The US navy has decided to let women join submarine crews and ban smoking aboard the entire fleet, writes CRAIG WHITLOCKin Washington
IMAGINE 150 fraternity brothers packed into a container the size of a three-bedroom house. Announce you are breaking hallowed traditions by taking away their cigarettes and admitting women. Then lock the doors and push the container deep into the sea, for months at a time.
This is what the US navy, after decades of contemplation and controversy, has decided to do with its submarine force, an elite fraternity of 13,000 active-duty sailors that has been patrolling the oceans for 110 years.
As of December 31st, smoking aboard the entire submarine fleet will be summarily banned – no small hardship for the estimated 35 per cent to 40 per cent of sailors who are nicotine addicts and cannot exactly step outside whenever they want a puff.
Barring intervention by the US Congress in the next few days, the navy has also said it intends to let women join submarine crews by the end of 2011, a move that is not going down well with many active- duty and veteran members of the Silent Service, the stealthy nickname of the force.
On top of all that, the military is girding itself for another social revolution that might take some getting used to inside the cheek- by-jowl confines of submarines: allowing gays and lesbians to serve openly.
“The Silent Service is . . . very much a boys’ club,” says Joe Buff, a military commentator and author of six pulp-fiction thrillers involving submarine adventures.
“They’re always bellyaching and they always hate change, but I think the men are going to be better at all these changes than they’re willing to let on.”
One active-duty lieutenant says he personally supports the changes but worries about the effect on crews, who have long relied on tobacco and male banter to ease the boredom of serving in a confined space.
“There’s very few avenues of stress relief,” he says, speaking on condition of anonymity.
“You can smoke or you can hang around and get creative with the conversation.”
Of all the pending changes, the introduction of women seems to be igniting the strongest reactions, according to interviews with active-duty and veteran sailors.
The complaints often fall into two categories: first, that female sailors will invariably become pregnant, potentially compromising missions during which submarines can remain submerged for months at a time; and second, that submarines are not built for the mixing of the sexes, given the tight passageways, shared berths and lack of privacy.
(Women sometimes board submarines as guests or as technicians on short-term assignments but they are not assigned to crews.)
Some of the backlash stems from a desire to preserve one of the few remaining public institutions in the US where young adult men can openly act like, well, young adult men.
John A Mason, who served in the navy from 1977 to 1994, says he plans to submit to Congress written comments he has collected from 380 people opposed to adding women to submarine crews. He says he has nothing against female sailors in the rest of the navy but that underwater is another matter.
“Hormones do not shut down just because you go out to sea and submerge for many months at a time,” says Mason (53).
He says sailors rely on various coping mechanisms to deal with the stress of extended deployments, including man hugs, rear-end patting and other rituals; another veteran cites a tradition in which submariners who cross the equator for the first time are required to strip to their underwear.
“Serving on board a submarine is not a place to be if you are self- conscious or have any doubts about your sexuality,” Mason adds.
“Silliness, male-bonding and what might be considered inappropriate or ‘politically incorrect’ behaviour in a civilian environment are all useful techniques that allow a sailor to endure the difficult living conditions and time away from their families and mainstream life.”
The integration of gay men and lesbians into the military appears to have submariners less riled than the admission of women or the smoking ban.
"Everybody knows there are already homosexuals on our force and I don't think them being open about it will change anything on a boat," says another active-duty lieutenant who spoke on condition of anonymity. – ( Washington Postservice)