The Skipper
CO’s call was terrifying and as a result wit was nowhere to be found.
At first I didn’t think I was going to raise my hand. The talk was all about simple stuff like when deployment awards were going to be given out and if we would be issued Gortex for FEX (sometime in the next few weeks, and yes). Someone asked about Arabic language classes and the CO had nothing for him but an idea about where to get a pamphlet on common phrases. I raised my hand and politely let everyone know that a local library card would get them access to the Rosetta Stone online. Right after is when the Command Master Chief piped up to give us a pep talk and said (among other things), “The way we’re going to be successful in the desert is by communicating and sharing resources like EA2 just did.” I was mildly emboldened. When the Master Chief was finished the CO said he wanted to talk about the EO survey. Everyone was silent. This was my issue. This was the time. I raised my hand. It went something like this:
“During your talk on the EO survey you said that the women in the battalion think the men are favored and the men think the women are favored and this is something we need to get over. The grass isn’t any greener.”
I took a breath and he took the opportunity to interrupt.
“I couldn’t agree more.”
This is when my hands started to sweat and I began to tremble. You could hear it in my voice.
“I think it misses the mark. I know that women are favored. I see it. I’ve been on the receiving end. We aren’t put on working parties and we do get cushier assignments. But what happens is it promotes an idea that we are weaker and so men fill more of the leadership positions. In the survey both groups were right. I believe that strong leaders will always shine, but there are more positions of leadership in the battalion than there are natural leaders and it’s all those extra positions that go to the men. I think if we’re going to get past this we need to address it.”
I just told the CO his analysis of the survey was misguided. I was so scared and I was shaking even more than before. He took out a notebook and wrote in it without saying a word. When he was done he said, “I’m sorry about that. You just said some interesting things about leadership I wanted to write down.” And then he followed it with a, “Well, you have a point, but what I want you all to take away from this is that we need to confront injustices and treat each other with an underlying dignity and respect.”
My mini-speech took a lot of strength on my part and I would have liked it if he responded in a way that let me know he had listened to what I said. But he didn’t, my moment passed, and now it’s over.
I walked out of there feeling completely isolated, like I had some embarrassing and contagious disease. That’s when the EA2 from Air Det, a guy I went to A-school with, came up to me and told me I did a good job. It was just what I needed.
At first I didn’t think I was going to raise my hand. The talk was all about simple stuff like when deployment awards were going to be given out and if we would be issued Gortex for FEX (sometime in the next few weeks, and yes). Someone asked about Arabic language classes and the CO had nothing for him but an idea about where to get a pamphlet on common phrases. I raised my hand and politely let everyone know that a local library card would get them access to the Rosetta Stone online. Right after is when the Command Master Chief piped up to give us a pep talk and said (among other things), “The way we’re going to be successful in the desert is by communicating and sharing resources like EA2 just did.” I was mildly emboldened. When the Master Chief was finished the CO said he wanted to talk about the EO survey. Everyone was silent. This was my issue. This was the time. I raised my hand. It went something like this:
“During your talk on the EO survey you said that the women in the battalion think the men are favored and the men think the women are favored and this is something we need to get over. The grass isn’t any greener.”
I took a breath and he took the opportunity to interrupt.
“I couldn’t agree more.”
This is when my hands started to sweat and I began to tremble. You could hear it in my voice.
“I think it misses the mark. I know that women are favored. I see it. I’ve been on the receiving end. We aren’t put on working parties and we do get cushier assignments. But what happens is it promotes an idea that we are weaker and so men fill more of the leadership positions. In the survey both groups were right. I believe that strong leaders will always shine, but there are more positions of leadership in the battalion than there are natural leaders and it’s all those extra positions that go to the men. I think if we’re going to get past this we need to address it.”
I just told the CO his analysis of the survey was misguided. I was so scared and I was shaking even more than before. He took out a notebook and wrote in it without saying a word. When he was done he said, “I’m sorry about that. You just said some interesting things about leadership I wanted to write down.” And then he followed it with a, “Well, you have a point, but what I want you all to take away from this is that we need to confront injustices and treat each other with an underlying dignity and respect.”
My mini-speech took a lot of strength on my part and I would have liked it if he responded in a way that let me know he had listened to what I said. But he didn’t, my moment passed, and now it’s over.
I walked out of there feeling completely isolated, like I had some embarrassing and contagious disease. That’s when the EA2 from Air Det, a guy I went to A-school with, came up to me and told me I did a good job. It was just what I needed.
posted by Jessica at 19:52
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