The course, "Race, Class and Gender in the U.S. Military," will be a 300-level undergraduate seminar examining the military as a social institution. Using sociological concepts, theories and methods, Moore will analyze the internal organization and practices of the armed forces and the relationships between the military and other institutions.

Among the topics to be discussed are the recent congressional hearings and military policies regarding race relations, women in combat, sexual harassment and quality-of-life issues related to military personnel. The course also will address the effects of streamlining and downsizing on military life and structure.

Moore is uniquely qualified to develop the course. She served six years in the U.S. Army as an equal opportunity specialist and was recently appointed to the Department of Defense Advisory Committee on Women in the Services (DACOWITS). Her appointment requires her to travel to military bases all over the world to interview men and women in the military and report on their concerns and the conditions of their service.

She also is a member of the American Battle Monuments Commission and the author of "To Serve My Country, To Serve My Race," the story of the only group of African-American women who served overseas in the Women's Army Corps during World War II. Moore emphasized that the views expressed in this article are her own and do not reflect those of the Department of Defense, DACOWITS or the American Battle Monument Commission.

Decades of change

Moore pointed out that just as American society has undergone tremendous change in the decades following the second world war, so have the roles of women and minorities in the military, sped by the civil-rights and women's movements.

"We need to remember, however," Moore said, "that the military services, like other social organizations, have institutionalized practices once rooted in racist 'Jim Crow laws' and now reflected in patriarchal ideas about the proper 'place' of women."

She pointed out that although many black men have risen to positions of high military rank, it is in part because the percentage of military personnel who are members of the African-American and other minority groups is far greater than their representation in American society as a whole.

"Discriminatory and exclusionary practice isn't always overt," Moore added. "It can be subtle and still be pervasive and damaging. Racist laws and military regulations are no longer on the books, so race discrimination is no longer publicly sanctioned. It continues on a personal level, however, through biased supervisors who can severely alter a soldier's career using such weapons as an 'Article 15,' a non-judicial punishment that results in pay deduction and a reduction in grade. So on a formal basis, no racism is allowed, but on an informal basis, it is still practiced in the services.

"For women, the situation is different and worse," she added. "It is worse because discrimination is both formal and informal. The military is a defense organization, so success is measured in terms of combat experience-one has to have combat experience to rise to the top. Since women aren't legally allowed to serve in combat, standard routes of advancement are legally closed to them.

"I will state further that as military policy stands, women are legally restricted in their military role specifically because they are women and they suffer the consequences because they are women."

She noted, for example, that "in the services, a certain number of support positions must be available at all times so that combat troops can rotate into those positions. If women are not allowed to take combat roles, then those support positions also are not available to them.

Attractive opportunities limited

"The military is only 14 percent women right now, in part because the armed services limit attractive educational and employment opportunities for intelligent, strong, ambitious women," she pointed out.

Moore said topics her new course will examine include the military as an avenue of upward mobility and the consequences of its employment practices on different social groups and classes.

"I want to give the Department of Defense credit for being among the first institutions to offer equal pay for equal work to minorities and women," she added. "But if women continue to be excluded from certain military occupations, then they will not be able to compete for the highest military ranks on an equal basis with men."