The Kinder, Gentler Military: How Political Correctness Affects Our Ability to Win Wars

Rating:
Summary: Unfortunately it is all true (mostly)
Review: I am currently serving in the Army and my brother is in the Navy and between my own experience and the stories he relates to me I can say that Ms. Gutmann has done an incredible job covering the ongoing degradation of our armed forces by social engineers. It was somewhat depressing reading this book since, for years, I have thought that if people really knew what was happening to the military it wouldn't continue in its downward spiral. I come to find out that people are aware and still nothing is being done about it.
I would give this book five stars but I felt that Ms. Gutmann did not make enough of an effort to give the people who support the "kinder, gentler" transformation a chance to defend their innovations. It was a bit onesided as some other readers point out and there were a few times that the author was a little off base in her criticisms.
Though I have almost given up, I hope that the information in this book will someday reach the ears of someone with the ability to do something about the current state of affairs. Else, when we find ourselves up against a well supplied, well fed, technologically advanced enemy, we will learn too late that war is an arena from which social planners should be banned.

Rating:
Summary: The Kinder, Gentler Military
Review: In 1992, during my freshman year of high school, I was able to attend a mini-boot camp (approx. 1 week) at RTC Great Lakes because I was in Naval Junior Reserve Officers Training Corps (NJROTC). I had 4 RDCs, 2 men and 2 women. As a woman in Naval boot camp, I didn't feel that I wasn't treated any differently than a male recruit would be treated. (Bare in mind that this was 3 years before women were integrated with the men in basic training in all of the branches EXCEPT the Marine Corps). I felt that the physical aspects of training were just as tough as what the males were doing alongside us females. This is how I saw it and it really has changed a lot since then. I can say that with much confidence.

Currently, I work on NTC Great Lakes so I can exactly where Gutmann is coming from with the information in this book. She's very much on target in that PC underminds morale in our armed forces thereby affecting our ability to function as we should as a military component.

Gutmann tells it like it really is. She reviews many of the reforms that the military has gone through in the 90s regarding women in the service and how they've handled policies under those reforms. Her bottom line is those reforms and how they are handled aren't doing the military any good. To quote Gutmann, "What we have to take back are the "innovations" of the nineties; what we have to reform is the nineties mind-set driving the integration of women and most of the policies it produced."

From Gutmann's perspective the ONLY branch of services that is doing anything right is the Marine Corps. To quote Gutmann, again, "There have not been many mentions of the Marines in this book; that's because they are generally doing all right," adding, "They are the service that has stood its ground best through the politically correct nineties." She hits a nail on the head with this. One of my friends, a former Marine of 8 years, would most certainly agree with her.

I really do recommend Gutmann's book and think that the civilian world could benefit from reading this book, as they will be able to clearly see how the "New Military" has lost much affectiveness from its former self (the "Old Military").

Rating:
Summary: A Lady With Guts ... And Facts.
Review: It is my sincere wish that Ms. Gutmann's frightening, but necessary expose of our military's decline will actually shake up those responsible for shaping it's policy and compel them to act now to save the lives of our servicepeople/guinea pigs, and perhaps, our republic. That is my wish. However, reality suggests that our cowering politicians and shameless military leaders, "plump as pigs on pregnant pudding", will not dare rock their respective "welfare" boats. I urge all to read this book so that when the ship does start to sink, you'll know which rats to throw overboard first.

Rating:
Summary: Excellent & Provocative Discussion: On Target!
Review: Many of you who are looking at this book to be a caustic rebuke of feminism may find this book dissapointing. Ms Gutmann's primary thesis is that the military's integration of women at all levels has changed the military culture. She persuasively argues that this culture change has substantially weakened our military's ability to fight and win our nations battles. She uses several examples throughout the book and I have to say that for a woman who has never been in uniform her facts and descriptions of the armed forces are impressive. I thoroughly enjoyed this book and couldn't agree with her more. As a last note, she writes an excellent review of the entire Tailhook scandal which is noteworthy in my mind. Bravo!

Rating:
Summary: The Kinder, Gentler Military
Review: Ms Gutmann has done her research, it seems that she let her research dictate her conclusions, which in this subject area is not all that common. If this work had been done by Major Stephan Gutmann instead of Ms Stephanie Gutmann the book would have been attacked from another side. She seems to be able to see some of the contradictions in the "politically correct" answers to real questions, the world isn't always what we might hope it to be, but what we might like doesn't always change the reality that surrounds us. The fact that her work has already been cited in at least two articles from the most recent edition of Parameters (Army War College) leads one to hope that things still might change.

Rating:
Summary: Sad but TRUE
Review: This book captures and documents the problems with integrating women into the military. Lower training standards and social problems resulting from a gender neutral approach are well presented.

However, when the author begins highlighting restrictions on leave in foreign lands and higher standards of behavior as problems areas, she is off-base. A failure to understand the increased responsibility and visibility of military personnel and officers as ambassadors of the nation misrepresents improvements as a gender problems.

There are plenty of problems associated with the new politically correct military that should not be marginalized by poorly made arguments. I began to believe that the author is really attempting to discredit real discussion on the gender neutral military by promoting socially irresponsible behavior my males.

Rating:
Summary: A Disappointing Book
Review: This book had the potential to be a very informative and honest debate of women in the military and the so-called "feminization" of our nations armed forces. If you want a one-sided debate interviewing disgruntled retirees and macho "Rambo" warriors grumbling about the loss of the good "old military", this is the book for you. Although the book had ample statistics to show why women shouldn't be in the military and how the services are being weakened, it did not address the statistics that show how women are strengthening the military. In order to really address her topic, she needed to address and refute statistics that show the strength of the "new military". She also did not address any of the deeper reasons why men have a problem with women in the military. Instead, she seems to have been satisfied with absent-mindedly filling the pages with subjective statistics and interviews with disgruntled personnel. Having studied this very subject, I found it unforgivable that she never once sited one of the foremost experts on women in the military, Jean Bethke Elschtain, a professor at the University of Chicago and the author of "Women and War"( a book I recommend for a real, scientific, and unbiased understanding of the subject). Thus I found the book a poorly researched, biased, superficial piece of sensationalist rhetoric. The American public deserves an honest, open discussion of this topic and this book did not give it.

Rating:
Summary: The Kinder, Gentler Military: Can America's Gender-Neutral
Review: This is a book which has a lot of importance now. With our armed forces engaged now in the unclear war on terorrism, the damage of the Clinton years may become apparent. The 90s saw alot of politicians trying to conduct social experiments on the US armed services. What Clinton, Pat Schroeder and others did by insisting that larger numbers of women be introduced into our services was almost criminal. Now with women making up 11% of the military, the question of how to incorporate them is key. An even greater concern is the demoralization that has taken place in the military as a result of enforeced quotas of women and the affect that has had on unit morale. The US army, while hi-tech, is facing a serious morale problem. With the prospect of dirty anti-torrorist fighting, the question of how our military will hold up is very crucial. Many units in the army have become nothing more than maternity leave outfits as women become pregnant, leave their posts, expect the army to pick up the bill, and leave extra work for men to do in their units. No wonder the services are demoralized now. Added to this is an almost insane congress and army brass which insists on forcing women more into roles of which they are unsuited. Many like Pat Schroeder, don't even want women in combat, they just want the restrictions lifted as a politcal statement. The damage she and others have done to our army will only now become apparent as we enter into a new and dangerous kind of war. There is nothing wrong with women wanting to serve their country, and their abilities in the military machine are valuable, but combat is certainly not one of them. Much praise for Ms. Guttman for having the courage to write this book and shame our generals and politicians. Let us hope now with recent events that the dead-weight of Political Correctness is finally over in this country.

Rating:
Summary: How Political Correctness of the 1990s ruined the US Army
Review: This is a book which has a lot of importance now. With our armed forces engaged now in the unclear war on terorrism, the damage of the Clinton years may become apparent. The 90s saw alot of politicians trying to conduct social experiments on the US armed services. What Clinton, Pat Schroeder and others did by insisting that larger numbers of women be introduced into our services was almost criminal. Now with women making up 11% of the military, the question of how to incorporate them is key. An even greater concern is the demoralization that has taken place in the military as a result of enforeced quotas of women and the affect that has had on unit morale. The US army, while hi-tech, is facing a serious morale problem. With the prospect of dirty anti-torrorist fighting, the question of how our military will hold up is very crucial. Many units in the army have become nothing more than maternity leave outfits as women become pregnant, leave their posts, expect the army to pick up the bill, and leave extra work for men to do in their units. No wonder the services are demoralized now. Added to this is an almost insane congress and army brass which insists on forcing women more into roles of which they are unsuited. Many like Pat Schroeder, don't even want women in combat, they just want the restrictions lifted as a politcal statement. The damage she and others have done to our army will only now become apparent as we enter into a new and dangerous kind of war. There is nothing wrong with women wanting to serve their country, and their abilities in the military machine are valuable, but combat is certainly not one of them. Much praise for Ms. Guttman for having the courage to write this book and shame our generals and politicians. Let us hope now with recent events that the dead-weight of Political Correctness is finally over in this country.