Lt Gen. Laura Richardson will command 776,000 troops & 96,000 civilians in FORSCOM. In India, women were allowed into Territorial Army only this January.
New Delhi: While India is pondering over how far women are allowed to participate in the armed forces, a female lieutenant-general has taken over the largest army command in the United States.
Lt Gen. Laura J. Richardson is now commanding the United States Army Forces Command (FORSCOM), based in Fort Bragg, North Carolina, which comprises of 776,000 soldiers and 96,000 civilians. She takes over from Gen. Robert B. Abrams, who takes charge as commander of the United States Forces Korea.
This is in stark contrast to India where women were only allowed into the Territorial Army (TA) after Delhi High Court ruled in January that “any person” referred to in section 6 of the TA Act could mean men or women.
“This was very reluctantly accepted by the army,” a senior army law expert told ThePrint.
Also read: PM Modi’s ‘gift’ to women in the military is ornamentalism, could magnify the problem
Trailblazer Richardson
Richardson is a trailblazer, with an unparalleled track record for breaking the glass ceiling.
She joined the army in 1986, and has served as a military aide to the US Vice-President, as an army aviator and a liaison officer to the Senate.
In 2012, she took over as the first female deputy commanding general in America’s “First Team” (the 1st Cavalry Division). She became Abrams’s deputy in FORSCOM in 2017.
The recruitment of women in the US services has been rising for years — nearly 18 per cent of US Army officers are now female.
Women in Indian Army
The Indian Army began recruiting women in 1927, 32 years after it was founded. However, 91 years later, women continue to be recruited mostly for medical services. In 2015, the Indian Army had 5,660 women officers — 4,224 of them in the medical and nursing services.
Statistics as recent as March 2018 show that there are as few as 1,561 women officers in non-medical and nursing roles, compared to 41,074 men.
On Independence Day, Prime Minister Narendra Modi “gifted” the “daughters of India” the option to take permanent commission in the armed forces, “just like male officers”. But women have had that option for years. Permanent commission is a service of 20 years, which opens the door to other benefits like pensions.
Also read: Dear PM Modi, women of the armed forces have had permanent commission for years
But the army law expert said: “Even today, women are not allowed permanent commission in most branches of the military.”
The US Army has women at all ranks. Whereas, the IA has women only as Officers.
What’s good for the goose is not necessarily good the gander.
Why must we have to emulate & why do authors throw un researched ideas ?