Serving in my Nation’s Military: What is Right May Not Always be Popular

Growing up with the teachings of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, I developed a huge testimony of service.  As a teenager, trying to decide what I wanted to do in the future, being a full time missionary, serving in the military, and being a mother were at the top of my list. These were roles I heard praised time after time at church. I saw these three forms of service as extremely important to incorporate in my life.   According to the value system I grew up in, all three of these desires were just and noble. That was why I was surprised by the negative response I received from many students at BYU as I worked to pursue these goals.

I joined the Air Force Reserve Officer Training Corps a semester before I left to serve an LDS mission. I noticed the first day I showed up at ROTC physical training that there were few women in the program. The BYU Air Force ROTC program normally is made up of around 5% women. This is unusually low. In the entire Air Force about 20% of officers are women. Because of the BYU ROTC gender ratio, many cadets and classmates were not used to seeing women in the ROTC program. BYU’s ROTC program, for some reason, has a high attrition rate for female cadets, so other cadets expected me to drop out as well. When I told others that I was planning on leaving the program for 18 months to serve an LDS mission, many told me they did not expect me to come back. They told me that I would probably get married after serving the mission and therefore not finish the ROTC program. I was surprised by their flawed reasoning. Several of the men who told me this had served as missionaries, were married, and were in the ROTC program, yet because of my gender they thought that I would not succeed in doing all these things as well. The most hurtful comment, that I heard several times, was that I was going against the teachings of the LDS church because I was a woman joining the military. This of course is not true. The church, in fact, is currently working to strengthen its programs for women in the military, but at the time these comments made me feel confused and discouraged. “What is a good LDS woman doing in the military?” several men had asked me. I made this decision because I really wanted to do what was right, and people judged me as disobedient for it.

To clarify, these attitudes were not shared by all cadets or students at BYU, but the handful of people who were vocal about this concerned me.  I realized that if I did ever drop out of ROTC, I would just help feed that stereotype. I also realized that if I did ever choose to leave the LDS church, I would feed the idea that “good LDS women” should not serve in the military. I instead worked to strengthen my testimony of the gospel of Jesus Christ and the church’s teachings on serving one’s country. The more I studied and prayed, the more I knew that making the decision to serve was right. Because of this adversity, I became even more determined to be the best woman I could be.

I am proud to say that next year I will commission as a second lieutenant serving as a leader in the United States Air Force. I am also happy to see that the BYU Air Force ROTC program has become very welcoming towards women, although still very few women join. The officers who teach us in the ROTC program had been very concerned about the negative attitude many women faced at BYU and have worked hard to address this problem. Cadets have learned that the United States Air Force is a place that encourages both men and women to join and that the idea that women should not serve does not belong in our nation’s military. 

I encourage BYU students to remember that what is right may not always be popular. I grew up hearing this in high school, but it still applies to BYU. Just because many people around you have an opinion of something, even if you share the same values, doesn’t make it right. It is up to you to find for yourself, through study, ponder, and prayer, whether it is right. When you know what is right, have the courage to stand alone if you must.

Rachael Bakaitis