Say Goodbye to All The Seamen, The Navy is Removing 'man' From All Job Titles

NavyTimes – It could spell the end of time-honored Navy titles like fireman and seaman. The Navy secretary has ordered the service to review all job titles and consider removing any reference to “man” in them, a move that could force name-changes to nearly two dozen specialties, from airman to yeoman. Navy Secretary Ray Mabus ordered the scrub as the force prepares to open the last remaining billets to women sailors in Marine ground combat elements and the Navy SEALs.

“Lastly, as we achieve full integration of the force … this is an opportunity to update the position titles and descriptions themselves to demonstrate through this language that women are included in these positions,” Mabus wrote, according to sources who quoted directly from the letter. “Ensure they are gender-integrated as well, removing “man” from their titles, and provide a report to me as soon as is practicable and no later than April 1, 2016.” Mabus sent the directive to Chief of Naval Operations Adm. John Richardson. A similar memo and mandate was sent to the Marine Corps commandant, asking for the same job title review.

Some hallowed titles like seaman could be tough to replace, but others could be swapped with gender neutral descriptors as the service has done before. In 2005, for example, officials changed personnelman, a rating where many women had served, to personnel specialist. There are at least 20 job titles that include the word “man.” Aviation has the most to review, with five of their 12 enlisted rating descriptions ending with “man.” Surface engineering includes eight. Those don’t include the traditional entry-level designations for non-rated sailors as well as designated strikers. How the Navy finds gender neutral titles for airman, seaman and fireman is likely to prove challenging, as well as for the Seabee and medical titles of constructionman and hospitalman for non-rated sailors.

You know, I’m used to the gender neutralization of job titles by now. Sometime in between getting lectured on a plane as a kid for calling a flight attendant a stewardess and present day, a switch flipped and I realized that acknowledging gender in a job title pisses people off. So on that level, I get this. Whatever. The Navy wants every body it can get and scraping the dicks off the job titles probably helps with that. That’s fine. But what I can’t abide is a world where the Navy isn’t filled with people who call themselves seamen. That’s a goddamn travesty. True story, I know a guy who’s last name is Seaman. Met him at summer camp when I was 13 or 14. I said “Hi, I’m Ryan, but everybody calls me Sobol.” He said, “Hey, I’m Kevin, but everybody calls me Sticky.” A few years later he joined the Navy where I presume he was called Seaman Sticky Seaman. WHO WANTS TO LIVE IN A WORLD WHERE THAT CAN’T HAPPEN? Not this guy, I’ll tell you that much.