Three readers penned letters to the editor for the March 21 issue of Navy Times. Have thoughts you'd like to share on Navy Times stories or letters? Send them to navylet@navytimes.com. Include your name, address, phone number and rank. Submissions may be published in print and online.
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RENAMING RATINGS
I cannot fathom that senior Navy leadership is going to spend time and money during these austere times to remove "man" from rating names, such as yeoman, in an attempt to make them gender neutral. I'm a big believer in equal rights for all people with equal capabilities. But it is pathetic that Navy senior leaders are going to change years of accepted tradition to gain some perceived political correctness!
Wikipedia defines yeoman this way: "In the U.S. Navy/U.S. Coast Guard, a yeoman performs administrative and clerical work. They deal with protocol, naval instructions, enlisted evaluations, commissioned officer fitness reports, naval messages, visitors, telephone calls and mail (both conventional and electronic). They organize files and operate office equipment and order and distribute office supplies. They write and type business and social letters, notices, directives, forms and reports." That looks pretty gender-neutral to me.
I am appalled that these political appointees and senior-most Navy officers are going to pursue this initiative. Is the Marine Corps going to follow suit? I cannot even come up with a gender-neutral alternative for the most fundamental position in the Corps — the rifleman! This is nuts!
Lt. Cmdr. Dan Butler (ret.)
Lecanto, Fla.
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CLOSING NAVY COLLEGE OFFICES
Regarding "Navy College closure plan under fire from higher ed institutions," March 10:
This plan will be devastating for sailors. The people in charge seem to think we don't do anything all day. My perception is that those supporting these closures have no idea what the Navy College Offices actually do for sailors on a daily basis. However, it looks like they will find out in the near future.
The service wants to close all its Navy College offices and shift all off-duty education services to an virtual center, a plan that has concerned colleges. Here, Airman Marti Gardea gets information on courses at a Navy College Office at Naval Base Kitsap in 2012.
Photo Credit: MC3 Nicholas Groesch/Navy
We are now conducting a base-wide education needs assessment; 86.6 percent of the 476 sailors who have responded say the closure of NCO Whidbey Island would negatively (25.23 percent) to seriously negatively (61.45 percent) impact their ability to further their education.
Lawrence W. Cothran
Navy College Office, NAS Whidbey Island
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The big question I have about the plan to close Navy College Offices is the utilization rate. How often are they actually staffed? How often does a sailor actually pop in for services?
I teach in a master's degree program (cross-listed for undergrads). I have online students from LA to the EU. I even had one log in to a live online session from Istanbul while he was on a temporary duty assignment. We are living in an increasingly virtual world, and the students tend to be ahead of the bureaucrats. The students are certainly adept at managing my courses.
A key segment of the article is the quote from the letter by the president of the National Association of Institutions for Military Education Services, which stated that academic institutions "offering on-base college courses would not be allowed to operate on-board Naval Installations without NCO or other federal government oversight."
That strikes me as the college system's real worry. There have been too many verified cases of fast and loose accounting, in particular by for-profit colleges that cater to military audiences.
A virtual office may provide modern sailors with better connections to mentors/advisers. If the colleges are balking because of oversight, perhaps that is reason to look deeper.
Cmdr. Robert Hillery (ret.)
University of New Haven
West New Haven, Conn.
