FRATERNIZATION IN OFFICERS AND SOLDIERS

Fraternization in Officers and Enlisted soldiers

Chapter Three: Methodology

This dissertation is based upon a qualitative investigation of material published from 1980 to 2000 on women at work, plus phenomenological data derived from changes occurring in the United States Army from 1990 to 2000 as increasing numbers of women began to serve. The author has examined these issues at length with men and women returning from duty to the Army Warfare Officers School.

These have included officer and enlisted personnel of all rates and ranks. As a result, information from surveys conducted with staff and students at the school has been analyzed and incorporated. Specifically, the participants numbered 141 for the first survey, 45 for the second, and 43 for the third, conducted in 1997, 1998, and 2000 respectively. In the third survey, 58% were male and 42% were female.

One of the major questions examined in this dissertation is, "How overwhelmed (powerless) do women feel in the male culture of the United States Army?" Another is, "How does a woman act/react when she feels put upon in any way?" For instance, an anecdote heard by the author described an Army who had been attending a school with male and female students. On the last day of the course, the officer handing out certificates of course completion asked the man to see him privately.

Such anecdotal situations helped focus attention on issues that affect men and women working together in the United States Army. In this focus resulted in the final survey distributed in September of 2000. In 1997 The Department of Defense established a Process Action Team to deal with fraternization. The Army created a Working Group to look at how to improve its current policy so as to support the Department of Defense effort. The working group met 8-11 July 1997 specifically to look at existing guidance on the fraternization issue, propose changes where required, and examine results of the Department of Defense Process Action Team.

Prior to the establishment of this working group, this author conducted a survey of Personnel at the Army Warfare Officers School in Newport, Rhode Island. Specific items sought ideas on how to maintain good order and discipline in mixed-gender tankers, what rules should be in place, and what the respondents thought of existing rules on fraternization. The respondents included both enlisted and officers, men and women, from 3rd Class Petty Officer to Commanders.

The major findings of the survey were as follows:

Opinions ranged from one extreme to the other.

Some felt that the issue has been more than adequately dealt with.

The comments about dating suggested, "We can't enforce a no-dating rule, but we can enforce rules about public displays of affection while on duty. Then, a group of volunteers attended a luncheon meeting at the Officers Club gathered by a member of the aforementioned working group. This convener who happens to be a female Army commander (selected for promotion to captain) had commanded a mixed gender ...