European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - February 9, 1986, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Page 16 the stars and stripes sunday february 9,1986 increase in Black women soldiers performance criteria inform them of what be expected and they May sense that the racial and sexual prejudices that. \. In  t of or am Tafftt Ftp Litant in by Clint Swift Washington Bureau during the dozen years since the draft ended the number of enlisted women in in military has More than tripled. But the number of Black enlisted women has grown  the army More than two of every five enlisted women 42.7 percent Are Black. The figures have been emphasized by the joint Center Lor political studies a Black Public policy research group that has examined the All Volunteer Force. Exactly what the numbers mean is unclear says army col. James Daugherty who spent a year As a senior fellow at the Center under an ongoing agreement with the Pentagon. No one has focused on the extreme Over representation of Black women in the military and what it Means for society for the services or for the women themselves Daugherty wrote in the july 1985 Issue of focus the Center newsletter. The number of women in the services grew from about 62,000 in 1974 to about 209.000 in fall 1985. Defense department statistics show. During the same period the number of Black women Rose from about 10,000 to about 56.000. Black women number 27.1 percent of the women on Active duty 12.3 percent of the 30,000 officers and 29.6 percent o the 179,000 enlisted women. They Are 39.2 percent of army women 24 percent of Marine women 20.4 percent of air Force women and 18.3 percent of Navy women. Broken Down into officers and enlisted ranks Black women Are 17.7 percent of about 11,000 women army officers and 42.7 percent of about 68,000 army enlisted women. 11.2 percent of about 12,000 women air Force officers and 22.3 percent of about 57,000 air Force enlisted women. 6.7 percent of 653 women Marine officers and 25.2 percent of about 9,041 Marine enlisted women. 6.3 percent of about 7,000 women Navy officers and 20.2 percent of about 44,000 women sailors. Charles Moskos a Northwestern University overcoming racial sexual stereotypes sociologist who specializes in military subjects cites a 1980 study of volunteers that showed that Only a third of Black women failed to Complete their enlistments compared with More than half of White enlisted women. Black women were three times More Likely to join the military than the White women they were compared with and 50 percent More Likely to re enlist the study showed. Edwin Dorn research director of the joint Center said in focus he thinks a closer look at the Success Story of Black women in defense might be worthwhile. If it s because of Lack of Opportunity in civilian Ufa that ought to be looked at he told one interviewer. If it s True that Black women have something special to contribute we ought to know what it is. Maybe it can be used to help everybody s  Moskos believes Black women Are prodded toward the military by Lack of Opportunity in the civilian sector although not As much As Black men Are. He cites the military s relatively Good pay training education benefits and the Chance to get away. A Black woman frequently has used the military As a Job of transition not As a Job of last resort he said. They often seem to be looking for a change of environment so they Don t end up in dead end jobs As beauticians clerks or in fast food jobs. They May want to escape a Circle of defeatist  Moskos said some return to civilian life to use the educational benefits they have earned some re enlist to become non commas slowed officers and others even May leave to attend a school that offers Reserve officers training and return to the military. The mostly male armed forces Aren t Likely to intimidate Many of them either Moskos said. She often is an Independent person perhaps better Able than her White counterpart to fend off sexual harassment because she s Street savvy " he said. She knows How to say no " the joint Center cited evidence of a push by an inhospitable civilian Economy in research by Wellesley College economist Betty Woody. Woody 1ound Black women to be 40 percent of the work Force in non profit industries such As health and education and 30 percent o those in Blue Collar hotel jobs building maintenance and retail food sales. Daugherty and others believe the military itself attracts Black women offering some real advantages. Explicit before they could join the american military As full partners Black women had to wait Tor their nation to begin to overcome sexual As Well As racial  did t authorize the army nurse corps the first official acceptance of women in the military until 1901, notes a defense department history of Blacks in the american military. From colonial times to world War ii social rules generally confined women to the most traditional roles sewing uniforms flags and bandages melting Pewter Tor Musket balls caring Lor the wounded. The modern military s huge logistics Tail did t exist in tha nation s ear feet Days and the wives and girlfriends of soldiers provided laundry service cooking and Home remedies As Camp followers. Written re Odds on women s contributions in Many Fields in Earty America Are hard to come by and Given the racial attitudes of the period the authors of Black americans in defense of our nation assume that Black women must have provided those services for units such As the All Black 1st Rhode Island regt of the american revolution. But vow in colonial Elmee some women defied tradition disguised themselves and fought in Field artillery battalions or even As marines the history says. During the civil War underground Railroad Veteran Harriet Tubman volunteered As a Union spy scout Cook nurse and guide a but never won any pension except that due her by a Short marriage to a Soldier. Recruiting of Black women nurses was approved during the Spanish american War when typhoid fever threatened the Force. The history says Blacks were believed to be immune due to Long residence in warm wet climates and their thicker dark  two months before the end of world War i another disease aided the integration of Black women into . Forces. Eighteen Black Home nurses were accepted after a worldwide influenza epidemic killed millions including 500,000 in the United states. Early in world War ii the women s army auxiliary corps announced it would accept Blacks up to 10 percent of its officers and enlisted women. The Navy accepted Black women in its auxiliary in 1945. In 1943, the auxiliary became the women s army corps and women were considered initially Only for jobs such As clerks Drivers and Cooks. However utilization of Black women was hampered by the army s decision to assign units of Black women Only to posts where a number of Black male units were assigned or where there was a City with a significant Black population nearby the history says. Black women recruiting officers were sent around the country during the War but Many Black women failed to meet recruiting standards or offered skills the military could t use. Amid charges that racism was behind the Large number of a assignable Black women the recruiters were withdrawn. At first Black women were sent overseas Only with the written request of an overseas commander. But in february 1945, after what the authors Call considerable political pressure from the Black Community 800 Black women of the 6888th Central postal in went to England and later to France. In England the men they replaced left them with a backlog of 3 million pieces of und table mall and the to a i to Vej univ � affect advancement in the civilian sector Are less salient in the services he wrote in focus. Army col. Clara Adams Ender chief of nursing at Walter Reed army medical Center agrees the military has its own attractiveness. Nurses Are commissioned As captains and Adams Ender notes that Means not starting at the Bottom. As an officer in the service there s a Bulion protect ulveness that you Don t get in civilian life she said in an interview with the Baltimore Sun. And anywhere in the service you feel a Pride in belonging that you often Don t find outside. Especially when you re a minority that s  but in the military exclusion from combat jobs can Holt the ticket punching that leads to the top. In addition As the mall Tail relies More and More on High technology. Service members in traditional helping assignments services could find themselves further restricted from the track to the top and from training that could win them a secure future later in the civilian Economy. Women toddler. Are he Leto for 321 of 376 Job classifications and 202 of 211 duties Are open to women officers. But Dod statistics show that More than half of the Black women officers in 1984 were medical officers or administrators. Eighty five percent of the Black women medical officers were nurses and 62 percent of the administrators were in personnel financial  administrator  six percent of the enlisted women in 1984 were in the functional support and administration category and More than one third were about equally distributed in communications intelligence medical dental service and Supply jobs. In 1979, Hani  new chm of tha army nun copt bet amt the tint Black woman Gentral Orv few. Women received unsatisfactory ratings for efficiency. In France they served with distinction the history says in mid-1944, the army announced it would accept Blacks without regard to quotas and at its Peak in 1945, there were 479 Black women in the nurse corps about 1 percent of the total. A contingent of Black nurse was sent to England in 1944 and first served at a Hospital that treated German prisoners. Later the nurses went to a rehabilitation Center for american troops. The Experiment of having White troops treated by Blacks was considered a Success. All Black medical units also served in Liberia. Burma Australia new Guinea and the Philippines during world War ii. During the 1970s, the first women were appointed to general officer positions. In 1979, Hazel Winifred Johnson became the first Black woman general. From Black a merlot