Courtney: Debate over women serving aboard subs not a factor in Groton

Groton - The Navy's decision to allow women to serve on submarines is "virtually a non-issue for Groton," according to U.S. Rep. Joe Courtney, since the plans do not currently include bringing women aboard fast-attack submarines.

The Naval Submarine Base in Groton is home to the smaller fast-attack submarines only.

During a briefing on Capitol Hill in Washington Tuesday, Vice Adm. John J. Donnelly, commander of the Navy's Submarine Force, described how women will be integrated into the crews on the larger ballistic-missile and guided-missile submarines from late 2011 to 2017.

Women officers would take a 10-week course at the Naval Submarine School in Groton. The base commander has already said it would not be a burden to accommodate them since female service members are already assigned to different organizations on the base and live in the barracks.

"There is absolutely no whiff of planning going on as far as fast-attack submarines are concerned," said Courtney, D-2nd District, who attended Donnelly's briefing. "And he (Donnelly) believes they would have to come back to Congress with a second notice to go that route because it would require structural changes to submarines."

Defense Secretary Robert Gates told Congress last month that the Navy plans to allow women to serve on submarines. Congress has 30 working days to weigh in.

Courtney said he has not heard of any strong, organized opposition to the policy change, probably because the scope of the Navy's plan is much more limited than many initially thought.

Women initially serving on the ballistic-missile and guided-missile submarines would be officers, and no structural modifications would be required to accommodate them.

"This is really not going to be that disruptive," Courtney said. "They're proceeding in a measured way."

Women from this year's classes at the U.S. Naval Academy, Reserve Officers Training Corps and Nuclear Propulsion Officer Candidate program would report to either Kings Bay, Ga., or Bangor, Wash., for submarine duty in late 2011, following training at nuclear-power and submarine schools.

It would take until at least 2027 for the first female officer to take command of a submarine, assuming a traditional officer career path is taken. It takes years for an officer to develop the skills and background necessary to command a nuclear submarine, through completing advanced training courses, serving at sea and rising through the ranks.

Donnelly has said that the Submarine Force needs to increase the talent pool from which it draws. Courtney said Donnelly stressed this motivation for the policy change during the briefing, citing increasing competition for nuclear-trained personnel from the commercial nuclear power industry.

Courtney said he was "completely convinced by that argument."

"Industry is going to be on the hunt for trained nuclear technicians and engineers, and that's going to put a lot of pressure on the Navy to hold onto its people," he said. "Officers in the nuclear Navy have a retention bonus that is as high as any retention bonus in the military, and it's still not enough."

Another factor influencing the change was the conversion of four former Trident ballistic-missile submarines to specialized guided-missile submarines for Special Forces and intelligence operations. This opened up more opportunities for women to participate in diverse missions within the Submarine Force.

j.grogan@theday.com