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Women in the U.S. Military: Growing Share, Distinctive Profile
Pew Research Center ^ | 12/22/11 | Eileen Patten and Kim Parker

Posted on 12/22/2011 8:20:30 AM PST by ruralvoter

The women who serve in today’s military differ from the men who serve in a number of ways. Compared with their male counterparts, a greater share of military women are black and a smaller share are married. Also, women veterans of the post-9/11 era are less likely than men to have served in combat and more likely to be critical of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. In other ways, however, military women are not different from military men: they are just as likely to be officers; they joined the armed services for similar reasons; and post-9/11 veterans of both sexes have experienced a similar mix of struggles and rewards upon returning to civilian life.

Since 1973, when the United States military ended conscription and established an all-volunteer force, the number of women serving on active duty has risen dramatically. The share of women among the enlisted ranks has increased seven-fold, from 2% to 14%, and the share among commissioned officers has quadrupled, from 4% to 16%.

(Excerpt) Read more at pewsocialtrends.org ...


TOPICS: Foreign Affairs; Government
KEYWORDS: diversity; era; military; nags; veteran; war; women
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NOTE: Article is three pages full of information and charts.
1 posted on 12/22/2011 8:20:37 AM PST by ruralvoter
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To: ruralvoter

Progressive alert, progressive alert....

Incoming “rationale” for different standards for “special” military members.


2 posted on 12/22/2011 8:22:08 AM PST by Da Coyote
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To: ruralvoter

Liberals and RINOs are turning the military into another welfare agency for “professional victim” groups.

They will need to leave room for about 15% to do the real fighting.


3 posted on 12/22/2011 8:29:47 AM PST by Iron Munro ("Don't pick a fight with an old man. If he is too old to fight he'll just kill you." John Steinbeck)
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To: ruralvoter

“Also, women veterans of the post-9/11 era are less likely than men to have served in combat and more likely to be critical of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. “

Perhaps they will be allowed to go on strike after the military is unionized.

Liberals destroy everything they touch.


4 posted on 12/22/2011 8:37:02 AM PST by headstamp 2 (Time to move forward not to the center.)
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To: ruralvoter

“The women who serve in today’s military differ from the men who serve in a number of ways. “

yeah, NONE of them got drafted, but still get the bennies.
(get you cake and eat it ,too)


5 posted on 12/22/2011 8:37:32 AM PST by WOBBLY BOB (Congress: Looting the future to bribe the present.)
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To: ruralvoter
more likely to be critical of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan

See, this is BS. I really hope the bolsheviks in congress succeed in cutting the 'military' by about 40%. That should result in downsizing all the dead weight, the chatty mensas and the nanny state boondogglers not critical to the AA.FF. basic mission of killing folks and breaking things at the C.I.C.s behest.

6 posted on 12/22/2011 8:38:55 AM PST by Calusa (The pump don't work cause the vandals took the handles. Quoth Bob Dylan.)
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To: ruralvoter

A military institution infiltrated by homosexuals and “manned” by women, and run to complppy with some beaurocrat’s concept of social justice.

Now THAT is a firghtening military establishment - to the people its supposed to defend. And a JOKE to its enemies.


7 posted on 12/22/2011 8:48:52 AM PST by ZULU (Anybody but Romney, Ron Paul or Huntsman)
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To: Da Coyote

Don’t talk to me about “equality” until they have to pass the same PT test men do ,are subject to the same rules on selective service obligations and length of time in the field without a shower.

When those are all equal, then they can talk about playing “women in combat”.


8 posted on 12/22/2011 8:48:59 AM PST by WOBBLY BOB (Congress: Looting the future to bribe the present.)
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To: Da Coyote
Without giving any merit to the "standards must fit real world expectations" argument, the military would show its worth by returning its physical testing standards to those of 40 years ago. How tough are the men, or women, who can pass those simple tests?

Slap on your combat boots and head over to the combat testing range: 1) Let's start with the inverted crawl for 20 yards out, then back in less than 60 seconds, 2) Hit that horizontal ladder for 6 lengths in less than a minute, 3) Run, Dodge, and Jump over that ditch and those hurdles, twice in less than 30 seconds, 4) Time for those strict situps, 50 in less than 60 seconds, and finally, 5) Your 2 mile run in 15 minutes or less.

If you are a stalwart human specimen, you will do this test every year until you retire from the combat arms. If you are not, you cannot. Come on ladies, gird your loins and give it a try. You can do anything a man can do, yes?

In the paraphrased words of Gen. Westmoreland, "Sure, there are some women who can do this, but they're freaks; and, the Army is no place for freaks."

Flame away, but I know the truth hurts..

9 posted on 12/22/2011 8:49:27 AM PST by Thommas (The snout of the camel is in the tent..)
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To: ruralvoter

Dropping standards and enforcing preferences since 1973.


10 posted on 12/22/2011 8:50:26 AM PST by MSF BU (YR'S Please Support our troops: JOIN THEM!)
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To: Thommas

You wouldn’t need anything that intensive. The pullup requirement at airborne school had to be waived (eliminated entirely now) and the rigorous uphill runs moved to the ‘airborne track’ in order to accomodate the gals. I can’t imagine that most naval gals are capable of real world rigorous damage control work...and I’ve been told as much by the warrant officers who run army boats/ships.


11 posted on 12/22/2011 8:54:47 AM PST by MSF BU (YR'S Please Support our troops: JOIN THEM!)
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To: MSF BU

The enemy won’t dare shoot at a pregnant Amerikan soldier.

That is the progressive plan, isn’ it?!


12 posted on 12/22/2011 8:57:59 AM PST by George from New England (escaped CT in 2006, now living north of Tampa)
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To: Thommas

Flame?

Nope, agree fully.

However, I’ve flown with some pretty aggressive women pilots. I’d not downgrade them just for their sex...but yup, there should just be one set of standards...and right now there isn’t.


13 posted on 12/22/2011 8:59:05 AM PST by Da Coyote
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To: Iron Munro
I hear you but what do you expect when even ‘our’ side puts nobody into the military for generations. Where did Mitt Romney's sons serve? Has the Romney family put anybody into the military in the last 30 years? How about the Gingrich family? Rubio’s, Falwell's, Buckley's, Sununu’s, Bush's (forget about Mr. Naval “My People” Jag)? I get a Christmas card every year from Senator Burr with his two husky sons...where did they go while young women their age were deploying. The whole subject is really disgusting. The unwillingness of young men to serve their country in uniform is a precursor to national decline.
14 posted on 12/22/2011 9:02:31 AM PST by MSF BU (YR'S Please Support our troops: JOIN THEM!)
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To: Da Coyote

How many of those young aggressive fighter females could have made it through the SERE training of 1985? How many were chosen to be fighter pilots over better qualified males to fulfill a quota? How many would have been commissioned if they were held to the male PT standards? Just asking.


15 posted on 12/22/2011 9:05:12 AM PST by MSF BU (YR'S Please Support our troops: JOIN THEM!)
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To: MSF BU
How many were chosen to be fighter pilots over better qualified males to fulfill a quota?

A salient point. Are they aggressive and more capable than the enemy? Probably.

Are they better than the man they supplanted because of quotas? Doubtful.

16 posted on 12/22/2011 9:12:31 AM PST by Thommas (The snout of the camel is in the tent..)
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To: ruralvoter
On a slightly related note, I do not look forward to women in armor and infantry. Men are naturally protective of women. To allow women to enter those specialties, the men will have to train themselves to suppress those (very healthy) instincts. If men are desensitized to injured and killed women on their side, they will also be desensitized to injured and killed women on the other side and to civilians. This "requirement for equality" will tend to brutalize war even more than it already is.

Don't forget that these soldiers eventually return to civilian life and live among us. The vast majority will still behave well afterwards but some will no longer observe social taboos against injuring women. Is that an acceptable price for equality?

17 posted on 12/22/2011 9:15:47 AM PST by 17th Miss Regt
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To: George from New England

The “feel” they don’t plan. The first round of gang rapes of our women during the next war will probably largely end the experimentation, at least of the ground forces.


18 posted on 12/22/2011 9:16:28 AM PST by MSF BU (YR'S Please Support our troops: JOIN THEM!)
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To: Thommas

I was going to call you on the “40 years” bit since I took that PT Test in the 70’s - and then I counted it out on my fingers - Oh, crude!


19 posted on 12/22/2011 9:25:21 AM PST by PeteB570 ( Islam is the sea in which the Terrorist Shark swims. The deeper the sea the larger the shark.)
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To: MSF BU

The pullup standards for airborne (10 full pullups, no assistance) Are still there, and we’re told they’re a requirement, but you don’t get dropped if you can’t pass that. Don’t know about the runs, but the Army’s whole PT routine has been changed, because the old PT was ‘too rough’ on females’ hips, so now we get to do all sorts of gay yoga leg lifts and such. The new PRT hardly even includes any stretching too. No more log PT, no circuit PT, at least for basic anyway. We did a 14mi+ ruck march with about 70lbs of gear. Several of the guys couldn’t even do it. I doubt many females could either.

Yea, a lot of standards have declined because of females, but at the same time, the sad part is that many of the males who make it through basic really shouldn’t be in either. Over half our troop couldn’t qualify on the M4 with less than 7 attempts on the course. We had one guy go through over 900 rounds trying to qualify, several over 5-600. (The one ended up discharged for some medical issue/failure to adapt, thankfully.) With each qualification attempt using exactly 40 rounds. Several can barely pass the PT test, even after 12+ weeks of PT and the usual physical part training. Maybe 50/166 in our troop could even climb a rope. Very sad.


20 posted on 12/22/2011 10:48:30 AM PST by Svartalfiar
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