Asian Women in the Military.

[Pan'duh ^.^]

I'm going into service for the US Navy in less than two weeks, and around my town, I do notice an increasing number of female servicemen of asian decent. I'm a little nervous and excited, but a lot of my college friends frown on me as a sellout... Is anyone else here in the service? Or have an expression to make about asian women in the military? Am I really a sellout? o_o; Lol. It was actually a very personal decision and now, after about six months of being in the delayed enlistment program, I'm finally on the fast track to bootcamp. Going out there to fight for my country. ^.^;; Or rather... :rolleyes: Fix and maintain jet engines for my country.

[SunWuKong]

what a coincidence. A great friend of mine from college, also Filipina, was in the Air Force. she also was dating, and eventually married, a Vietnamese guy. i don't know if she's still in the service though because she's done the number of years required of her for being in the ROTC program. she joined ROTC basically to help pay for her education, and this was back in 1995, years before 9/11, so it wasn't as much of a desire to "serve the country". her boyfriend at the time, now husband, was enlisted in the Navy. i think he's not in the Navy anymore and is now going to school. he went straight into the Navy after high school.

my friend was stationed in South Korea for a while, then when the Iraq War broke out, she was sent there. not sure how many times she was sent there as communication was sparse while she was over there and we've lost touch now. but according to another friend of mine who was in the Army, the Air Force people don't see much action and are basically pampered compared to the Army guys and the marines.

[pikotic]

Cool!!!!!!! We need more Asian women in the military! Its such a non-traditional role for women!! Good for you Pan'duh:)

[lethal]

My old high school classmate's little sister, Jessamyn Liu, just graduated Valedictorian from the Military Academy at West Point last year.

http://www.indypressny.org/article.php3?ArticleID=2698

http://www.dean.usma.edu/Scholarships/images/CDT_Liu06.jpg

[SunWuKong]

My old high school classmate's little sister, Jessamyn Liu, just graduated Valedictorian from the Military Academy at West Point last year.

http://www.indypressny.org/article.php3?ArticleID=2698

she is the first Chinese American to graduate Valedictorian there.

[kasia]

one of our former mods here joined the marines. his girlfriend is filipino -this tiny asian girl - also in the marines.

[n3bulous]

<insert hot asian import model in camouflage hotpants here>

[nfemw]

<insert hot asian import model in camouflage hotpants here>

Hot women are engaged in other professions.

[Banana]

Cousin is a captain in the Marines and the pay is pretty damn good at about 67k a year. They offered her an additional 35k for one more year in Iraq and she flatout refused.

[tripostrophe]

I don't consider it selling out at all -- I think it may be a bit more dangerous/stressful being a woman of color in the military though -- but dunno if there're any statistics to back me up on that.

[Golden Monkey]

I don't consider it selling out at all -- I think it may be a bit more dangerous/stressful being a woman of color in the military though -- but dunno if there're any statistics to back me up on that.

There is no such thing as women of color. That's a silly phrase invented by ignorant White people.

Actually there is a high rate of black female presence in the US military and they seem to do well.

Increasing numbers of Latinas as well.

Asians are underrepresented in the US military. Especially Asian females.

Maybe your fears are based around the image of smallish Asian females being harassed by large right wing White men in the military. And to a lesser degree black and hispanic males.

It's a volunteer military. Strong, self assured women can thrive as well there as in the private sector. It depends on what their goals are.

[hkRT]

I think asian women in the military have to be both mentally and physically very strong in addition to overcoming many extra hurdles. It's definitely not for anyone.

[Pookie_gal]

One of my good friends is in the Territorial Army, and she's currently serving in Iraq for 6 months. She's the only female in her group, and the only Chinese person. Really enjoys it (she actually gets a buzz out of being there?!) and says that all the guys are really sweet and act really protective towards her.

She's back in June, and I can't wait to have a proper chat to her. :smile:

[BigLew]

I'm going into service for the US Navy in less than two weeks

Fair winds and following seas.

[Adaon]

One of my high school friends (who happens to be Chinese American) went from being company commander in high school, to the highest ranking officer in the ROTC program in San Francisco. She was also one of the highest nationally ranked sharp shooters via ROTC. Went on to West Point and is now in MI (Military Intelligence). Miss her dearly, and enjoy hearing from her, but she's proud of what she does and misses those whom she trained/trained with (she's lost some of her "boys" in Iraq). And she knows full well that the ones she loves and left here in SF love her and are proud of her too.

Rock on, Viv, rock on. (Vivian Chiu, in case anyone got really curious on the West Point website)

[tripostrophe]

There is no such thing as women of color. That's a silly phrase invented by ignorant White people.

eheywhaaat? Please explain -- I'm confused, because I learned this term (people/women/etc. of color) in a sociology class, and it works okay for me -- I used to use minority way more, but I dunno. I use it because there's a sense of collective identity there, but dunno.

Actually there is a high rate of black female presence in the US military and they seem to do well.

Increasing numbers of Latinas as well.

Asians are underrepresented in the US military. Especially Asian females.

Maybe your fears are based around the image of smallish Asian females being harassed by large right wing White men in the military. And to a lesser degree black and hispanic males.

It's a volunteer military. Strong, self assured women can thrive as well there as in the private sector. It depends on what their goals are.

Cool, and yeah the main fear was harassment by people like you mentioned, but I'd think that it'd happen regardless of the individual's personality? e.g. Bruce Yamashita (A Most Unlikely Hero).

[Pan'duh ^.^]

Hey all, Pan'Duh reporting back from the armpit of the Navy. XD I survived, and am thriving... Cept a home-cooked meal is a commodity hard to come by in the Navy. Being raised almost exclusivly on Filipino food, going into a diet consisting comepletely of Galley food and fast food has had my body turning on me from the onset of my now almost 4 month old career... I have not had a normal bowel movement since before bootcamp. -_- Not happy about that, but am happy that I get to go home on leave for a little while next week. ^__^ Yay.

Now I get to look forward to 3 long weeks of being on hold for AD Core School. O_o; I'm the only female in a class of 38. Not a lot of female mechs out there in the fleet I'm guessing. :] Ah well. AD's are great people to hang around, and I've already met my future instructors. Professionals, but always quick to remind us that at the end of the day, we're all shipmates.

[kimpossible]

I'm going into service for the US Navy in less than two weeks, and around my town, I do notice an increasing number of female servicemen of asian decent. I'm a little nervous and excited, but a lot of my college friends frown on me as a sellout... Is anyone else here in the service? Or have an expression to make about asian women in the military? Am I really a sellout? o_o; Lol. It was actually a very personal decision

I'm not but my mother was. She made full lieutenant before she retired. I've never been in the military myself but I have worked for a law enforcement agency. Most were white but there were quite a few Asian Americans as well. Definite presence.

You don't owe anyone an explanation or apology as far as I'm concerned. But I'm a military brat so maybe I was born a sellout. I'm sorry that you're made to feel that way about joining the service.

[JesusIsmyFriend]

I've visited the AFB where BMT was being held last year, there was quite a large number of enlisted Filipinos there, as well as Officers.

[AsianEgg]

Cousin is a captain in the Marines and the pay is pretty damn good at about 67k a year. They offered her an additional 35k for one more year in Iraq and she flatout refused.

I would too

[mizhi]

but according to another friend of mine who was in the Army, the Air Force people don't see much action and are basically pampered compared to the Army guys and the marines.

I'm a deployed Army Officer in charge of several Air Force airmen. There are very strict rules on how I can task them. And they're very adamant about staying in their fields.

The Air Force trains their commo people well, and with some minor disciplinary problems, they've been an absolute pleasure to serve with. They've accomplished some amazing things here.

As for Asians in the services, sad to say that I've not seen too many in the Officer corp. At least at senior levels. Females are even rarer. At the more junior grades, I see more diversity, but not specifically Asian. I'm good friends with an Indian Captain, and one of my colleagues is a Navy LT who is Taiwanese. But that's about it for Asian. But like I said, it's non-specific diversity: my boss is black, another boss is Hawaiian, and a colleague is American Samoan. But they're all male. You see much more diversity in the enlisted ranks, and I've noticed an increase in Asian and Hispanic soldiers, of both genders.