Careers: Military--Army, Navy, Airforce, Marines, Coast Guard/Females or ladies ... not girls

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Expert: - 1/20/2011


Question
If i enroll in the Marine Core and me being a female... would i be treated the same as others are treated?

Answer
Skylar -

When I joined the Air Force in 1980, I would say we had a long way to go toward "gender equality."  We didn't have a single female crewmember on any aircraft I flew, we didn't have any female combat rated positions.  The Navy didn't have females serving on ships other than medical.

We've come a long way since then.  We now have females integrated into combat forces.  We have female combat fighter, bomber, tanker and cargo pilots and crewmembers serving in both officer and enlisted capacities.  On my last deployment in 2003 I had an all-female pilot crew.  There are some females I've served with that I respect more than their male counterparts.  We had an 18 year old enlisted boom operator on her first deployment.  18 years old and she was a fully mission qualified crewmember serving in a combat zone.

You will always have some individuals that are problematic, but I think you will definitely find them in the extreme minority.  Overall I think you will find more equality in the military than the private civilian sector.

Good luck on your future career decisions.

Sincerely,
James Bell

Careers: Military--Army, Navy, Airforce, Marines, Coast Guard

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James Bell

Expertise

I am a retired MSgt (2004) with 24 years experience in the aircrew career field, both as a loadmaster (AFSC 1A2x1) and flight engineer (AFSC 1A1x1). I have been to every continent at one time or another, and regularly flew 300 to 500 hours a year. I have been involved in the operations in Grenada, Panama, Kosovo, Afghanistan and Iraq. I can answer most questions you may have about enlisted Air Force life in general, assignments, benefits, and enlisted aircrew operations. NOTE: If you have specific recruiting and/or medical questions about how to get into this career field as a civilian, they have changed since my time, so that is best answered by a recruiter or MEPS. I can answer questions about military personnel wanting to RETRAIN. If you are asking about being an Air Force pilot, please be advised my area of expertise is ENLISTED aircrew operations, NOT OFFICERS.

Experience

Loadmaster (AFSC 1A2x1): 7 years - 2,000 hours - C-5A Galaxy cargo plane. Flight Engineer (AFSC 1A1x1C): 7 years - 2,500 hours - C-141B Starlifter cargo plane, 10 years - 3,800 hours - KC-10A Extender aerial tanker. Served as aircrew Flight Instructor, Flight Evaluator and Training Manager

Education/Credentials
Aircraft Loadmaster Initial Qualification - 1980. Mission Qualification (C-5A) - 1981. Fixed Wing Aircraft Performance Course - 1987. Initial Flight Engineer Qualification (C-141B) - 1987. Mission Qualification (KC-10A) - 1988. KC-10 Initial Qualification Course - 1994. Mission Qualification (KC-10A) - 1995. Instructor Qualficiation (KC-10A) - 1997. Evaluator Qualification (KC-10A) - 2000.

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