military -- our assignments are taking longer than usual, and our CI/HUMINT intelligence function seems far from perfect. This manifested clearly during the Iraqi war, when the intelligence community found itself relying on old and outdated information, and thereby landing conclusions that were largely inaccurate and misleading (Kerr, et al
The study established that military-affiliated students held more negative attitudes towards women in combat than their counterparts in civilian colleges, suggesting that whereas the general public seems to finds no fault with women being integrated into combat roles, the military community seems overtly opposed to the idea. This explains the high incidences of bullying and workplace harassment against women in military camps, particularly in combat units (Koeszegi et al
W. Knotts argues that there are women out there who want to serve in the military protecting their fellow countrymen; and they ought to be given the opportunity to actualize their passion (Knotts, 1996)
In their study, Manski and his colleagues (2014) conducted interviews on 22 women serving in the military to obtain insight about their reproductive health experiences during their period of deployment. Participants identified multiple barriers towards receiving proper care in the battlefield including the following: a general stigma associated with seeking out care facilities, a lack of female care providers, and confidentiality concerns (Manski et al
One controversial issue with the Act, however, is the fact that it excluded women from combat units. This spurred numerous amendments over the subsequent years, the most prominent being the authorization of female soldiers to act as pilots for combat aircrafts (McSally, 2007)
Zabecki (2008) points out that this became rather evident during the Iraqi and Afghanistan wars, when the I Marine Expeditionary Force (I MEF) implemented such initiatives as the Women's Engagement Program (WEP), popularly known as the Lioness Program to be able to address the divide that existed between male marines and the local Iraqi population - Sergeant Rachel Ramey, one of the leaders of the WEP program in Albar Province in Iraq, mentions in a 2010 interview with the Marine Corps Center for Lessons Learnt, that the mere presence of female marines on the ground created an immediate calming and reassuring atmosphere between locals and American soldiers. The female soldiers were more at peace discussing crucial subjects about counterinsurgency operations with female marines better than with their male counterparts (Mulley, 2014)
Today magazine, Jim Michaels (2014) recognizes the fundamental role played by female marines in Iraq and Afghanistan, and asserts that women interested in taking up combat positions be accorded opportunities to do so. He, however, proposes that since such jobs as infantry and Special Forces have traditionally been closed to them, interested women ought to be encouraged to take up relevant military courses so that they are well-prepared for the challenges that await them in the battlefield (Michaels, 2014)
They argue that when males bond together in all-males units, they develop HM, which is manifested in stereotypic and exaggerated masculine actions and attributes, which could be detrimental to team unity and overall cohesiveness. Including women in such teams helps to break down this culture of HM, and its negative consequences (Rosen et al
The autobiographies of the various women who worked as military spies in various historical wars provide a glimpse of the 'smart' techniques that women used to obtain HUMINT without arousing the suspicion of their masters. Margaretha Zelle, for instance, who worked as a French spy in Belgium, used her exotic dancing techniques and near-nude routines to build connections with the Belgian authorities and obtain crucial intelligence from some key figures, which she then supplied to the French authorities (Root, 2010)
Critics of integration have argued that there is no proof that women carry their mothering and nurturing qualities beyond the associations that they share with their families. We are, however, poised to accept the argument that women are naturally more nurturing than men based on the idea presented in Festinger's cognitive dissonance theory and Skinner's reinforcement theory (Sanderson, 2009)
A perfect example, as Sayle (2014) points out is that of Lyudmila Pavlichenko, the female Soviet sniper during WWII who killed 309 people, 36 of whom were German snipers. Another excellent example is that of Charlotte Madison, the first ever AAC pilot to expend her ammunition, and call 'Winchester' from a combat sortie -- she mentioned during an interview that she had killed more people than Jack the Ripper, Myra Hindley, Harold Shipman, and all other serial killers put together (Sayle, 2014)
It also explains the low enlistment rates of female soldiers, and the small number of women that would like to serve in combat roles in the military - a study seeking to determine the propensity (by gender) to enlist in combat roles in the military found that only 8.1% of the women interviewed would like to work in the military (Segal et al
The researcher sought to identify positive and negative statements put forth by media articles about women in service and the impact of integration on military effectiveness. The study established that the positive statements about integration and women in combat among members of the general public exceeded negative ones by almost 69% (Stachowitsch, 2013)
These findings were supported by another study Young and Nauta (2013), which sought to examine the attitudes that military-affiliated college students (those currently in Reserve Officers' Training Corps, ROTC) held towards women in combat, and how these differed from those held by college students in civilian colleges. 254 students from civilian colleges were recruited to participate compared to 62 military-affiliated students (Young & Nauta, 2013)
Based on this announcement, this thesis seeks to examine how the field of CI/HUMINT collection is deemed to benefit from such integration, and what needs to be done to ensure that the maximum benefits of integration are realized. Background to the Study Well, there is no doubt that women have served in the American military since long in history, typically playing the role of spies, cooks, nurses, or prostitutes for male combatants (Zabecki, 2008)