Happy Birthday Navy!

The United States Navy, founded in October of 1775, celebrates its 235 birthday this month.

The Navy has always seemed, to me, a front-runner in pushing for equality. It does, after all, do a lot that requires the teamwork of many people that civilians don't think about when they think of military. How do you think all of those troops and planes get where they have to go? Military has become synonymous with Army, but it is the Navy who has made strides, in my humble opinion (which is admittedly biased), in pushing for a military that welcomes everyone equally.

It hasn't been too bad of a year for the Navy, if I say so myself. I am proud to say that the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Admiral Mike Mullen, has been an incredible advocate for social justice and for equality this past year that I have been writing with Change. He was a vocal supporter of integrating women onto submarines, and has been a proud proponent of the Don't Ask Don't Tell Repeal. He's been a strong leader for the Navy.

Speaking of women on submarines: the first 13 female officers to be specifically selected as submariners should be hitting the books in "Nuke School," which is Navy slang for a portion of submarine training. Sometime next year we can expect them to be a new set of "bubble heads."

The Navy has also named the first woman to command a Carrier Strike Group. Rear Admiral Nora Tyson made Naval history when she was assigned to the helm of the USS George H.W. Bush, the Masthead of Carrier Group Two.

The Navy offers its Enlisted Fleet Marine Force Warfare Specialist and Qualified Officers programs to all of its medical personnel, called "corpsmen," regardless of gender. If you can pass the quals, you can wear the much coveted insignia on your uniform. This qualification insignia indicates that the corpsman is trained in Marine Corps basic knowledge and is prepared to serve with their forces in any situation, as well as with SEALs, on ships, and in hospitals. It is a highly respected job qualification and allows a corpsman to be allowed to work independently as an "Independent Duty Corpsman," having the privileges to even write some prescriptions without the supervision of Medical Doctors.

The Navy isn't perfect, not by a long shot. They have some ground to make in regards to how they approach preventing sexual assault, but their violence prevention programs, which have focused over the years towards violence against women, have been pacesetters for those developed military wide.

So, happy birthday, Navy! Well done with your 235 years. I hope as you grow older you will continue to learn from mistakes past and also continue to show the military how progress can be made in equality.

Photo Credit: hectorir