female issues i.e. Monthly cycles, pregnancy, uniforms If they are trained on how to address these areas. I was a leader of roughly all men and had to address issues such as problems men having STD, I have had to address men health issues. Vasectomies , etc. In essence treat all with dignity and respect, keep it professional yet knowledgeable.

Response by SGM Private RallyPoint Member made Mar 22 at 2016 10:26 PM

SGM Private RallyPoint Member — Tue, 22 Mar 2016 22:26:33 -0400

At the risk of being castigated and branded a misogynist, I have to ask the question. If women and men are equal, equally soldiers, equally capable of performing every job, interchangeable in every way, why should I have to learn a different method of leading female soldiers? Isn't that opposed to equality?

I've had plenty of female coworkers and female leaders. With a very few exceptions, I've had no trouble with any of them.

The one memorable exception was a female CPT in Kuwait in the opening days of the 2nd Gulf War. A seersucker missile passed by Camp Doha and struck a telephone pole outside a theater in Kuwait City. (http://www.cnn.com/2003/US/03/29/sprj.irq.generals.shepperd/index.html?_s=PM:US) The captain in question almost went into hysterics, saying, "We're all going to die." I tried to get her to go to a shelter, put on on body armor, or whatever she wanted to do, but she wouldn't stop and wouldn't leave. Finally I said, "Ma'am, you are an officer and you need to set a better example for the enlisted men than saying we're going to die."

That's water long under the bridge, but is there some way as a 1SG I was supposed to lead this CPT differently?

CNN.com - Shepperd: 'Not a small missile' in Kuwait attack - Mar. 29, 2003

(CNN) Kuwaiti officials believe it was an Iraqi Chinese-made Seersucker missile that struck a closed shopping mall in Kuwait City early Saturday, the first such hit on Kuwait in the war. Previous missiles had missed their targets or had been knocked from the sky by Patriot missiles. Retired U.S. Air Force Maj. Gen. Don Shepperd, a CNN military analyst, discussed the missile hit in Kuwait and the systems designed to stop such attacks.

Response by CSM Charles Hayden made Mar 22 at 2016 11:35 PM

CSM Charles Hayden — Tue, 22 Mar 2016 23:35:05 -0400

MAJ Private RallyPoint Member I am glad to be long gone!

Are you implying that many leaders do not care about their Soldiers? When you start to make distinctions, you are rabble rousing!
l
If they did not care about their assigned Soldiers, they would not be leaders!

Most of the citizens of the world, our Soldiers and Non-Commissioned Officers do the absolute best they can with the tools and God given abilities presented them!

CSM Charles H Hayden, retired

Response by SPC(P) Carlos Santini made Mar 23 at 2016 2:30 PM

SPC(P) Carlos Santini — Wed, 23 Mar 2016 14:30:57 -0400

Personally I think this is a ridiculous questions. Socially unfortunately I suppose this could be a issue.

Response by SPC Sylvia Hoffman made Mar 23 at 2016 6:48 PM

SPC Sylvia Hoffman — Wed, 23 Mar 2016 18:48:53 -0400

The same way you do any other Soldier. As a female mp and being the "dominate" female out of my platoon it sucked because a lot of my coc would treat me different then the others. Gender is no different on anything. Same standards all the way around

Response by SFC Private RallyPoint Member made Mar 23 at 2016 7:42 PM

SFC Private RallyPoint Member — Wed, 23 Mar 2016 19:42:49 -0400

My opinion, there wouldn't be a difference on how to, considering we are all governed by the same guidance per regulation and teaching.

Response by COL Charles Williams made Mar 25 at 2016 12:09 AM

COL Charles Williams — Fri, 25 Mar 2016 00:09:54 -0400

I suspect there are... I do not, and those who do, will have to figure it out... Time to come into the 21st century... How about, if you have a female boss? I suspect MAJ Private RallyPoint Member you asked as you have concerns?

Response by SGT Private RallyPoint Member made Mar 28 at 2016 6:13 AM

SGT Private RallyPoint Member — Mon, 28 Mar 2016 06:13:19 -0400

Mentorship programs should always be available to female soldiers so concerns and challenges can be known & properly addressed. For example, as a CPT, I wonder if you have provided some mentorship opportunities for female officers or enlisted within your unit?