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PM magazine | SPRING 2020
ALL MEN ARE CREATED EQUAL: BUT WHERE DOES THAT LEAVE THE WOMEN? The Army views projects as ations officer, but when he went to file the papermissions and analyzes former work he was told that the position was “coded out to processes to evaluate its rele- women,” which meant that no woman could have that LTC (P) Willie Rodney vance as a world demanding job because she would be working for a unit involved Professor, Military warfare evolves. All missions in direct combat” (Martin, 2011). Brown also noted, Science have guidelines, policies, and “It is almost impossible to get on the promotion fast restrictions to form criteria for track in the Army without leading troops in ground Morgan State missions. These three essen- combat, which women aren’t allowed to do” (Martin, University tial aspects are used to create 2011). With the restrictions preventing women from the scope in which to operate. serving on the front line now lifted, this barrier should One consideration for Army missions is diversity no longer be a problem. through gender-neutral standards. In January 2013, When the Army decided to open up combat arms Defense Secretary Leon Panetta lifted the military’s to women it also implemented the Occupational ban on women serving in combat, a move that allows Physical Assessment Test (OPAT). The OPAT is a women into hundreds of thousands of front-line battery of four physical fitness test events that are positions and potentially elite commando units. The used to assess an individual’s physical capabilities to services had until January 2016 to implement the engage in physically demanding Army tasks. Brian changes that have opened up an additional 15,000 Sutton, a US Army Recruiting Command spokesperjobs to women (Brook & Michaels 2013). Although son said, “It is designed to put the right people in the this was a revolutionary move for the military with right jobs and to ensure we keep our recruits safe respect to gender equality, some argue that implewhile doing so.” OPAT scoring is gender-neutral, he mentation of new policies since lifting the ban, are added. Selection criteria is a part of acquiring the more detrimental to gender equality and job opporright leaders. Experience, knowledge, skills, and tunities within the military. attitudes determine positions in both missions (PMI, 2017). All Soldiers, male and female, must pass the same physical standards for their desired career field. In addition to the OPAT, the Army has also done away with its traditional physical training test and replaced it with the Army Combat Fitness Test (ACFT). The introduction of women into combat arms further emphasized the need for a single-standard test. The United States Army ACFT is designed to better reflect the stresses of a combat environment, to address the Prior to the lifting of the ban, women served in a poor physical fitness of recruits, and to reduce the number of combat positions, including piloting risk of musculoskeletal injuries for service members. warplanes or serving on ships in combat areas (Brook In the Army’s decision to seek quality recruits, qual& Michaels, 2013). However, certain jobs within the ity requirements shifted to test overall body fitness. military are coded only for those who have served The study conducted in 2018 on initial entry training in the infantry and armor branches. Major General (IET) recruits discovered that the administration of the Retired Heidi Brown, an Air Defense Artillery officer, OPAT test had an adverse impact on the passing rate was the first woman to command a combat arms of women (Sharp, Foulis, & Redmond, 2018). Male brigade; one that she took to combat. But despite IET recruits passed the OPAT at a far greater rate her groundbreaking feats she was limited to what than their female counterparts. Prior to women being positions she could serve in because she was not allowed in all combat arms, there was no such quality infantry or armor. Brown recalled in an interview with requirement like the OPAT for men or women. Based National Public Radio (NPR), “Earlier in her career, on the purpose of the OPAT, the results demonstrate a battalion commander wanted her to be his operthat they keep more women out of combat arms than men. However, it has been noted that the Army has had a greater success rate of retaining recruits since the implementation of the OPAT.
“Surviving on the battlefield is the ultimate goal of every mission in the Army. Ensuring that men and women are properly trained and confident, ensures the mission will be completed. “
The ACFT has also had adverse results on women. Initial data showed a jaw-dropping 36% of soldiers overall failed the test, with 64% passing. When broken down by gender, 70% of men passed and 84% of women failed the test (Brown, 2019). This has led to many determining the ACFT is discriminatory to women; although, Kelly Buckner, an Army Civil Affairs officer noted, “most of the failures were attributed to the leg tuck—an abdominal exercise, and the APFT’s abdominal exercise, the sit-up, is the only event on the current test with gender-neutral scoring.” She further emphasized, “more broadly, the test does not require men and women to compete head to head, but simply requires everyone to meet basic minimum standards; standards that ensure everyone can survive on a gender-neutral battlefield and physically carry their share” (Buckner, 2019). Surviving on the battlefield is the ultimate goal of every mission in the Army. Ensuring that men and women are properly trained and confident, ensures the mission will be completed. The purpose of the new ACFT is to provide a diverse standard with job-specific qualifications, and mission preparedness through creating
a combat-like fitness regime. This implementation of the ACFT was comparable to the plan-do-checkact cycle used in quality management plans (PMI, 2017). The ACFT events for testing were planned and executed by the units selected to take the new
“The Army views projects as missions and analyzes former processes to evaluate its relevance as a world demanding warfare evolves. “
fitness test. The results were then checked and grading scales readjusted to act as improvements. Also, recent data has shown interest that the combat arms occupations among female soldiers has far exceeded the Army’s expectations; as of this year, more than 600 women have been recruited for or transferred to combat occupations, and 12 women have graduated from Ranger School. In order for the Army to allow all leadership positions to be open to both men and women, they needed to ensure all branches were open to both genders. This diversified the potentiality of leadership, command, and promotion. The ACFT was formed to introduce change to the organization through a mission project to transform ideas around combat readiness through fitness. The ACFT mission changed the scope of fitness standards permissible to command in the Army. It changed the budget with new equipment for ACFT events, and the schedule with a time constraint to train and pass the ACFT or face career consequences. Lastly, it changed the quality requirements for leaders who want to command combat units (PMI, 2017). The Army needed to establish gender-neutral testing to determine the capability of a recruit before allowing them to enter a specific physically challenging branch of service. Initial data has shown that these new implementations have not been in favor of female recruits. However, it does suggest it does suggest that it helps the Army to get the right recruits in the right professions. It also allows younger generations of women currently serving to be recommended for command in branches where they are capable of mission success. Whether or not this will prove to be another obstacle to women serving in coveted leadership positions remains to be seen but initial data suggests that although the opportunity is there, missions may be hindered due to new standards. References: Brook, T. V., & Michaels, J. (2013, January 24). Officials: Panetta Opens Combat Roles to Women. Retrieved from https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2013/01/23/ panetta-women-combat-pentagon/1859221 Brown, D. (2019, October 9). Army Combat Fitness Test Fiasco! Slides Reveal 84% of Women Failing ACFT. Retrieved from https://news.clearancejobs.com/2019/10/05/armycombat-fitness-test-fiasco-slides-reveal-84-of-women-failing-acft Buckner, K. (2019, October 9). What the Critics Miss: The Army Combat Fitness Test is Going to Make Us a More Combat-Ready Force. Retrieved from https://mwi.usma.edu/ critics-miss-army-combat-fitness-test-going-make-us-combat-ready-force Martin, R. (2011, February 25). A Lonely Club For Women In Top Army Jobs. Retrieved from https://www.npr.org/2011/02/25/134025084/a-lonely-club-for-women-in-toparmy-job Project Management Institute (PMI). (2017). A Guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK® Guide). 6th ed. Newtown Square, PA: Project Management Institute, Inc. Sharp, M. A., Foulis, S. A., & Redmond, J. E. (2018, June 4). Longitudinal Validation of the Occupational Physical Assessment Test. Retrieved from https://apps.dtic.mil/dtic/tr/ fulltext/u2/1057800.pdf Sutton, Brian. (2017). Army Implements New Fitness Standards. Retrieved from: http:// ftmeadesoundoff.com/communitynews/news/army-implements-new-fitness-standards/
