Military Review English Edition November-December 2013 | Page 55

U N I T Y BY D I F F E R E N C E
Lt. Blondell: Lieutenant, why are you
doing this?
Lt. Jordan O’Neil: Do you ask the men the
same question?
Lt. Blondell: As a matter of fact: yes, I do
ask them.
Lt. Jordan O’Neil: And what do they say?
Lt. Blondell: “Cause I get to blow shit up.”
Lt. Jordan O’Neil: Well, there you go.

Asking the Right Question

drive wedges among the force, we must become
more sophisticated in using these differences to
achieve an operational advantage.
We have to be careful not to apply these differences stereotypically or in broad-brush fashion.
These differences exist on an individual level more
than they exist on a group or sub-population level.
Therefore, it’s not that women, by their gender, are
more this or that. It is that an individual woman
has particular strengths and weaknesses, and the
sooner that we learn to focus on and optimize this
soldier’s strengths and shore up her weaknesses, the
sooner we will become a smarter, more optimized
force as a whole.
Our goal must be a singular force that achieves
and exploits unity through difference. To achieve
this singular force, we must decide the status quo
and incremental change are no longer acceptable
and must implement efforts that foster radically
adjusted mindsets and behaviors at all levels. The
actual doing is not the hard part; it is the decision
to act that is hard. Moreover, although forcing it

The answer to the question “What is the role of
women in the United States Army for the next 20
years?” is simple: the role of women, the role of
any minority, should be identical to the role of the
majority. In other words, women should be able to
do anything they are capable of doing.
If we are truly committed to enacting real change,
a more important question to ask ourselves is “What
is the role of leaders (the majority of them men)
in the U.S. Army over the next 20 years if we’re
going to achieve a fully inclu ???????????????)??????????????t?U???)?????????????????????????????)?????????????????)????????????????)?????????????????)??????????????????)?????)M??????????????)??????????????????)??????????????????????????????????)?????????????????)??????????????????)?????e???????????)????????$????????+?qM??????????t??5???????I?????9??????????????????)??????????????????)???????????????)?????????????????????????????????????)?????????????????)?????????????????M???1????????!???????????????????????????5???????A??????
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