Navy Secretary Ray Mabus is set to announce a number of policy changes and initiatives geared toward improving careers and overall quality of life for Marines and sailors. Particularly, there will be a focus on recruiting more women and improving opportunities for the Navy's active female personnel.
Mabus has been very vocal about supporting women in the Navy. The initiatives supporting his efforts are following a timeline that may be completed within the year, while fitness-related updates might not take effect until 2018. The office of the Chief of Naval Personnel Vice Admiral Bill Moran has also been busy gathering feedback from fleets on a variety of topics, from overhauling Navy Knowledge Online to opportunities for civilian training.
At the moment, the recruitment rate for women in the Navy is at 18 percent; for Marines, it's 5 percent. Mabus wants to change this, bumping up the number of female recruits to 25 percent. According to an official talking to NavyTimes, there was a concern that given the number of female graduates in high school and college, across a variety of specialties, not many find their way to the Navy and Marine Corps.
To more accurately reflect American society, the Naval services want to make women aware of all the possible jobs they can take while in the Navy and Marine Corps. Being part of the Navy doesn't mean being on the front line. There are also a number of clerical positions available, and each one is integral in ensuring Naval operations go smoothly.
Other initiatives being developed to recruit and retain women include increasing the time for maternity leaves, offering longer child-care hours and updating policies on co-location for couples in the military. They're also creating opportunities like career intermission programs that give sailors a break from their duties to explore educational and personal goals.
Mabus is also set to discuss updates to advancements involving both officers and those enlisted, which will include revamping the general training system followed by the military and the command advancement program.
Another major overhaul in the Navy, affecting both men and women, will involve the twice-yearly body composition assessment that all sailors undergo. Like the Defense Department, the Navy is considering adopting a more lenient stance on body fat limits, focusing instead on other measures of physical readiness.
Photo: Official U.S. Navy Page | Flickr
