Dublin City University Women in Combat: The status and roles assigned female personnel in the Permanent Defence Forces. Thesis submitted to the School of Applied Language and Intercultural Studies for the degree of Ph.D August 2000 Thomas Martin Clonan B.Ed. M.A.C.C.S. Supervisor: Dr. Maggie Gibbon I hereby certify that this material, which I now submit for assessment on the programme of study leading to the award of Ph. D. is entirely my own work and has not been taken from the work of others save and to the extent that such work has been cited and acknowledged within the text of my work. SIGNED: ID No. 96970499 DATE: 01 August 2000. ABSTRACT Women in Combat: The Status and Roles Assigned Female Personnel in the Permanent Defence Forces (PDF). The aim of the PhD study is to examine critically the integration of female personnel within the Permanent Defence Forces (PDF). Their integration is examined in light of the deployment of women in the international military, and in light of a liberal-feminist examination of the workplace in terms of its equality of opportunity agenda. It is argued that the sex-role stereotyping used to recruit young men in to the military in the past along with socio-biological theories of women’s and men’s appropriate spheres of activity have combined to disempower women within military culture, i.e; women’s involvement represents a threat to the constructed masculinity the military embodies. Despite the persistence of patriarchal culture within the sphere of the military, there has been an unprecedented growth in the numbers of women within the military in the west due to the demands of modem total and technological warfare. Military planners are recruiting women not for reasons of equality of opportunity, but out of a strategically determined necessity. In this light and in the light of the role of women in combat, the study examines the effect that women have had on the culture of the PDF. This effect is measured in terms of the roles and status assigned them and the policies evolved by the military authorities to deal with their recruitment, training, deployment and promotion. A detailed sociological, and semiological analysis of PDF culture shows that as an institution the army is organised according to the values of patriarchy: the gender divisions within military culture extend from deployment to dress codes. From a liberal-feminist perspective, the ‘masculine’ patriarchal culture of the PDF could be said to be the antithesis of an equality of opportunity work environment. Despite this and evidence of resistance from within the PDF to the recruitment of female personnel, the numbers of women within the PDF has trebled in recent years. This trend is continuing. The author has found evidence of the effects the advent of female personnel has had on PDF culture and evidence of the effects the growth in numbers of female personnel has had on recruitment, training and deployment policies. In summary, the study examines a ‘women’s effect’ on PDF culture as their numbers increase. The study examines a culture in transition. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I owe a great debt of gratitude to Dr. Maggie Gibbon for provoking me, for supporting me and for helping me to find my theory. Without her encouragement, patience and support I would not have had the courage or conviction to commit these thoughts to paper. I would like to thank the following individuals and staffs for their invaluable assistance. • The postgraduate Research Committee DCU for funding my second year of studies. • The Library Staff of DCU. • The Director of Training for giving me permission to conduct research within the PDF, and the Chief of Staff, Lt. Gen. Gerry MacMahon for giving me permission to publish the research for academic purposes. • Commandant Barry O’Sullivan and the staff of the Defence Forces Library, Curragh Camp. • My female colleagues for sharing their experiences with me. • My sister Pauline, for typing the manuscript and for her patience in revising it. • Comdt. Peter Young (R.I.P.) and Comdt. Victor Laing of Military Archives, Cathal Brugha Barracks. • Lt. Col. Colm Doyle and Comdt. Eoghan O Neachtain of the Defence Forces Press Office for their flexibility in my working arrangements, and for their support and encouragement. • Dr. Eunan O Halpin for his advice and direction. • Professor Carroll, Registrar of DCU, for his advice and direction. DEDICATION To my mother and father ~ ABBREVIATIONS Abbreviations not included here are given in the text. 2/Lt Second Lieutenant A.G. Adjutant General APC Armoured Personnel Carrier Aptce Apprentice Brig Gen Brigadier General Capt Captain Cdt Cadet CMPO Command Manpower Officer Col Colonel Comdt Commandant COS Chief of Staff Cpl Corporal CQ Company Quartermaster CS Company Sergeant DFR Defence Forces Regulation GOC General Officer Commanding GPMG General Purpose Machine Gun Lt Lieutenant Lt Col Lieutenant Colonel Lt. Gen Lieutenant General Maj. Gen Major General NCO Non Commissioned Officer PDF Permanent Defence Forces PDFORRA Permanent Defence Forces Other Ranks Representative Association Pte Private RACO Representative Association for Commissioned Officers Rec Recruit RQMS Regimental Quartermaster Sergeant RSM Regimental Sergeant Major Sgt Sergeant SOP Standard Operating Procedure TSEOTC Tri Services Equal Opportunities Training Centre CONTENTS Abstract Acknowledgements Dedication Abbreviations Index of Tables Table i Senior NCOs, Junior NCOs and Other ranks, rank structure........................... 99 Table ii Officer ranks structure......................................................................................100 Table iii 1994-1999 Recruit campaigns - applicants...................................................... 105 Table iv 1994-1998 Cadet competitions - applicants..................................................... 107 Table v Ranks held by female personnel of PDF - October 1996............................... 168 Table vi Combat appointments - male and female personnel - October 1996........... 169 Table vii Support appointments - male and female personnel - October 1996...........170 Table viii Combat appointments - female other ranks - April 1997.............................. 171 Table ix Support appointments - female other ranks - April 1997..............................173 Table x Combat appointments - female other ranks - October 1999..........................174 Table xi Support appointments - female other ranks - October 1999..........................175 Table xii Combat appointments - female officers - April 1995.....................................180 Table xiii Support appointments - female officers - April 1995.....................................181 Table xiv Combat appointments - female officers - October 1999............................... 182 Table xv Support appointments - female officers - October 1999............................... 183 Table xvi Ranks held by male and female personnel - other ranks - Sep 1996...........198 Table xvii Ranks held by female personnel - other ranks - October 1999....................200 Table xviii Ranks held by male and female personnel - officers - April 1995.............. 205 Table ix Ranks held by female personnel - officers - October 1999.......................... 206 Table xx Male and female Constables - RUC................................................................ 219 Table of Contents CHAPTER ONE...............................................................................................................................2 Missing in Action: The search for women’s experience of war and military culture................ 2 1.1 Introduction........................................................................................................................... 2 1.2 Motivation for research 4 1.3 The Constructed masculinity of military service........................................................... 6 CHAPTER TWO........................................................................................................................... 10 Methodology.................................................................................................................................... 10 2.1 Qualitative versus Quantitative Approaches to the Research....................................... 10 2.2 The Influence of similar studies.......................................................................................12 2.3 Qualitative Research Techniques......................................................................................13 2.4 Research design and techniques selected.........................................................................16 2.5 Gaining access to the setting.................................................................... 19 2.6 Secrecy in the PDF setting...............................................................................................21 2.7 Researching a sensitive topic........................................................................................... 25 2.8 Primary sources................................................................................................................. 27 2.8.1 Participant Observation............................................................................................27 2.8.2 Insider Research........................................................................................................29 2.8.3 Overt v covert research:...........................................................................................32 2.8.4