Edition: U.S. / Global

Navy Women Bringing New Era on Carriers

Published: February 21, 1994
(Page 2 of 2)

Commanders predict that the presence of women on the Ike will prompt male sailors to clean up their language, improve their appearance and act more professional. Some signs around the carrier signal a new approach.

Despite the changes, Navy leaders acknowledge that they still have a long way to go. Women here noted that Lieut. Paula Coughlin, a helicopter pilot whose complaints started the Tailhook investigation, said in her resignation letter this month that "the covert and overt attacks on me that have followed have stripped me of my ability to serve."

Capt. Mark Gemmill, the carrier's commander, said he was counting on his experience as captain of a supply ship with 60 female crew members during the Persian Gulf war to help him through the transition now.

"We probably can't stop all sexual harassment," Captain Gemmill said, "but we can decrease the most obvious and obnoxious kind, like foul language, leering or touching," said Some Grumbling From Men

Comdr. Jim Coulson, commander of Lieutenant Fountain's EA-6B squadron, said there would be "a little trepidation at first, a fear of the unknown, but they're all aviators first, and it'll work."

Predictably, there has been grumbling from some male sailors and from the squadron "ready rooms," the formerly all-male enclaves where pilots received briefings on their missions.

"It seems like they're screening junior enlisted women to get the cream of the crop" to make sure this works the first time out, said Petty Officer First Class James Clontz, 32, a weatherman who is the carrier's Sailor of the Year. "I'm not sure that's fair to the male junior enlisted."

But commanders say they are looking forward to having a new pool of talent. "We're looking at it like a first-round draft pick," said Comdr. Al Myers, commander of an F-14 squadron assigned to the carrier.

Women assigned here, while praising the Navy for creating better conditions and opportunities for women, have some reservations about all the initiatives.

"We've all had so much of this sensitivity training crammed down our throats people are afraid to be themselves," said Lieut. Comdr. Janet Marnane, 35, an F-14 navigator who is an administrative officer for the air wing aboard the Eisenhower. "People can't walk into an organization that is designed to fight wars and not expect to find a few rough edges."

Lieutenant Moore, the A-6 maintenance supervisor, said: "It's created a new tension between men and women, but it's also increased awareness, so that's good. As a Navy, we're in a better environment and moving forward."

Photos: Lieut. Shannon Workman, first woman to qualify as a combat-ready naval pilot, in the cockpit of an EA-6 jet aboard the Eisenhower. (pg. A1); Lieut. Shannon Workman, the first woman to qualify as a combat-ready naval pilot, walking on the deck of the aircraft carrier Eisenhower last Friday, with Lieut. Comdr. Fred Drummond, electronic countermeasures officer, left, and Lieut. Terry Bradford, rear. (pg. A14) (Keith Meyers/The New York Times)