Posted on 09/14/2015 7:52:52 AM PDT by SeekAndFind
The secretary of the Navy has insulted a Marine task force by questioning the integrity of their gender-integration study that was released last week. A summary of data showed that “mixed-gender teams completed tasks more slowly and shot with less accuracy, and that women sustained injuries at more than twice the rate of their male counterparts.”
It took the Marine Corps nine months and $36 million to discover that all-male ground combat units were faster, more lethal and less inclined to get injured than units with mixed genders. The task force came to the conclusion that the inclusion of women in combat units had a negative impact on unit cohesion.
Via The Hill:
The report, released Thursday, is part of the Marine Corps’s efforts to study integrating women into the infantry in order to meet a 2012 order by then-Defense Secretary Leon Panetta to open all military jobs to women.
Services must open all jobs to women by January, or else submit requests for exceptions by the end of this month. Defense Secretary Ash Carter will then review the requests and make final decisions by early next year.
The Washington Post reported on the study’s findings:
[O]nly a small number of women were left by the experiment’s conclusion — two of the roughly two dozen who started — mostly in part because of the physical and mental stress that comes with combat roles. Both the men and women in the task force also reported a breakdown in unit cohesion with some voicing a perceived unequal treatment from their peers. [...]
The Marine Corps Times report cites a number of instances where women had a difficult time completing physical tasks, like moving 200 pound dummies off the battlefield or from the turret of a “damaged” vehicle. Peer assessments were also mixed.
Lance Cpl. Chris Augello, a reservist who prior to the experiment was pro-integration, submitted a 13-page essay—which he shared with the Marine Corps Times—on why he had changed his mind. “The female variable in this social experiment has wrought a fundamental change in the way male [non-commissioned officers] think, act and lead,” he wrote, referring to the female presence and its effect on how Marine Corps small-unit leaders do their job.
Navy Secretary Ray Mabus was in favor of full integration before the research was conducted, and doubled down on that position even after the study showed that full integration had a negative impact on unit cohesion and performance.
Mabus, a career Democrat politician *with only two years of military experience before he was appointed secretary of the Navy by Obama, criticized the study during an interview with NPR, accusing the Marines of conducting the study in a biased manner.
In his radio interview, Mabus suggested the Marines’ study was flawed due to the caliber and mindset of the volunteer participants.
“It started out with a fairly large component of the men thinking ‘this is not a good idea,’ and ‘women will never be able to do this,’ ” Mabus said. “When you start out with that mindset, you’re almost presupposing the outcome.”
Mabus also said the Marines could have selected female volunteers who were better suited to the task of marching under heavy loads, which accounted for many of the injuries that were observed.
“For the women that volunteered, probably there should have been a higher bar to cross to get into the experiment,” he said.
Female volunteers, except for a small “provisional infantry” group, were required to graduate from the Marines’ entry-level enlisted infantry training course and specific combat job schools, if applicable. They also had to get at least a third-class score on the male version of the Marine Corps’ Physical Fitness Test, requiring three pullups, 50 crunches in one minute, and a 3-mile run in 28 minutes.
In a Pentagon briefing Thursday, however, officials said the female Marines who volunteered tended to be athletic, with high scores on the PFT and combat fitness tests.
“These were good Marines,” said Paul Johnson, the principal investigator for the integrated task force experiment.
Secretary Mabus is taking a beating from Marines in the Marine Corps Times’ comment section:
“SECNAV. I’m a Infantry NCO. a two war Marine and you Sir are full of sh*t on this subject,” said the first commenter.
Another commenter wrote: “It’s those pesky facts. SECNAV doesn’t like them so he is inventing his own. The tests were realistic and accurate. Give it up sir!”
“Secretary Mabus is obviously h*ll-bent on ramming through gender-mixed units no matter how many Marines and sailors have to die in order to realize his little pet project. Ray Mabus: Worst.SECNAV.Ever,” said another Marine.
I didn’t see a single comment in support of the secretary of the Navy’s position on gender integration in the Marines.
* Correction: In an earlier version of this post, I reported incorrectly that Mabus had no military service. On closer review, I found that he did serve a short stint in the Navy from 1970-1972.
Ooo AH!
Objective measures be damned, sez SecNav
How many times does the experiment have to be repeated, over and over, still coming up with the same result, before the evidence is OVERWHELMING that mixed-gender fighting units are less effective than an all-male assault force?
Not to deride the females who did manage to do well enough on the readiness testing to be included in the mixed-gender teams. They are most excellent warriors, in their own venue.
But clearly, something is amiss when the overall operating efficiency of the team is noticeably impaired, a situation that in most combat missions, spells the difference between success and failure.
Women do have a role in military operations. But not all the operations are out there firing weapons, and when it comes to firing weapons and blowing up the enemy, a female has to have a broader range of personal protection than does the male.
A female pilot in an A-10 Warthog has that necessary circle of protection, and in such a position, is fully the equal of a male counterpart. But on the ground, with a full backpack and body armor, the female is less capable than a male, regardless of levels of training that may be equal for both.
If the military brass has not gone all PC, such a statement would not be challenged.
In my opinion, it was the reason why Clinton should have been impeached, rather than the ones cited by the House of Representatives. (See President Clinton & Abuse Of Power.)
They will repeat the experiment until they get the conclusion they want.
SECNAV might get away with insulting USMC in private but calling them liars in public is not forward thinking.
Look for steady stream of “unidentied senior officials” feeding not so nice items to Congressional oversight committees and media back channels.
Could get interesting.
Obama math: Dead Marines < P.C.
22 years USMC, if SecNav is serious about evaluating women in the infantry he should direct that an all female battalion be formed and deployed.
22 years USMC, if SecNav is serious about evaluating women in the infantry he should direct that an all female battalion be formed and deployed.
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Let us start with ALL security details for ALL Politicians etc should be female at the least but maybe all LBSKEGIY##**#%@% groups as well.
Only the (perceived) best for ALL our glorious leaders.
Only the (perceived) best for ALL our glorious leaders
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I did mean to include CABINET leaders also..
Only ones left with Male armed guards will be Thugs and Football/Basketball coaches...
Ever wonder why Baseball coaches/mgrs don’t ‘require’ an armed guard?
Dear Lord, please hold this nation together long enough for the adults to get back in charge.
AMEN!!
And after Obama they should all be court martialed and stripped of their retirement. F them.
If they truly had principles they’d resign.
Which means... he's got nothing. I'd dare say that Mabus has the fixed and rigid mindset.
I’ll go out on a limb here and speculate that “The secretary of the Navy” is more beholden to the agenda of the nancy boy CinC than to the front line Marines.
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