PANEL: Notre Dame Panel Discusses Females in War

Twenty-first-century war is different than earlier conflicts, and the faces in uniform are different too. More women serve in the armed forces and are promoted to ranked positions than ever before in military history.

An American with strong leadership skills and dedication to the mission of the armed forces can find a calling in the military, and women are no exception, according to 1st Lt. Casie E. Sweeney of the U.S. Marine Corps.

"What I have observed being a woman in the military is that being a woman doesn't matter at all," she said. "You are either competent or you are not competent. You can either lead Marines or you can't lead Marines."

Sweeney was part of a group of female members of the military and faculty from the University of Notre Dame who contributed to a panel discussion titled "Women in War: In and Out of Uniform." The panel, held Thursday night on campus, analyzed how women in both civilian and military roles affected and are affected by war.

Panel members also included Rear Adm. Wendi B. Carpenter, U.S. Navy commander at the Navy Warfare Development Command. University faculty members Carolyn R. Nordstrom, Michael Desch and Anre Venter joined the panel, as well.

Sweeney spent seven months in Afghanistan as a leader for a Female Engagement Team. Her team facilitated relationships with local people when cultural barriers prevented men from interacting with women in the area.

"Male Marines are not allowed inside of the compounds because of the cultural differences," she said. "Getting in there was not something they had been able to do until I showed up there with my Marines."

The female Marines were an anomaly to the Afghan women.

"The Western woman in Afghan society is seen as a third gender. We are not men, and we are not their idea of women, but we are still women," she said.

Sweeney said she would let her hair down to help the local women to more easily identify with her and to build relationships with them. Connecting with these women was crucial to her mission in Afghanistan.

"I learned how to drink a lot of tea, in all honesty. I also learned how to understand people," she said. "Our whole mission was to establish trust and build a confidence and to learn about these people and to help them help themselves."

Local men responded positively to the military women. Female Marines indicated a more stable and safe situation in the war zone, Sweeney said.

Nordstrom, a professor of anthropology, said that stability has affected changes in warfare itself and influenced women's roles in war zones.

"One of the problems for women from continent to continent, war zone to war zone, is that the era of war we are in is about terror warfare."

Women and families are primary targets in terror warfare, she said.

"Terror warfare targets women more than men because it's prudent. Women are the stable plates of society," she said. "One of the most convenient ways to tear apart a society is to tear apart a family and tear apart the community."

Desch, chair of the University Department of Political Science and fellow for the Kroc Institute of International Peace Studies, said the changes in warfare are factors in the changing role of women in the U.S. military.

"The fact that the U.S. military is primarily a functional institution that has a very narrow set of functions is very important," he said. "The whole question of social change within the U.S. military also has to be thought about in the changing context of military effectiveness."

Desch said more advanced technology opened more jobs in the military to women. "The bottom line is basically the technology has leveled the physical playing field of war," he said.

Physical barriers restricted fewer women from joining the military or rising in the ranks because effectiveness is the priority for the military. Strength is no longer the only sign of competence in a soldier, he said.

Venter, a professor of psychology, said if an individual can add to a mission's success, he or she has earned a place in the military.

Venter spent two years in the South African military after he graduated from the University of Cape Town. A combatant of any gender is affected mentally and emotionally by the military, he said.

"You are going to get hurt psychologically. (War) does change you," he said. "It has to change you. You have to be trained to be certain things."

In 33 years as part of the U.S. Navy, Carpenter stood out among her peers as the first woman pilot to be named an admiral in the Navy.

Women are a necessity in the military, she said, not simply because of ethics but because of the resources they offer as individuals to their positions.

"The number of women in the military who are making an impact ... enables our nation to utilize the mind power and the differences and capitalize on gender differences that in fact make us more ready, more effective and more able to have strategic influence," she said.

Carpenter said she noticed a larger number of women assuming leadership positions in the Navy, and she said the atmosphere on the board for promotions changed dramatically. A more diverse collection of leaders was not blind to qualified candidates outside their own demographic.

"Ducks pick ducks," she said.

Selecting the most qualified candidate, regardless of race or gender, is the most important duty for the leaders who make these promotions, she said. Her presence on the selection board as a women just adds to the dynamic of the group and adds another perspective.

"It is not just about gender equality or about justice but it is in fact about effectiveness of strategic imperatives, leveraging the full capabilities of our population," she said.

Carpenter is not only a naval commander but also a mother. When her children were in school, she frequented their classrooms as their "show-and-tell" project, and she has always been their source of information on all armed conflict and international relations.

"I always tried to be available to my kids," she said. "They know when they need me that I'm there 24/7. ... They share me with the world and with the Navy, but they understand what I do and why I do it."

Sweeney's military family inspired her to join the military in her father's footsteps.

"I have wanted to be a Marine since I was a little girl," she said.

While her peers may not have the same military background as Sweeney, she said her Marine Corps family is united on a level above gender.