Newly-appointed Commander of First Escort Division of Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force (JMSDF) Ryoko Azuma (2nd L), who is the first female commander of a navy destroyer squadron in Japan, salutes to soldiers on JMSDF's helicopter carrier Izumo at a port in Yokohama, south of Tokyo, Japan March 6, 2018. REUTERS/Nobuhiro Kubo
Reuters: Japan's navy appoints first woman to command warship squadron
Japan’s navy on Tuesday appointed the first woman to command a warship squadron, including the flagship Izumo helicopter carrier, as it tries to lure more females to make up for a dearth of male recruits in graying Japan.
Ryoko Azuma, will command four ships with a combined crew of 1,000, of which only 30 are women, that make up the Maritime Self Defense Force’s (MSDF) First Escort Division.
“I don’t think about being a woman. I will concentrate my energy on fulfilling my duties as commander,” Azuma, 44, said at a change of command ceremony attended by 400 sailors aboard the Izumo, which was docked at a shipyard in Yokohama near Tokyo for repairs.
When she joined the MSDF in 1996 women were barred from serving on warships, a rule that the navy abolished ten years ago. Submarines, however, are still crewed only by men.
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WNU Editor: Like all modern navies the Japanese are having problems recruiting males to make a career in the Navy. Trying to encourage women to join will make up some of that shortfall. But only concern is that I hope that they are promoted on ability and not for public relations.
3 comments:
I always remember this quote when I see news like this
"Whenever women enter in to Organisation that historically have been men domain , men leave it at fast rate and with them quality , standards and efficacy "
Usually it will result in disaster that will cause shock and revaluation .
dumb quote
Anonymous,
While not politically correct, you have nailed it!! I've seen this happen numerous times in the private sector here in the US. In the private sector, it is only money that is lost. Sometimes in these cases keeping the government off of one's back costs less money than the reduction of quality. In the military such PR stunts, can have deadly results for the personnel involved and can even imperil the security of the country.
I do hope this woman was promoted to this job based upon ability and not for public relations. Japan is NOT the United States. As such, I am going to assume this is the case. In the US, such an assumption would be iffy at best and I have little to no faith in the US government to do any of this right.
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