Research Paper Prospectus

The cultural artifact that I have found is an image (seen above) from an article from The Atlantic that depicts some of the members the 588th Night Bomber Aviation Regiment (later the 46 Guards Night Bomber Regiment) who were originally apart of  Aviation Group 122. This group consisted of three female units- the 586th(fighter pilots), the 587th(dive bombers), and the 588th(night bombers)- who flew combat missions for the Soviet Union during the course of World War II, what is known in Russia as The Great Patriotic War. The most-known regiment from Aviation Group 122 is the 588th or 46 Guards Night Bomber Regiment, who only flew night missions and where dubbed Nachthexen or "Night Witches" by the Germans. This photograph is highly significant since it reveals that Soviet Russia was the first country to allow for active women participation in the military forces in a time where women where only allowed, and secretly for that matter, to participate in supportive roles in the armed forces. This artifact has been argued to show the light in which Communist Russia wished to present itself to the outside world: that their citizens were superior products of socialism. However, Russian history professor Reina Pennington disagrees that the creation of these female aviation regiments were, as many other historians claim, just a mere propaganda stunt or out of necessity due to lack of male pilots; instead, Pennington believes that famous pre-war navigator & pilot Marina Raskova and her connections in high places (Stalin) allowed an avenue for the creation of the regiments. I agree. Raskova and her individual agency pushed for the creation of one all-female regiment (the 588th) and two all-female navigator and pilot but male-mechanic engineer regiments (the 586 and the 587) that in turn momentarily expanded the boundaries of the so-called "all-male military culture" only to be discharged back into acceptable female occupations due to the idea that women's primary roles were for mothering and nurturing which re-emerged post war due to the Soviet Union's need to rebuild in wake of the war's aftermath. The rise and fall of these female regiments were inextricably linked to the needs of their mother country and what she asked of them: fearless women or nurturing mothers. 

I find that I will need to start contextualizing the significance of these three female regiments by having to start with the flight of the Rodina in 1938; a flight that broke the international straight-line distance by the three women Marina Raskova, Polina Osipenko, and Valentina Grizodubova. The mentioning of other famous female pilots, such as 5-woman aerobatic team based in Tushino Airfield, Moscow all emphasize that while not common, female aviators did exist before the war thus ruling out the argument of necessity; that is that the Soviet Union utilized female combat pilots out of pure need. This in turn brings me to central humanist question I wish to answer: How did the culture of Soviet Union pre-WWII, during WWII, and post-WWII affect the progression and subsequent regression of female occupational advancement within the Russian military forces. To accomplish this I will utilize a gender studies approach as well a historical one to delineate events and understand the underlying values/rationale. 

The bulk of scholarly works on these women primarily focuses around the 588th Night Bomber regiment, also known as the Night Witches, (due to the fact that whenever the Russian press did publish anything on the female pilots they focused on this regiment thus any available information is most about these women ) and takes on different standpoints as to why they were allowed to actively serve in combat positions. Reina Pennington, the leading authority, claims that assemblage of these three primarily female units were done so through the charisma and political backing that fame entails of Marina Raskova, a famous pre-war pilot who help set many aviation records (both solo and in group) and who overtime grew political relationships with Stalin and other members of his cabinet. Geopolitical analyst Mahdi Darius Nazeroaya in his article  "The Historic Role that Soviet Women Played in Defeating the Nazis in World War II" takes on the position that the Bolshevik's ideology (Communism) set the road for women equality as Karl Marx's manifesto demanded by allowing women to enter the industrial workforce and eventually military positions. However, after the integration Nazeoraya fails to answer or attempt to answer the deactivation and overall dismal of Russian military women. A US Air Force report known as "Femme Fatale: An Examination of the Role of Women in Combat and the Policy of Implications for Future American Military Operations" contains a chapter on the WWII Russian women pilots and credits the folklore of Imperial Russia with stories of polianitsy or "women warriors" or sometimes referred to only as the amazonka (Amazon)  having been told to children as fairy tales and thus creating a culture were women could and in certain circumstances (usually the tales centered around invaders and protection of the culture/home) were expected to fight. Nevertheless, the other portion of trustworthy publication on these women are magazine and newspaper articles such as the ones that appeared in The Atlantic , The Los Angeles Times , and The New York Times as response to the death of Nadezhda "Nadia" Popova, one of the better known Night Witches. These articles report on her death and give a brief history of the regiment she served in; nevertheless, their publication years later indicates that as societal and cultural vales have changed that the feats of these women has been allowed to come out and this brings to light the cultural impact that these women themselves had as a comic book, documentary, and film about them have been made by European-affiliated individuals. 

In this research paper I hope to further analyze the impact that culture and societal values can have on the roles of women as well on it can affect historical memory. I believe that my paper will only expand on existing scholarship. 

Cluster Two

The picture depicts a group of combative women pilots known
as the "Night Witches" with their Polikarpov Po-2 biplanes in the
background.

Reina Pennington  is a professor at Norwich University, a private military university located in Vermont, and teaches military, Russian, and European history. An excerpt titled "Before the War" of her first book Wings, Women, and War: Soviet Airwomen in World War II Combat  delineates a history of women pilots before the start of WW II (in Russia this war is most commonly referred to as The Great Patriotic War). Pennington chronicles their struggle to be accepted into aviation schools, the record breaking flights of the women who persevered -- most famously the Flight of the Rodina (Motherland), a flight undertaken by female pilots Marina Raskova, Polina Osipenko,and Valentina Grizodubova-- and the role that this played in collective mind of the Soviet Union as well as the military implications it had that culturally allowed Stalin to form Aviation Group 122, which encompassed three female fighting groups. The information provided in this chapter will help my research paper greatly into determining what factors (socially, culturally, and politically) of the pre-war period allowed for establishment of the Night Witches during the war. 

An LA Times article titled "Day of Glory for USSRs Night Witches" written by Robyn Dixon in 2001,Dixon is now the Johannesburg chief for the Times, provides information years after the aviation feats performed by the Night Witches. The article covered May 9, 2001's events,  the day that marked the 60 years since Stalin decreed the establishment of the three women air force units. This article not only provided insight into how people in in post-war years continue to celebrate these women, especially since the country they flew to defend no longer exists, but also provided snippets of interviews of the women as they discussed the extremes they would have committed to avoid becoming a POW of Germans. 

A thesis paper written by Captain Beth Ann Myers in 2003 and titled " Soviet and American Airwomen During World War II: A Comparison of their Formation, Treatment, and Dismal" provides an analysis of the similarities and differences of Soviet and American pilots. The evidence given is a synthesis of multiple historical and biographical works in order to understand the different problems women of both societies faced in entering the armed forces, while they served, as well as the lack of recognition that followed post-war. Not only was the information found in this thesis paper helpful for my own paper, but it also provided a page of references to continue the research part of my research paper. 

In 2009, BBC News created an audio slideshow by the simple name of "Night Witches" in which photographs, comic book images, Russian music, and voice-over interviews come together to inform the British audience of the feats of Russian women of WWII while also providing media attention for Irish-born American comic book writer Garth Ennis' meta-series known as Battlefields. The first issue of this comic series was titled "Battlefields: Night Witches." This audio slideshow provided further information into how and why the Russian women pilots would come to be known as "Night Witches" as well as how a contemporary culture has come to recognize and remember the women of years ago. 

Cluster One

Thus far my quest for secondary sources on the so called "Night Witches" has yielded some results, with a downside being that many of them are books written my those within the realm of academia. At this point, I have been unable to find available copies. The articles, military reports, and excerpts of books that I have been able to attain reveal the following picture:

The scholarly conversation surrounding the Soviet Night Witches seems to have an overarching umbrella of women's roles and a amazement of how a perceived ultra-patriarchal society could have allowed for the integration of women into the Russian military while simultaneously citing the Night Witches as a testament of women capability. Historian John Erickson in a short article titled "Night Witches, Snipers, and Laundresses" is at the forefront of giving a historical context for the missions and need for women in the Russian military during WWII. Similarly, Atlantic staff writer Megan Garber gives a brief history of the 588th Night Bomber Regiment in order to provide context and ethos to her American audience in order to convey the celebration of life of female pilot and Night Witch  Nadezhda "Nadia" Popova as she passed on at the age of ninety-one. Unlike the Erickson and Garber who broadly gave historical context, an American Air Force report gave specific details in one chapter titled "The Soviet Women Fliers of World War II" by breaking down the three celebrated all-female fighter units in operation during WWII, their respective missions, and providing some of the better known pilots of each unit. Mahdi Darius Nazeroaya, a geopolitical analyst, provides a sociological lens in his article as he studies Communist ideology, policies of the Soviet government, and significant events of the time to account for the emergence of women in the Russian military, these women referred to sometimes respectfully and other times critically as the "Soviet Amazons." 

The Night Witches

image taken form Armed Forces History Museum

The Night Witches were three all-female  aviation regiments, one of the most notorious one being the 588th Night Bomber Regiment, of the Soviet Union during WWII. They were labeled "Night Witches" by the Germans because of two main reasons:

1. they only attacked at night
2. and the sound of their planes (Polikarpov Pro-2s) allegedly sounded like a witch's broomstick to the Germans (NPR- Night Witch Flew Bomber Planes During World War II).

 These regiments, these women their stories, and the fact that they were told to withhold their stories will be the focus of my research project. 

I suppose I will be approaching this topic with a sociological and perhaps even psychological academic lens. At some other points I might try compiling answers through a linguistic disciplinary approach (the term "witches" is at the forefront of my mind). 

The types of question I wish to attempt to answer are along the following lines:

• What was the thought process behind of implementing female regiments in what most Americans believed to be a backwards and barbaric country (the Soviet Union)  when other 'progressive' countries would not even attempt to have active female units until years later?
• Why the label "witches"?
• What cultural forces/ beliefs were in play when after their service, these women were asked not to talk about their missions?

Possible Research Artifacts

In a past lecture, titled "Women in the Military"presented by Professor Carol Burke two pictures were presented side by side. These two images were Michelangelo's Isaiah and Rockwell Rosie. 

Image was taken from Professor Burke's lecture slides. 

When I saw these two works of art I was immediately surprised and intrigued. The character Rosie the Riveter, Rockwell's illustrated World War II character, often championed as a symbol of women's strength, independence, and ability was fashioned on an image of a man. I find this incredibly fascinating and I believe this might need further investigation. 

Another possible artifact would be the evolution of weapons, specifically the gas chamber. I understand the gas chambers have been used in the past to execute condemned prisoners and most notorious were in operation in concentration camps in the Holocaust. The gas chamber is something that caught my interest because while I was interviewing my high school JROTC teacher we focused in on his time in basic training. I asked him what was one thing he didn't like doing and he answered going into the gas chamber. The armed services has a course in which recruits must go into a gas chamber without any protective gear(masks) and try to withstand the ordeal.

Another possible artifact would be an instructional video from the Cold War era. I think it would interesting to find out who produced these instructional videos and where they where shown. Today, at any given moment (as long as WiFi is available) a person can access a video, movie, episode from their phone, computer, and other electronic devices. This was not the case in the 1950-1980s. 

Choosing an Interviewee

When first given this assignment of interviewing someone with some connection to a war, I immediately flash backed to those Family Tree projects in which you had to research your genealogy and create some nice graphic delineating your finds.

What I mostly remember of those projects was that my parents had little to tell me. I knew my grandparents' names and only the first names of my great-grandparents. That is as far as I ever learned of my family history. My family just does not keep records. 

So when I heard we had to interview someone in connection to a war, I panicked. Who was I suppose to interview? No one in my family had connections to war or the military. 

After some initial moments of panic, I remembered that while no one in my family had a connection to war/ the military I did know at least two people who did. These persons were my high school's U.S. Army Junior Reserve Officer Training Corps (J.R.O.T.C) Instructors: Major Frederick Merz and First Sergeant Marvin Herbert. 

This picture was taken at my Senior Awards Night.
Major Merz is pictured at the right end holding a manila envelope.
First Sergeant Herbert pictured is at the left end . In between, in uniform,
are Let III cadets who were part of the Color Guard that night.  

These two men were not only my instructors for four years, but my mentors. I have already contacted both by email and both are willing to be interviewed.

As this assignment [the literary journalism project] continues, I hope to learn more about my past-instructors. I knew that First Sergeant was a Jumpmaster during his time in the military and that Major  held a staff position in a brigade (a brigade has five main staff members that work directly with the Brigade Commander, each staff member has his or her own assistants) during his time.  I never really pried into their past military lives (I was mostly concerned with not being chewed out or fired from my own staff position during the time I knew them) because I wanted to respect their privacy. However, with this assignment it seems I will have no choice but to delve into their pasts. I can only hope that they will be forthcoming with their stories. 

Reflections

In the course of two quarters, this blog has evolved from  making connections from one literary piece to another to connecting what I was being taught in Humanities Core and my Criminology course and noticing that these two disciplines discuss the same questions with different methods.

The School of Humanities approaches their area of expertise with the intent of giving others an interpretive perspective of texts and artifacts in order to provide a glimpse of a culture or time in history. The School of Social Ecology, in which the Criminology discipline falls under, approaches their studies in the gathering of data and statistics to prove hypotheses and advise other people and institutions on how to approach their problems, they provide a glimpse into our current culture and society. Essentially, in my mind, they are the opposite sides of the same coin: one gathers qualitative information (Humanities) and the other quantitative information (Social Ecology). 

With that being said, while I was able to merge ideas from both disciplines to create the second half of this blog (Winter Quarter) I also realize that I did not represent both schools equally and thus effectively, my original goal back in January. With an approaching research paper in the months to come, I hope to be able to apply both of these disciplines (my majors of English and Criminology) and do them both justice. With the two different approaches taught to me, I endeavor to give both qualitative and quantitative information on current, and may I venture to say deeply rooted in the past, societal issues. 

I hope to focus on the U.S. military and possible topics to pursue in the spring may include:

• Media portrayal of troops: the evolution of still media, such as photographs and illustrations, to moving media, video and film, and how these types of media present soldiers and war 
• The history of people of color in the military and possible lack of opportunities as visible in other areas of American life
• The conditioning of American soldiers through the use of "torture-tainment" to decrease emotional and moral reactions in order to complete the task at hand: emerging from the War of Terror as the victors. 

In the end, whatever the topic of the research paper, I hope to continue to combine my two majors and further participate in the discussion of our time: The nature of War and all of that which it encompasses.