Female Drill Sergeant Essay Example for Free

Female Drill Sergeant Essay Drill sergeant (DS) refers to the term that is used in United States military by the army, marine corps and air force. Becoming a drill sergeant can be through volunteering or by selection. The minimum status for attaining this state can only be at the rank of staff sergeant. Once a selected candidate, he/she should attend the Drill Sergeant School where he/she undergoes training on various aspects of the drill sergeant position. The historical start up of drill sergeant was in 1962. This followed a directive by the secretary of the army to his secretary who was Stephen Ailes to prompt a survey conduct of the recruiting process of the army corps. This survey took some long time and included surveys from the Air Force, Marine and the Navy training techniques. Various faults were found in the recruitment process and thus led to the position of the drill sergeant. The basic distinguishing feature for the drill sergeants was their hats. (http://www. jackson. army. mil/DSS/headgear. htm) However, since its inception in 1962, the position was not held by a female until 1972 where female drill sergeants were pronounced recruited and even given different hats than those held by their male counterparts. The design of their hat was done by Mildered C. Bailey who was a brigadier general. Beige was the first female drill sergeant hat though it was later replaced with one of dark green in 1983. Between 1984 and 1985, a proposal was made for an official switch by the female drill sergeants in having the same hat to what was owned by the male drill sergeants. On the same point, a larger group of female drill sergeants who were at TRAining and DOctrine Command (TRADOC) unit leveraged great opposition to the proposal. It was reciprocated by the Army Chief of Staff that the female drill sergeants were to continue in wearing the same female drill sergeant hats that they used to wear. The female drill sergeant started in the late of 1971 when the continental army commandant received an official approval as permission from the army chief of staff to propagate inclusion of females in the drill sergeant state program. Starting in the February of 1972, the program saw promotion of six female non-commissioned officers in the program. They underwent thorough training after which they were given the mandate of their positions as female drill sergeants. In the United States, the female drill sergeant refers to a non-commissioned officer within the armed forces. She has the duty of participating in the initiation of the recruitment process of new recruits who enters the military. In the recruitment process the sergeant is supposed to follow the legal provisions and jurisdictions of the practices and customs of the military forces. The inclusion of the female drill sergeants in the army since 1971 was a significance factor that helped in shaping the nature of the army. Equality was signified after breaking the traditions that ignored females in the position of drill sergeants. (http://www. armystudyguide. com/content/Drill_Sergeant_Resources/drill_sergeant_information/female-campaign-hat. shtml) Like the male drill sergeants, a female drill sergeant is usually held responsible in the behavior, military education and warfare of the army recruits assigned to her. She is therefore supposed to provide full support during the initial period of the training process. They are paused with various responsibilities of ensuring physical training, weapons training and the military discipline. Their service delivery and the protocols to follow while at their service delivery is guided by the drill sergeant creed which they should follow. Generally, this is a guiding formula towards their capacities. The three levels of the army, that is the marine, air force and army have different sets of such a creed though their intention is made to serve and secure almost the same set of guidelines for the female drill sergeants. Conceptually, female drill sergeants at the three levels of the military army are also subject to different duties and different training requirements. Due to the different requirements of these military professional levels the training needs and the roles of the female drill sergeant has been different. However, the general role across the board for all levels for these female drill sergeants has been to monitor the training process of the new recruits and guiding of such training needs. (http://www. wood. army. mil/mncoa/dss/history. htm) Since the provision of female drill sergeants in 1971, the position of female drill sergeants have been legally constituted and especially with the growing demand for army professionals. However, the position has always been competitively bided and requires both physical and academic competencies. The number of the current female drill sergeants has been seen to increasingly expand and giving more opportunity for the female participation in the position. The currently changing social structures and need for human security has endorsed a credited place for the female drill sergeant. The current military environment has even mandated her with supervisory and command powers at her capacity for those she is training. Therefore, historical provision that allowed only male drill sergeants was disregarded in 1971 after visualizing the productive capacity that women could play in the military. Elsewhere, the growing demand of equal employment opportunity was significant for this change. Currently, female drill sergeants continue to enjoy equal opportunities like their male colleagues in their position. Reference History of Drill Sergeant. Retrieved on 25th August 2008 from http://www. wood. army. mil/mncoa/dss/history. htm Female Drill Sergeant Campaign Hat. Retrieved on 25th August 2008 from http://www. armystudyguide. com/content/Drill_Sergeant_Resources/drill_sergeant_information/female-campaign-hat. shtml Drill Sergeant School. Retrieved on 25th August 2008 from http://www. jackson. army. mil/DSS/headgear. htm