Responses
Jen,
I decided to focus on women in the military and combat exclusion. There has been so much in the news the past couple of years in regards to the combat exclusion being lifted that I wanted to analyze the different points of view. Women are already serving in combat but not receiving the recognition they have earned. Women have been killed in action, wounded in action, and have prisoners of war. In addition, there has been a lot of "concern" over standards being lowered to accommodate women in the name of equality without a whole lot of scrutiny in the media as to why those are the standards in the first place. The Secretary of Defense, Ash Carter, made a statement in regards to this as he had found some of the standards were outdated and did not actually fit the job requirements for today. For the most part, not too much has been said about this and every time a standard is changed the diatribe against women begins. I also agree with what a previous poster said about if someone can meet the standard then they deserve an opportunity.
The combat exclusion policy is damaging to the military, women, and society. It is "legal" discrimination and should not be allowed. The standards should have been gender neutral from the beginning as they should not have been geared towards a gender but instead geared towards the task or job. Strength is not the main requirement for every position in the military; many jobs require endurance.
Tanya
My topic is Latinos in the Military. I chose this topic because I feel learning about other people culture is important. Bias and prejudice are deeply rooted within a person and it shapes their perceptions on how they view things and how they respond to them. I feel we do not take the time to learn other people's culture and learn why they think a certain way or behave in a certain manner. Many people do not understand their troops because they do not know or understand their beliefs and values. Learning your troops help people be a better leader by challenging and embracing diversity. As a leader you have to able to create an atmosphere in which all people feel valued, respected and have the same opportunities as others. Learning about diversity shows leaders how to empower their personnel and capitalize on strengths of their personnel. One of the main failures that prevent a group from becoming a team is the failure to accept others for what they are. Being in the military teaches the concept of team work and embracing diversity is the first item for building teams. Culture matters and it helps to build an organization. Different ideas from different cultures will always benefit an organization.