What Ugly American?:

The gender issue isn’t a problem, according to Maj. Michelle Stringer and 1st Lt. Sarah Parris who are helping to train Iraqi noncommissioned officers. Stringer and Parris, deployed from the 78th Security Forces Squadron, Robins AFB, Ga., are assigned to Camp Ur, about 200 miles southeast of Baghdad, for a year-long mission to train and advise Iraqi troops. To ensure they do not offend the Iraqi men, the two women have worked out a system in which their teammates—male NCOs who teach combat arms—give orders to the Iraqi men. That too, says the major, is a novelty because NCOs in Saddam’s Army had little authority. When it comes to training, though, said the lieutenant, most of the Iraqi soldiers “don’t have a problem taking directions from a woman.”