prairie fire organizing committee

Masculinity and the U.S. Military

by Tim Looney
member of Prairie Fire Organizing Committee
Remarks at International Women's Day conference
05/03/02, Chicago

In November 1995 Admiral Richard C. Macke, then commander of all U.S. forces in the Pacific, held a press conference in response to the September 4 rape of a 12-year-old Okinawan girl by three U.S. soldiers. The rape had fueled the largest protest ever against the presence of US military personnel in Okinawa. On October 21, 1995 85,000 people gathered in a park in the city of Ginowan to demand the removal of all U.S. military personnel from their homeland. Macke’s response was “I think it (the rape) was absolutely stupid. I’ve said several times, for the price they paid to rent the car, they could have had a girl.” Macke was forced to resign for these remarks. However, his remarks made clear to all that the attitude towards women as sex objects, as commodities to be bought and sold, permeated the military and is deeply entrenched throughout the military hierarchy. The experiences I had while serving in the Marine Corps made clear to me that femininity and homosexuality are seen as weaknesses and are not to be tolerated.

I believe my story is not very different from other’s who join the U.S. military. After graduating from high school I worked for a few years in the construction industry. A recession hit and suddenly I was out of work. Not being able to afford college and not having any other job experience I turned to the military. I had seen enough commercials saying, “We don’t look for experience, we give it” to be fooled into signing up. I enlisted in the Marine Corps in January 1982. In May of that year I reported to the Marine Corps Recruit Depot in San Diego, California. For the next 3 months I underwent my indoctrination into the Marine Corps way of life. I learned about the so-called “glorious” history of the U.S. Marine Corps, about how the Marines were the first to fight and were called “leather necks” and “devil dogs” for their fierceness in battle. I learned the Marine Corps motto “always faithful” and that “once a Marine always a Marine”. We even had the opportunity to watch a few John Wayne movies in case we were unsure of how to act and fight like a man. I learned never to use the word “you” when referring to a drill instructor. “Ewe” is the word used to describe a female sheep. If we called a drill instructor you (ewe) it must mean that we want to have sexual relations with the drill instructor. We were taught to address the drill instructor as sir. Direct eye contact also meant we must desire the drill instructor sexually and was strongly discouraged. When we could not keep up on a run or hike we were called girls or sissies. The Marine Corps uses homophobia and misogyny as means to enforce what they see as masculine behavior. The message early on is for the recruit not to exhibit any behaviors that could be interpreted as gay or feminine and therefore weak.

In San Diego, where I went through boot camp, there were no women recruits. Even at the recruit depot at Parris Island, women and men go through boot camp separately. Women comprise only 6 percent of Marine Corps personnel. Although I did have contact with Women Marines after boot camp, I never worked directly with them. There was one woman that went through advanced training with me after boot camp in automotive mechanics. The few times I had conversations with her let me know that she was not very happy with her experience in the Marines. She expressed to me that she was unhappy that she was not treated equally with the male Marines she worked with. She felt she was as tough as any of the male Marines but would always be treated unequally because of her gender. Although I agreed with her I did not think there was anything that could be done to change things. There were also some women Marines that worked in the same unit I was when I was stationed at Camp Pendleton. They were drivers and I was a mechanic so we did not really have much day-to-day contact. I do not remember there being any women in my battalion while I was stationed in Okinawa. The four years I spent in the Marine Corps was as if I was in a male fraternity.

As a Marine stationed in Okinawa, most of the women you come in contact with are sex workers, many of them brought in from the Philippines to serve as prostitutes and strippers for the U.S. military personnel stationed in Okinawa. The rape of the 12-year-old schoolgirl, and thousands of similar crimes committed by U.S. soldiers stationed at home and around the world, is part of a continuum of the abuses perpetrated on women by members of the U.S. armed forces. From conversations with some of these women I learned many things. I learned that many of these women were educated, were very religious and did not become a sex worker by choice. I learned that the Filipina women working as strippers and prostitutes in bars frequented by U.S. soldiers live and work in slave like conditions. The little money they earn is sent home to their families. They often are not allowed to leave the premises where they live and work. They have been sold to the bar owners as part of the international sex trade. This trade exists with the full knowledge and support of both the U.S. and Japanese governments. The trafficking of women is seen as a necessary ingredient to the stability of U.S. forces in the Pacific. If the soldiers could buy a woman maybe they would be less likely to target so called “good” women to satisfy their sexual needs.

While I was stationed in Okinawa the colonel of my battalion, who felt bad about his boys being away from their families and loved ones back home during the holidays, tried to organize a “training exercise” that would put us in Thailand for Christmas and the Philippines for the New Year. The true purpose of this mission was a little “R & R” or “rest and relaxation”. He figured if we were in Thailand or the Philippines having sex with prostitutes we would not feel so lonely being away from our families. His attitude, prevalent in the marines, is that women, especially those women seen as less human, exist to satisfy the sexual needs of the U.S. soldier. The Philippines, Thailand and Korea are common destinations of U.S. soldiers looking for a little “R & R”. Many of the Marines I was stationed with would travel to the Philippines and come back with stories about their sexual exploits. About how inexpensive it is to buy a woman for an entire week and how you would often stay with the family for the week and share meals, etc. Occasionally these men would attempt to marry one these women and bring them home to the United States. The U.S. government made it extremely hard to do so. The message here was that these women were there to service military personnel. These were not the kind of women you should marry.

The objectification of and abuse of women by U.S. soldiers is not an aberration. Everywhere U.S. military personnel are stationed there are women who are working in the sex industry to serve the needs of these soldiers. Where women live in poverty working in the sex industry is often the only means to a livable income.

The closest I came to putting up any kind of resistance while serving in the military occurred while I was stationed in Okinawa. My unit had been put on high alert and we were told to be ready to fight at a moments notice. We had all of our gear packed and were waiting around for further instruction. A few of us were sitting around talking about what lies ahead and whether or not we would go fight. We had no real idea where we might be headed or why. We had decided that we did not want to go and were trying to decide how we could go about it. Since we were in Okinawa there was nowhere we could go and hide. We talked about just refusing and being sent to the brig (jail). That seemed like an option although how one might be received in a military prison for refusing to fight was a question. We were then all informed that we were off of alert and should return to our former positions. I have no idea if any of us would have had the courage to resist had the moment come up but I have great respect for anyone who refuses to go to war, especially a soldier.

It is hard for me to gauge exactly what affect my military experience had upon me. It certainly opened my eyes to the negative effects of U.S. militarism. In recent years I learned about various struggles against the U.S. military taking place around the world. I learned about the struggle of the people on the island of Vieques to stop the use of their homeland as a military training ground after the killing of David Sanes Rodriguez during U.S. naval training exercises on April 19, 1999. I learned about the work of Okinawan Women Act Against Military Violence, the GABRIELA Network and other groups led by women to stand up to U.S. militarism. I support their call for the complete removal of all U.S. military bases and personnel in Okinawa, the Philippines, Vieques, Puerto Rico, etc. I also support the efforts to end to the so-called “War on Terrorism”. The U.S. war on the people of Afghanistan is unjustified and against international law. The U.S. posing as saviors of the women of Afghanistan from the ruthless Taliban is totally reprehensible. The U.S. did not have any concern for the women of Afghanistan on September 10, 2001 and the truth of the matter is that the U.S. had no concern for these women on October 7, 2001 when they began bombing and killing them nor do they have any concern today. The U.S. also insists on calling the horrible events of September 11 an act of war but refuse to recognize the prisoners being held at Guantanamo Bay as Prisoners of War, preferring to call them terrorists and therefore criminals.

These experiences are why I am opposed to U.S. militarism and am a member of the Chicago Coalition Against U.S. Militarism.

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