BY MARISELA ORTÍZ
The News
A set of practices marks a new stage for the Mexican Armed Forces: fostering gender equality, respecting human rights and the commitment of maintaining a close relationship with society, according to a top military official.
Women now receive equal treatment in the military system, says Brigadier General of the Military Staff Higinio Víctor Marín, who is also the Director of Military Education and the Rectory Office of the Mexican Army.
“Women’s participation in the Armed Forces has increased. Women now make up 7 percent in this Education System,” Marín said in a Thursday interview with Radio Capital.
In 2007, women first had the opportunity for greater participation in this area, and has increased to the point now where the Armed Forces have 27 female graduates, including seven from the aviation program, two from engineering, one from military justice general, one from dentistry and one from military medicine, Marín said.
There are also eight female pilots, one construction engineering captain and one who has graduated from the communications and IT program.
“After finishing a professional career in the Armed Forces, a woman can become a general,” Marín said.
In previous years, a woman’s involvement in military education was very limited, as women were only allowed to study in the programs of health, nursing, dentistry and administration.
SUPPORT FOR WOMEN
In 2007, the Military School began allowing women to enrol in the aviation and engineering programs, previously exclusively for men.
This year, for the first time, women will be able to join the Military College and participate in the arms support service and the Mexican Army.
The Mexican Army says it is joining other countries in Europe that are setting the trend in giving women more opportunities to get involved in the military.
The 2014 Military College admissions process began on Monday for people interested in studying toward a professional career in the armed forces.
To apply, both men and women must:
• Be Mexican by birth
• Be single
• Be aged 18 or above
• Have National Military Service Identity Papers (men only)
• Have documents such as birth certificate, CURP, IFE (voter ID) and school degrees
• Prove good conduct
• Be clinically and psychologically healthy and apt for the military
• Men must be at least 1.63 meters (5’ 4”) and women must be at least 1.55 meters (5’ 1”) in height
• Aspirants to the Military School of Aviation must be at least 1.65 meters (5’ 5”)
The military campuses available are:
• Medical Graduates School
• Military School of Medicine
• Military School of Dentistry
• Military School of Engineering
• Heroic Military College
• Military School of Nursing
• Military School of Health Officials
• Military School of Aviation
•Military School of Communication
• Military School of Specialities
• Military School of Communication Classes
• Military School of Special Troops
• Military School of War Materials
MILITARY EDUCATION
Marín said the Heroic Military College has 39 campuses, whose main objective is to establish a military education. The college’s mission, he said, is to train officials through a physical, mental and cultural transformation process, so that students are voluntarily committed to Mexico and offer their loyalty, intelligence and lives in fulfilment of their duties.
The campuses are located in the Mexico City metropolitan area, and the Military School of Aviation is in Zapopan, Jalisco.
There are 26 Admission Centers located throughout Mexico to deal with the demand from aspirants from throughout the country.
MAIN OBJECTIVES
Two days after aspirants enter their information on the Internet, the Admission Centers summon them to sit physical, medical, psychological and cultural exams.
Marín said the physical exams document the person’s ability to run, swim, long-jump and do push-ups. If approved, aspirants take a cultural exam, then the psychological exam and then a medical exam at the campus.
“What we’re hoping for with a military education is to transform students in a process from a physical, mental and cultural point of view, and that they feel they are a part of the Armed Forces so as to fulfill their missions,” Marín said.
All programs are offered at the specialty, master’s and doctorate levels; such is the case with the military medicine degree, which has among the highest demand and lasts six years. Two-year specialities are offered in biomedical sciences and molecular biology.
There are also master’s degrees in pharmacology, physiology, morphology, anatomy, anaestheseology and pathology, and four-year specialities in gynecology, rehabilitation, otolaryngology and orthotics.
COMMITMENT TO SERVICE
Marín said students of different military schools are fully educated to address the needs of Mexico.
“They are men and women with a commitment to service, able to face any challenge, and as members of the military they are ideal for fostering any civic actions, addressing the needs of the population and helping the country,” Marín said.
Regarding the prestige of the Heroic Military College, he said this was mainly due to the people involved, who are highly educated and extremely healthy. This prestige, he said, has been won with hard work, independently of the school’s history and traditions.
“There is a doctrine that we practice at the Military College, which is the recruitment of aspirants who are going to fulfill the requirements 100 percent, who then go on to take very rigorous exams,” Marín said. “This is the basis for creating highly prepared professionals.”
The period for aspirants to enroll in military programs ends on March 6.
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