Customer Reviews

In the Men's House

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

I had the pleasure of meeting Carol Barkalow back in the early 90s when she came to Fort Ord to brief my Brigade Commander. She gave me the impression of being a pretty switched on officer who really wanted to do her job and not obsess over this book she wrote. Kudos to her.

I found this story interesting but in the end unsatisfying. It is broken into three sections. The first portion chronicles the author's four years at West Point. The next delves into her experiences as an Air Defense Lieutenant in Germany and the final section looks at Barkalow's time as a commander of a Fort Lee, Virginia based truck company.

By far, the best section is the West Point chapter. Here we see the first female cadets and the institution come to grips with each other. Barkalow is very even handed. We see an old and esteemed institution trying to come to grips with its being forced to admit females into its ranks. All in all one gets the impression that most of the leaderships' actions to accomidate the new cadets was haphazard and sloppy......but normally well intended. And of course we see the backlash from males (mostly cadets) who couldnt come to terms with the change. This section is pure gold.

The next section is good but not near as good as the West Point chapter. Here we see newly commissioned Lieutenant Barkalow as she goes through her first duty assignments in an Air Defense Battalion. Mostly we see the norm; a fresh and inexperienced officer trying to learn the trade. Still, there are a few gender issues to look at. Some of which are kind of funny. A good example of this is Barkalow's Battalion Commander kissing her on the cheek upon her promotion to First Lieutenant.

The final section looks at Barkalow's tour as company commander of the Fort Lee Virginia based 57th Transportation Company. This final chapter is awful, mainly because it is poorly organized. The author will in one paragraph discuss a company field evaluation, jump into a rant about how unfair it is that female soldiers cant get free abortions on post in the very next paragraph then hop into a discussion by one of her commanders on leadership. Just too disjointed for me!

The book also includes a photograph section. While many of the photos are good choices, many are pointless. In particular, there are three pics of a Cadet Barkalow assisting the Delaware National Guard in training. I dont understand why she included these pictures as she does not mention this activity in the book at all! There is also a photo of a Lieutenant Barkalow accepting some sort of unit physical fitness award. Again, no mention of this in the story.

Finally, there is a fairly quiet but relentless advocacy of allowing females to serve in combat all through the book. This bothers me on many levels. First, Barkalow doesnt make the argument well. I would like to see a little more than "well, my friends think it would work!". Add to that, the author is somewhat of a postergirl for not allowing females in combat. As a cadet, she is still falling out of physical training runs in her final year! Add to that a diary exerpt of hers where she states she could not kill another human being unless it was in self defense. And then there is her fraternization with a subordinate in Germany. But the most important problem I have with this is that she was allowed to get away with it. Had she spoke out the other way, she almost certainly would have been cashiered soon after this book was published. Dont believe me? The author mentions and criticizes an article by author, Naval Academy grad and former Marine Jim Webb that called for not allowing females in the Naval academy. Mr. Webb was a civilian at the time he wrote the article so the Marines couldnt do much. However, Mr. Webb was unofficially banished from the academy until he was appointed Secretary of the Navy years later.

In the end, this is an important book for those considering issues surrounding women in military service. But its far from perfect!

I read this book in 1990 while a cadet at West Point. I found CPT Carol Barkalow's experience to be somewhat similar to my own. It was a fairly good representation of what a woman would experience at the United States Military Academy, at Airborne Training and in the United States Army upon commissioning as an officer. I would recommend this book to a young woman (high school--15-21 years old) who was considering attending any of the United States Service Academies and I would practically mandate it for a woman who desires to go to the United States Military Academy at West Point. This book may also prove interesting for others who are interested in the military or in general leadership principles. Things have definitely changed at West Point these days but this book still portrays a very realistic view of what a female cadet would currently experience.

I had heard bad things about this book several years ago from friends who were also graduates of West Point, so I read it myself to find out. I remember Barkalow from times in the hand to hand combat pits where she was teaching hand to hand at West Point to when she was stationed across the street in Germany. In my opinion, most of the things that she says that occurred to her at West Point because she is a woman are questionable. I do know that I had much of the same harassment at West Point as a male Cadet and had similar rough times as an Air Defense Lieutenant in Germany. It is a bit too sensationalized to be accurate in my opinion. Read Gail O'Sullivan's book (Tough As Nails) if you want a more accurate portrayal.

Little of the humor or insight of other books by women from West Point. Not worth the cost.

I was a Plebe (freshman) at West Point when Cpt. Barkalow was a junior. I served in the same company (A-3) as she did and was also in the same squad for a time. She was a no nonsense person of absolute integrity. I'm glad to see this story get out because even at the time of these events they were not common knowledge to fellow cadets. Recommended reading reading for anyone interested in how females have integrated into the military. Would be interested in an update given the current Iraq war in which women are in the front lines.

This book originally aroused my interest because I was especially interested in an inside account of West Point from a woman's point of view. I was delighted when I realized that the book also claimed to follow the author's career through the military; the book seemed like a great vantage point from which I could learn about the military from a woman.

Although I found the first section of the book, that about West Point, interesting, I found myself wishing that Barkalow had gone into more detail about life and issues at West Point than she did -- I'm sure that the book was carefully monitored by the army and West Point for content but I still felt like I was left hanging on some of the issues that she /started/ to address.

The West Point section was interesting and entertaining. It had me cheering the author (and other women) on and scowling when they were faced with obstacles. The other sections in this book did not have my attention as focused, but were relatively interesting. If not for anything else, read this book for the West Point chapter.

I was especially interested in the West Point aspect of the book because I have considered "applying to" the academy (or the Navy academy). I was hoping for a little more discussion of problems and obstacles that females specifically faced and possibly overcame. Even so, I commend Barkalow on a decent book.

Until I read this book I had no real idea what it's like for a woman in the military. I always harbored dreams of a military career, but it was an idealistic dream. I assumed that prejudice wouldn't exist because the military was integrated. Cpt. Barkalow's stark account of her experience in the Army, both at West Point and within her tour, showed me the reality of the military. Not only does she include her experiences and opinion, but she includes many co-workers, male and female alike. She presents a well rounded perspective on the integration of women in West Point and women in command. She does not shy away from the rough stuff, but tells it exactly as it happened. I believe this book conains valuable information for any woman interesting in enlisting, or for anyone who would like a female officers perspective on many issues dealing with women in the military. Cpt. Barkolow has done an outstanding job portraying the facts. This is why I rate this book overall a 10. I've passed this book along to many friends and there are still more who want to read it. It's a must read. Try to find it if you can.

Carol Barkalow was raised about 25 miles from where I live. She became one of the first women to attend the United States Military Academy at West Point, New York in 1976 and graduate from there in 1980.

As I began reading "In The Men's House" I wondered how in depth Carol would go with the things I wanted to learn about West Point and her military career.

She wrote about Beast Barracks, the summer session held before classes actually began in the fall, I soon learned the terminology used for the four classes of cadets. The freshmen are called Plebes, sometimes referred to as Fourth Class men. As sophomores in their second year at the academy they were called Yearlings or Third Class. The third year at the academy is when the cadet is really in his/her second year which is called Cow. Their senior year, the last year they are at West Point, these young men and women are called a Firstie-go figure!

Carol wrote about her Reception Day and how "dehumanizing" it was. She covered how the new cadets were treated that day-the first time 119 women were allowed into West Point. At the end of her Plebe Year she looked forward to Recognition Day. This was when upperclassmen finally addressed them by their first names!

Carol wrote about her second summer's communications training along with Infantry-Recondo training. She wrote about the good and bad things that she experienced during that year as well as the remaining two years at West Point.

Her third summer she went south to Fort Benning, Georgia for Jump School. Carol wrote about the tower, the jumps and the cake presented to the female cadets from their lieutenant, which was marked "Congratulations Whiskeys" with the "W" meaning women.

By the time Carol entered her Firstie Year there were only sixty-two women left in her class out of the original "119 who entered, each of us had fought her own dragons." In January 1980 the cadets chose their future branches. They were given two choices and then the assignments were based on academic rank. Carol requested Transportation Corp first then Air Defense Artillery. While her request was filled it was her second choice that she was assigned. By February she found out that following graduation she was headed for Germany.

Her first assignment was with Charlie Battery, 3rd Battalion, 71st Air Defense Artillery that was headquartered in Stuttgart, Germany. Carol stated that she "looked to her platoon sergeant...to be my teacher." Some things don't change.

Her next duty station was Fort Lee, Virginia. She had requested a branch transfer from ADA to Transportation and received it. She was headed for the 57th Transportation Company.

Throughout her book Carol pointed out many things that affected her time in West Point, Germany and Virginia. She wrote of things that I knew nothing about so I learned from reading this book. She wrote of things that I had forgotten with time so it was nice to be reminded once again of my own service and some of the things I went through.

I have two wishes though. One that Carol had written a little more about her time at West Point. Also that she would write another book that shows her accomplishments since 1990. She is now a retired lieutenant colonel with a wonderful career behind her and that career should be in print!

I was fortunate enough to know Cpt Barkalow while stationed in Germany. She was a fair and honest officer who held her troops in high regard. I will always honor the time I spent with her and highly recommend her book.

I think it is 5 stars for tomboy women, 0 stars for men, averaging out to 21/2 stars, which rounds off (like the Army does) to 2 stars.