Good Morning, Ladies, and other supporters of CGWLA,
Many of you shared your stories in your e-mail replies to LCDR Chambliss' successful CGWLA re-vamp message. (Don't worry, we won't post any of them here.) I was inspired and overwhelmed by the power of how much we can share with each other so we can learn from other people's experiences. As we continue to set up interest-area forums and begin to reload the CGWLA website, we plan to set up contact lists of women who have experience they'd be willing to share in a particular area of interest. Examples include: temporary separation program, how pregnancy affects unit-level work relationships, collocation with military spouses, and acclimation of civilian spouses, just to name a few. In the meantime, if you have a portion of your story you'd like to share in this forum, keeping in mind that it's very public, please do so. I have posted some of mine below.
I went straight from high school to the CG Academy, which had about 15% women at the time. Not a lot, but still significant bench strength. Imagine my surprise to get to my first assignment in 1992, CGC THETIS in Key West, FL, and find my roommate and I would be the first women officers on board (excpet for a single EO years before) along with 10-12 of the first enlisted women. We faced many challenges and overcame lots of stereotypes, and there never seemed to be any senior women to ask for guidance, or anywhere to share our experiences. Of course, that was before the Internet, e-mail outside the ship, or everyone having a personal cell phone. Times have changed for the better, but many women are still isolated with no women senior to themselves to seek for advice. Our vision is that we can use this forum and others like it to connect, learn from each other, and more importantly, gain strength from each other. I succeeded in the CG with the help of many informal mentors, both men and women. As I reflect back, I'm humbled by the women who went before me and broke down barriers, and I'm inspired now by junior women who are still facing obstacles and successfully overcoming them. I look forward to growing our strength in numbers and pooled resources.
Thank you for your interest in CGWLA!
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This is such a great idea I am excited about renewing this and being a part of it. Thank you!
ReplyDeleteI am not good with internet sites (mainaining, building, etc) but I voted for both the blog here and a Facebook page. I have heard many times that the Commandant is really pushing for the CG to be involved with the trends of information sharing sites (he also has Facebook and Myspace) and I think that would be a great idea to keep up with the pace of where the CG is headed.
Below is a post that I read in Coast Guard Discussions on military.com. I posted a response letting the author know that I was thoroughly offended. I am single w/o dependents but if someone has this view of women with children, I wonder what their view is of single female members?
ReplyDeleteThe author had posted eight problems that he had specifically with OS rating. And below is #6.
"6. Another problem with the OS rate single/married females with a child get preferential treatment. This is outrageous but a touchy subject. EVERY male/female should be in deployment status. People complain but, nothing happens. They can get any watch they want."