BATAAN OBSERVES WOMEN’S EQUALITY DAY

ATLANTIC OCEAN

08.28.2019

Courtesy Story

USS Bataan (LHD 5)

Sailors aboard the amphibious assault ship USS Bataan (LHD 5) observed Women’s Equality Day during a celebration held on the mess decks, August 26.

Bataan’s Heritage Committee hosted the event to celebrate the passage of the 19th Amendment, which granted women the right to vote on August 26, 1920. Ninety-nine years has passed since the signing of the Susan B. Anthony Bill which give women their voice to address their concerns along with casting their ballet in local and state elections. The 19th Amendment also allowed additional measures to pass for women to have more a prominent leadership presence in the American fabric of entertainment, sports, and business as well as in government. Today’s women are forging forward and breaking new ground in the political arena and also on the battle field while serving in the Armed Forces.

Cmdr. Jessica Parker, USS Bataan’s (LHD 5) air boss, was the guest speaker for the event and she highlighted how impactful suffrage movement was for her generation.

“It’s important that we celebrate the successes that we’ve had as women, particularly in the military, but also just as women,” said Parker. “I think that’s what Women’s Equality Day is about, celebrating those successes and the milestones that we have achieved over the last centuries. It’s important to be a part of that and to be a representative, as someone who has been able to have more success because of the women that went before me and the role models I’ve had. I was honored to be asked to participate.”

Women’s Equality Day was established in 1971 to commemorate the years of struggle of generations of women to gain the right to vote. On June 12, 1948, President Harry Truman signed into law the Women’s Armed Services Integration Act, granting women permanent status in the Regular and Reserve forces of the Army, Navy, and Marine Corps, as well as the newly created Air Force.

“It’s been a long effort, not just in the military, but in just being full-fledged citizens of the United States and of the world,” said Parker. “The United States is much further along than many other countries. It’s a continuous struggle, not only for the rules to change so that women can have the same opportunities, but for society to change to allow for those opportunities.”

The formal beginnings of the women’s rights movement began in Seneca Falls, NY in 1848 at the world’s first Women’s Rights Convention.

“It’s okay for women to want to do things that they are passionate about,” said Parker. “That might be to go on a submarine; that might be run to for office, change politics and make the country better; that might be to be in the infantry. That’s okay, and we should encourage them as long as they are capable.”

Women’s first role in the Navy began in 1908 with the establishment of the Navy Nurse Corps. Sixty four years later, Chief of Naval Operation, Adm. Elmo Zumwalt addressed the concern for a more diverse naval force by fully integrating women in the Navy. His 116th Z gram, began the ground work for women to have more of a vital role in operations, from opening up enlisted ratings to women and providing a pathway to staff corps and restricted line communities while serving on the same platform ships alongside their male counterpart.

When the draft ended in 1973, women made up just two percent of enlisted personnel and eight percent of the officer corps. As of 2018, women now represent 16 percent of enlisted and 18 percent of the officer corps.

“We’re making wonderful strides in the Navy, said Parker. “I think the shift from gender-based to capability-based is fantastic, cause that’s how it should be. It should be ‘are you capable?’ That’s going to give us the most lethal fighting force.”

• Date Taken: 08.28.2019
• Date Posted: 08.31.2019 15:57
• Story ID: 337744
• Location: ATLANTIC OCEAN