Mon, Apr 14, 2003 page3

• Women make strides in military

  GENDER EQUALITY The armed forces are home to more female officers than in the past, but some men feel threatened and say that women aren't doing their share of the work

  • By Brian Hsu / STAFF REPORTER
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  Over the past 12 years, the military has seen a surge in the number of female service members.

  The military's new image has won praise from the public, which in turn attracts more women into the armed forces.

  In recent weeks, the military has made the news not because of any new weaponry procurement or shuffling of the top brass but because of a young woman officer whom soldiers dub "dream girl."

  

  Army Master Sergeant Lin Pei-yu, right, and Major Chen Yi-ju, lower left, are featured in a recent issue of Victorious, a magazine published by the military.

  PHOTO: CHIANG YING-YING, TAIPEI TIMES

  Lieutenant Chen Yi-fan (陳依凡), 24, has received media attention because of her good looks and popularity among the soldiers she has met over the past two years.

  Chen now studies at the journalism institute of the political warfare college, also known as Fu Hsin Kang college, from which she graduated two years ago.

  After graduation, Chen was commissioned and became a member of the political warfare system's women officers' corps. She specializes in organizing and providing fun activities to help relieve the stress of service members.

  The women officers' corp travels around the country to visit military units.

  The close contact with soldiers has made Chen one of the most popular and best-known women in the military. Soldiers began to call her their "dream girl."

  The story of Chen is typical of female career officers of the political warfare system. Every woman in the system has the chance to become popular like Chen.

  But the military's change of image over the past 11 years is the result not so much of professional female officers like Chen but of so-called specialty officers and non-commissioned officers (NCOs). These female officers have not received formal military education or training.

  In 1991, the Ministry of National Defense started recruiting female personnel from graduates of civilian senior high schools and universities.

  The policy was aimed at ending a shortage of personnel to fill up the ranks of junior officers and NCO's. The NCO ranks were especially short of personnel.

  Before the launch of the policy, the military did not have a great demand for women and relied only on two channels for the recruitment of female personnel. The two channels were the political warfare college and the national defense medical college.

  In the past, women graduating from these two schools often served in non-combat roles.

  But due to the arrival of specialty officers and NCOs in larger numbers, female officers can now follow their male counterparts, serving in the lower ranks of squad or platoon leaders and working their way up to master sergeant or battalion leader.

  This is an example of the ministry's determination to put into practice the idea of gender equality.

  Female service members who occupy combat positions or fly military aircraft are no longer news as it has become a requirement for most women in the military.

  new recruits

  There are about 7,000 female specialty officers and NCOs in the military. Many of them have joined the military since 1991.

  The military's Victorious monthly magazine has been introducing these specialty officers and NCOs in recent editions.

  In this month's edition, the magazine features a master sergeant who was part of the first batch of woman NCOs introduced into the military in 1991.

  Lin Pei-yu (林珮瑜), who is in charge of five military warehouses at a base in Kaohsiung, was shy before joining the military. Life in the military helped her conquer her shyness and become more outgoing.

  Lin gave the military her complete dedication. In 1999, the army general headquarters recognized her contribution to the service.

  A defense official who wished to remain anonymous said that, generally speaking, female officers and NCOs have high dedication to their jobs and great self-respect.

  "In comparison, some male career officers should be ashamed of themselves. They always complain about this and that. They easily give up. If they ask why a lot of jobs initially belonging to them are now occupied by women, they can only ask themselves," the official said.

  A survey conducted by the air force academy last year indicated that male service members felt strong competition from women.

  In the survey, 239 of 636 male respondents, or 37.5 percent, said that women had affected their development in the military.

  Male respondents in the survey said they strongly agree that female personnel should take combat positions like them. But more than half of them complain that their female colleagues often have to ask for assistance to get jobs done.

  male complaints

  The survey shows that male service members have complaints or worries about their female counterparts and that this might have something to do with the promotion of gender equality.

  An army officer, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said there is little sense in promoting gender equality if it only produces inequality.

  "Female service members can, for instance, ask for getting off duty on time as long as they are married and have children. They do not need to work overtime. We men have to work extra hours quite often. It is a condition of the same pay but unequal treatment," the officer said.
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