Kellie Murphy

SOC 1010
Thomas Quinn
24 April 2014
The One Percent
Everyone has a group that they feel they belong to. Throughout ones life they
can be part of many groups, such as the athletic, geeky, or loner. You can also belong
to multiple groups such as the football team and a religious group. I have belonged to
many groups in my life that have helped shape who I am today. When I was 12 years
old I belonged to the youth group at my church as well as my dance team. When I was
15 I worked for the local grocery store. When I was 17 I joined the group of high school
graduates. Two weeks before I turned 18 I joined the group I would like to discuss in
this paper, and that is the Army Reserves. First I will go over history, social context, and
norms of the Army Reserves. Then I will discuss the theoretical view of functionalism
and how it is appropriate for the Army Reserves. Finally I will go over age, gender and
discrimination in the Army Reserves.
On April 23, 1908 the first form of the Army Reserves was born. The first form
was only Medical Officers that could be called in a time of emergency. In 1912 it was
passed that there would be a Regular Army Reserve that would extend outside medical
officers. During World War I the Army Reserve expanded. The Army Reserve has been
called to fight in about every major U.S. conflict in history. On June 16, 2011, I raised
my right hand a joined the Army Reserves as under the MOS of 31B or Military Police.
The birth of the modern Military Police Corps is 1941, one of the youngest branches in
the Army. There are a lot of soldiers in the Army who feel negatively toward MPs,
similar to how a lot of civilians feel about cops. Depending on the job that an MP is
assigned, it is very likely for an MP to have to detain a fellow soldier. Because of this
MPs have the nickname of Blue Falcon or buddy f***er. Army Reserve members
typically meet once a month for two days for some kind of training depending on their
unit and then for two weeks for annual training, also called AT. I have been in the Army
Reserves for almost 3 years and while in the Army Reserves I have been to a few drills,
one AT, and deployed to Afghanistan. Throughout my 3 years in the Army Reserves I
have learned a lot of slang that is used regularly in the Army. In the Army it is
mandatory to wear a uniform. There are Army Regulations, also known as ARs, which
are rules for soldiers to follow. It is normal for NCOs (Non-commissioned Officers) to
throw out ARs when they see a soldier who is jacked up.
The gist of the functionalist perspective is that society is a whole unit and each
group works together for a common goal or lifestyle. The Army Reserves works with
every other group by providing protection to the civilians of the United States and to
some extent the civilians of the world. In the Army Reserves order is preserved by
having punishments or sanctions for disobeying a superior officer. The Army is
constantly replacing its members. There are many recruitment campaigns and recruiters
stationed all over the United States. The recruiters will go to public places such as
schools or malls to try and pick out candidates that look the part. The Army has
probably the most effective way of socializing its new members. If you want to join the
Army, it is mandatory to go through Basic Combat Training (BCT). BCT is a 10 week
training that puts your mental and physical strength to the test. You are constantly being
yelled at and brought down by having to do physical training, also known as getting
smoked. You also have to go through a gas chamber. It has CS gas, which is harmless
for the most part but does make you cough, make your eyes hard to open, and clear out
your nose. Dysfunctions of the Army Reserves are similar to those of bureaucracies.
For example there is a major lack of communication between leaders which makes it
difficult to get some jobs or training done. The hierarchy is so spread out which is what
causes that difficulties in communication. There is a lot of alienation in the Army. There
are many times that individuals feel like a pawn rather than a real living being. I felt that
the functionalist perspective was the best way to look at the Army because I made the
most connections between the characteristics of the functionalist perspective and the
Army.
The Army has fairly strict requirements to join, for example you have to be
between certain ages. The oldest that you can be to join the army is 35. The reasoning
for this is because it is widely accepted that your body cannot handle the same things at
35 as you could when you are 17. The minimum age to join the army is 17 with a
parental consent. This is how old I was when I joined, and I had to have both my
parents sign a consent form even though I was turning eighteen in two weeks. I did not
want to wait since I was going to do it anyway. In the Army there are people of many
ages. I have served with soldiers that were reaching into their 50s and were still in, most
of the time the soldiers that are that old didn't participate in the physically extensive
activities. In my experience and the soldiers I have served with were between the ages
of 20 and 40. In the army there are mostly males. In my unit here in Utah there are only
five females that I have met. I was told that there are about thirty to forty people in the
unit. I have heard a statistic during training that females make up about 14 percent of
the military. In the past there were many restrictions on what job females could hold in
the military. Recently the government has changed those restrictions. For example
combat jobs such as the infantry and some engineering jobs. I have talked to a lot of
females about this and they feel that it is kind of pointless since many female Military
Police have already been put on the "frontline" in Iraq and Afghanistan. Many people felt
that it was discrimination against females to not let them participate in those combat
roles. But even though that may be discrimination, the biggest problem of discrimination
is that there are a lot of sexual assaults in the Military. According to the statistics
released by the Pentagon, in July 2012 to June 2013 there were 3,553 thousand reports
of sexual assault. During that same period of time there were 219 casualties in
Afghanistan and Iraq making it 15 times more likely to get raped by a fellow soldier then
killed by an enemy. (Caitlin Bancroft). This clearly shows that sexual assault or
discrimination is an issue in the Military.
In conclusion there are tons of groups in society, and I am in many of them. But
the most dominant in my life is the Army Reserves. There is a rich history that helps
shape who I am today. There are many norms in the Army that may seem odd or
confusing to people who are not in the Army. The functionalist view the view that I felt
made the most sense when reading the characteristics of functionalism. And finally in
the Military there are strict age requirements. There is a large gender gap in the Army,
and that leads to major discrimination.






Works Cited
Bancroft, Caitlin. "Pentagon Releases Startling New Statistics On Military Sexual
Assault." PolicyMic. 08 Nov. 2013. Web. 29 Apr. 2014.
"Military Police Corps." Global Security. Web. 30 Apr. 2014.
"U.S. Army Reserve History." Global Security. Web. 30 Apr. 2014.