On the 25th of May, it will be 17 years since my father, General John R. Guthrie, died and was buried with full military honors at Arlington Cemetary. I spent my birthday that year with him at Walter Reed, and I always spend a lot of time thinking about him and those final days during this month.
Lately, because of what's going on in the military under the current leadership, I wonder what he would be thinking/saying about the way the military is being led, and, particularly, what he would say about the actions being taken to purge the military leadership of women and Black men. Among those purged so far: U.S. Navy Vice Adm. Shoshana Chatfield, former U.S. military representative to the NATO Military Committee, Adm. Lisa Franchetti, the first woman to serve as the highest-ranking officer of the U.S. Navy, and Adm. Linda Fagan, the first woman to lead the U.S. Coast Guard, and Gen. Charles Brown Jr., the first Black chief of staff of the Air Force and the second Black general to serve as chairman.
My father believed deeply that people who lead the military and the Department of Defense should be representative of the people they lead and that women and minorities should have a truly equal opportunity to serve at the highest ranks of the military and the civilian leadership. He spoke out against segregated Army units at Fort Sill, Oklahoma in the mid-1950's, and he won an award later in his career for actions he took to make achievement of equal opportunity objectives a criteria on which officers would be evaluated for promotion. It is no accident that the first woman ever to be promoted to four star rank in the military was promoted to lead the same command my father led at the end of his career where he sowed the seeds for achieving what he saw as a moral imperative.
In the fall of 1979, my father gave the keynote address at the DOD formal observance of the Federally Employed Women's Program where he described his beliefs, the goals he believed the DOD should be striving to achieve, and sought to enlist all in the cause of justice.
He said in the speech that "we must accord women and minorities in DOD the full measure of equality that is their birthright as citizens of this great nation."
"And I believe we must do so not because it is the law, but because it is right! -- because it is right! It's right that we take affirmative action now to assure equal opportunity for all those elements of our society which have for too long been subjected to discrimination in one form or another, personal or institutional, unintentional or intentional."
There is no doubt in my mind that he would give the same speech today, and that, if he did so, he would be asked for his resignation.
Here's the full text of that speech. I hope it inspires you as it inspires me each time I read it.
DOD FEDERAL WOMEN'S PROGRAM KEYNOTE ADDRESS by General John R. Guthrie, Commanding General, DARCOM
PENTAGON, WASHINGTON D.C. NOVEMBER 1979[1]
I am deeply honored to be invited here this morning to sound the Keynote as the Department of Defense begins its formal 1979 observance of the Federal Women's program, and to talk about DOD Women on the Move. I must say that my primary feeling in approaching this task is one of deep humility, which has only been reinforced by Ms. Carpenter's introduction. It is both an uplifting and humbling experience to share this platform and this room with friends and associates who have long been active in the struggle to obtain equal rights and equal opportunity for women and men, civilian and military, who serve in, with, and for the armed services of the United States of America.
Let me say at the outset that while I am encouraged by the progress we are making in reaching toward the goal of equal opportunity for all employees in the federal sector, particularly those in the Department of Defense, it is at best only a beginning. I, like many if not' all of you here today, still ask, "How long? How long will it be until that goal is achieved?"
There can be no doubt that this is one of the most significant questions to which we in the Department of Defense and throughout this country must find an answer in the 19801s. And it must be an answer not in words, promises, or visions, but an answer in action. We must accord women and minorities in DOD the full measure of equality that is their birthright as citizens of this great nation.
And I believe we must do so not because it is the law, but because it is right! -- because it is right! It's right that we take affirmative action now to assure equal opportunity for all those elements of our society which have for too long been subjected to discrimination in one form or another, personal or institutional, unintentional or intentional.
We are here today to talk about DOD Women on the Move and what we as movers can do to help them move further, upward, faster. That is quite right and as it should be. But let me also suggest to you that those means that we devise to continue to advance federal women must be compatible with and complementary to our other Equal Employment Opportunity and Affirmative Action plans which cover those other groups of individuals who also have been previously denied their full and fair opportunity.
But our focus today is on Federal Women … On the Move.
Although no law or regulation states the issue quite this way, I think the motto of The Revolution, the paper edited by Susan B. Anthony, succinctly and graphically sums the issue. That motto read: "The True Republic -- men, their rights and nothing more. Women their rights and nothing less."
I can only assume that one of the reasons for my presence here today is the equal employment opportunity/equal opportunity record that the Army Materiel Development and Readiness Command (DARCOM) has compiled in the recent past, a record compiled in moving toward our objective to make DARCOM the model for equal employment opportunity and equal opportunity, not only in the Army, but throughout the Federal sector. And you and I know what that would mean throughout the nation.
In a few moments, I will describe some of the programs that have contributed to that record of achievement. At the same time, I want to make clear that I do not for one moment believe that we in DARCOM have accomplished all that can be done; all that ought to be done; all that I hope will be done in the very near term; all that must be done. The successes reflected in our record are the result of efforts by men and women working every day to help EEO and EO become, not legislative or statistical results, but integral moral and mental positions within the command. At DARCOM we do not focus on statistics, or on the letter of the statutes that mandate equal opportunity. I would rather we take guidance from the words of Alexander Solzhenitsyn: "A society based on the letter of the law and never reaching any higher fails to take advantage of the full range of human possibilities."
People are the most important aspect of any effort. It is therefore the duty, -- the duty -- of every manager and supervisor to do whatever can be done to encourage and support the fullest development of each individual's potential. Where this is not done, an injustice is committed: an injustice to the individual; an injustice to the institution; an injustice that is not an abstraction or a philosophical point; but one that is a moral and social injustice because we fail to perform right actions based on right principles. This moral and social injustice today is no more prevalent than in our failure as managers and supervisors, to appreciate and employ fully the talents and productivity of American women.
At DARCOM, despite our imperfect record, I believe our men and women have made and are making special efforts to act rightly, to take concrete action, and to provide leadership that offers the women in our workforce the opportunity to develop their various skills in all job areas, including the so-called "non-traditional ones." In fact, as the title of our DARCOM film says, DARCOM women are "on the move" -- on the move through our recently reconstituted and reinvigorated Upward Mobility Program, our Career Intern and Materiel Acquisition and Readiness Executive Development Programs, and through incentive awards. More and more, women who want to get out of the "traditional jobs," out of general office services, accounting, and supply career fields, are coming to our Federal Women's Program coordinators and discovering what is available within their fields of ability and personal interest.
In the last three years, since FY 77, DARCOM has succeeded in doing some extraordinary things in developing opportunities for women employees. The percentage of women in our workforce of 102,000 plus civilians has increased from 25.8 percent to 28.5 percent. Almost 2,500 women are now in wage grade positions. They comprise 2.3% of the total wage grade employees as compared to 1.9% in FY 77, while 26.2 percent of our General Schedule positions are filled by women.
Among the wage grade positions held are supervisory positions in the Warehouseman and Packing and Assembly Line fields, and non-supervisory positions in those fields and others, such as Heavy Equipment Mechanics, Electronics Mechanics, and Munitions Line Operators.
However, as we all know, statistics often conceal more than they reveal. Although it is very true that large numbers lie behind these figures, what is more significant is how our women are distributed within the grade structure.
Some two weeks ago, Ms. Sally Clements, who is here with us this morning, the Army's first woman supergrade, an alumna of DARCOM, and the present Deputy for Materiel Acquisition Management in the Office of the Assistant Secretary of the Army (Research, Development, and Acquisition)talked with the Headquarters' DARCOM senior managers at my monthly, Commander's Call for military and civilian supervisors. If I may, I'd like to quote from her remarks some very interesting, and disturbing, facts:
It is generally believed that the Federal Civil Service is more supportive of the upward mobility of women in the workforce than private industry. However, a Federal intelligence report makes it clear that women are not about to take over the United States Government. They now hold 42 percent of white-collar Government jobs. In these white-collar jobs, I think it is significant to note, women hold a whopping 77 percent in grades 1 through 4. They hold 60 percent of those in grades 5 through 8, but only 5 percent of the GS 14 and 15 groups, and a meager 3 percent of the super grades.
DARCOM's performance in the GS 1-8 grade
categories, unfortunately, mirrors that of the federal sector. However, from GS
9 through GS 12, the strength of DARCOM women is commensurate
with their representation in our total workforce. Our intern programs, for
example, both in scientific and non-scientific areas, have helped us meet or
exceed our goals for women in GS 11-12 grades. They now comprise 13 percent of
the total GS 11-12 population.
Above GS 12, however, DARCOM again mirrors the federal sector. We have only 3 percent GS 13-14's, only 7 women GS 15’s; and no women members of the Senior Executive Service. This is despite the fact that we have had a goal of at least one woman supergrade for several years and still have not achieved it. We have had, if you will, the "good intention," but have never succeeded in turning that intention into a reality, not, I assure you -- that is the goal is not, I assure you -- as a token, but as a means of assisting us in establishing a lasting infusion of women at all levels of our structure.
In short, we can simply not wait for women to come to us or to our FWP managers. EEO doesn't just happen; it comes about only if managers and supervisors at all levels are dedicated, committed, and participate themselves. The sine qua non for a successful FWP program, or any other EEO or EO program, is the active involvement of managers at all levels.
My point is this: it is past time that we take our intentions, noble as they may be, founded on the highest moral principles and values though they may be, and turn them into concrete actions with concrete results.
I do not know why good intentions so often fail to produce results: one much wiser than I once said that even the "road to hell is paved with good intentions," implying that there is, in human nature, an inertia in changing norms and behavior patterns. It is here, if you will, that the truly dedicated and committed become involved and press hard against the closed doors of inequality of opportunity and injustice.
What can be done, here and now, to break down these doors once and for all? If the law, and the intentions and commitment of top management prove, for whatever reason, too slow in changing attitudes throughout the Defense structure (as they have); it is my belief that we must concentrate our energy to change behavior as a precursor to changing attitudes and to require compliance as a precursor to and developer of commitment.
In this regard, I believe this is a particularly auspicious time for all of us, and particularly for those of us in the Army. As we all know, the Civil Service Reform Act requires, for the Senior Executive Service, that supervised and supervisors develop individual and organizational goals and objectives from which they can mutually develop standards against which performance is ultimately evaluated in an individual's performance appraisal. Meeting the Equal Employment Opportunity requirement is a mandated factor in each such appraisal.
The Army has gone a step further, designating EEO and Affirmative Action as a critical element, one of a relative few, in performance appraisals. And we all know that for a senior executive to be eligible for a performance award, he or she can be rated no lower than "fully satisfactory" in any critical element.
Within DARCOM, I expect that all GS 13-15 managers and supervisors, as they come under the merit pay provisions of the Act, will also be expected ·to achieve an equivalent rating with regard to EEO/EO initiatives and programs. Ultimately, this same provision for active, visible support will extend throughout DARCOM's civilian rating structure.
Six days ago, the Army also inaugurated a new Officer Efficiency Report which fundamentally calls for the same type of performance appraisal. This change, it seems to me, gives us the further opportunity to require that our officers also demonstrate their commitment to EEO and EO, and I have initiated action to require this within DARCOM.
One word of caution: we must guard carefully
against the check the box" or "rubber stamp" syndrome in rating
both civilians and military on their demonstrated performance with respect to
equality of opportunity and affirmative action. I believe that will be quite
easy if we are alert. A supervisor who allows that tendency to develop in his
or her appraisals should be easy to identify and be a likely candidate for
corrective action.
Given this favorable environment then, the question is still, "How?" How do we turn good intentions into concrete actions with concrete results?
I believe you can only start at the top -- with the leader, the commander, whatever his or her title may be. The leader's commitment -- sincere, total commitment -- however, does not in itself assure success. I found that out the hard way last summer when my Headquarters' EEO program was rated "unsatisfactory" by a Department of Army Personnel Management Survey Team because they could not find a commitment at middle management levels. But if the leader’s commitment does not, in itself, assure success, I can assure you that the leader's lack of commitment will assure failure.
So, you must start at the top. What next?
In DARCOM we have gone to the next level --
my deputies, directors, office chiefs, and other senior supervisors and
managers, both military and civilian. Here we have recently conducted a senior
executive seminar to develop and express visible personal commitments
from our top management to organizational goals based on a consensus of
individual values. What we believe we have achieved is the crystallization of
personal thinking and commitment so that we have an EEO/EO program reinforced
by "up-front" personal and organizational values which our
intermediate managers and supervisors, and all our men and women, can see and
emulate.
In short, we have stated clearly that women and minorities who desire to advance careers in any position or in any job category have the unqualified support of management in their quest. By management, I don't just mean the Federal W6men Program managers, as important as they are in providing information, assistance, encouragement and advice. I mean all men and women supervisors in all GS and Wage Grade managerial positions.
So, having started at the top, the next step is ensuring that everyone on down the line gets the word – and is infected with the virus. I think the buzzwords these days are that we must "flow down." ·But I am here today, fresh from a visit yesterday to our DARCOM integrated Civilian Personnel/Equal Employment Opportunity/Equal Opportunity Conference to tell you that "flow down" will not work. The words are "PUMP DOWN." We need to force feed the word, and we must never forget that fact.
Our principal task is to create throughout the organization a climate of support and help for
women who are willing to take career risks and to confront the rough spots in
the road to personal advancement. Few
individuals, men or women, can successfully reach their full potential unless
they are encouraged and supported by others, unless they have knowledge of and
understand what is available, and what are the risks and the rewards.
This subtle yet critical pattern of positive encouragement is that which, in my opinion, all managers and supervisors must develop and exercise if we are to be honest and just in our employment and advancement practices.
So far, I have concentrated my thoughts on the civilian DOD workforce, understandably so, given DARCOM's preponderance of civilians, about ten for every one military. But we are, for all this, still a military organization, and I would now like to turn briefly to the uniformed services before concluding.
Although it is an overworked cliche, and one too often used to mask a lack of initiative, I still find some validity in the old saying that people are to a very great extent what their societies either force or permit them to be. We as a society, and the defense establishment as a reflection of that society, are finally beginning to remove the restraints on what women in the uniformed services are allowed to do.
Let me illustrate with an example from the Active Army.
As part of our ongoing re-assessment of human design factors, we are presently conducting tests to determine what cockpit modifications are necessary in our aircraft to allow more women to participate in our helicopter training and operation program. At present, design limits based on anthropometric criteria allow us to accept from the fifth to the ninety-fifth percentile of all males otherwise qualified. However, the fifth male percentile cut-off occurs at approximately the same point as the fiftieth female percentile. In other words, half of all women in the Army, all women soldiers, would automatically be denied entrance to the program because of human engineering design criteria. If other parameters (such as cost and aircraft performance) remain relatively stable, the ongoing studies of our UH-1 helicopter may well affect all of our other aircraft (to include our combat helicopters)so that women as pilots can ferry them (as they did Army Aircraft in World· War II) or, should the nation so decide at some future date, so that women can participate in combat in those aircraft.
Speaking of women as helicopter pilots leads naturally to the question of "non-traditional jobs" in the uniformed services. Women in the service have an unparalleled opportunity to acquire hard skills in mechanical, electronic, and other technical areas which, for so long, have been deemed "male jobs." I would urge all commanders, a11 civilian supervisors and managers, and all service recruiters to emphasize not only the non-traditional opportunities available to women while they are in service, but the personal advantages of acquiring advanced skills in those areas for possible later use after a full and satisfying career in the uniformed services.
Nor must, or should, such opportunities be limited to full-time military women. Similar skills and opportunities exist for women in our National Guard and Reserve components. In fact, for the 7 million women who are heads of households, a triple benefit may exist in joining these service components because members receive supplemental income now, participate in a second retirement system if they meet length-of-service requirements, and acquire a skill which can improve their present civilian income or, later in life, provide them new opportunities for full time employment.
That those skills gained in such non-traditional military pursuits, once these skills are mastered, can be converted into economically remunerative work, is readily apparent, and I will not belabor the point.
These are some of the basic monetary facts which I feel we are obliged, in all fairness, to point out to women who are interested in joining either the uniformed or civilian service. They are not the only facts; they should not be unduly stressed, but they should be brought to light at the time that career decisions and plans are being formulated. Men traditionally have learned the work system and how to plan their careers within it. Again, there is no reason why women should not be provided the same guidance and assistance that men receive in order to develop fully their contributions to the organization and to their own self-fulfillment.
In my view, again it is a question of attitude on the part of leaders, managers, and supervisors -- an attitude of caring about and for individual women and men, whether they be military or civilian. It is a question of each of us being honest with ourselves, of not hiding behind words, lines on a graph, percentages or percentiles. Such avoidance of the reality behind the lines and numbers reveals, to put it bluntly, a lack of integrity because in so acting we fail to confront the fundamental reality – people and equality of opportunity for all of our people.
I, like everyone I guess, am always pleased to see "favorable" trend lines. But the real sweat, toil, and heartache cannot in any way be captured by such antiseptic aids. Too often, I fear that we who have the greatest responsibility and the greatest opportunity to effect changes tend to lose touch with the human concerns as we concentrate on the day-to-day problems of indistinct and indistinguishable "resources." As a result, we today still find too few women in those positions of influence and authority for which they are eminently qualified. I need only observe that in all the Department of Army, there are only two women super grades, and I have to confess that DARCOM has neither.
As a commentary on this lack of participation in positions of meaningful authority, I would recall to your minds that on 28 October we
observed the 93rd anniversary of the dedication of that great symbol of America, the Statue of Liberty. It occurs to me that all our national symbols, in fact, all our revered and most powerful moral and natural virtues -- are invariably accorded the female gender. Yet within our society, women have been denied the equality, the liberty, the freedom, and the justice which is rightly theirs. I
think this historic disparity is something all of us, men and women alike, must confront and must cause to end -- now. And your discussions during the next three days can be a first step toward ending this disparity.
A second and vitally important step, in my
opinion, is a dawning recognition among top managers -- both civilian and military -- that we must devote a great deal more of our personal effort, attention, and time to our people, to managing, caring for and developing them,
than we have ever done in the past.
In all I've said this morning, the main thought I've tried to convey is that each of us must work together to provide the opportunities, information about opportunities, and encouragement to the women in or entering the Department of Defense, whether civilian or military. Our job is to ameliorate the constraints of society so that women can advance, so that they can move freely into and upward in "non-traditional" as well as "traditional" jobs. Women are ready, willing, and able to make their own way if they are given an equal chance, if they are informed of the possibilities open to them, and if they actively seek them out.
My observation and interpretation of human behavior over some 41 plus years association with the United States Army tells
me that, with a goal before them, motivation from within, and support from others, people will strive mightily to reach their objectives. I urge every woman, every man, to establish meaningful and challenging goals for themselves, and then to pursue the attainment of these goals through such means as education, on the job training, and so on. Ours has always been and remains
today a land in which individual effort is the key to success.
Such individual effort, together with the support and encouragement of others and a management structure dedicated to providing women a new deal, a fair deal, or a square deal1 as the old political slogans said, are the force which can today, and will, push open the doors that should never have been closed to anyone for any reason.
In Periclean Greece, where democracy began, the historian Thucydides was once approached by a citizen with this question: "Sir, when will justice come to Athens?" The great man, without hesitation, replied, "Justice will not come to Athens until those who are not exploited are as indignant as those who are."
I ask today, in this, the world's greatest democracy, "When will justice come to America?" The answer is written in the heart, the mind, and the will of each of us. If we are honest, that answer is, "Justice will not come: it is here now if only I will take the first step."
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