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Can someone explain to me just how the ambush of the 507th is directly related to the dangers of women in Combat?

By all accounts, this unit was unescorted by any infantry support.

By all accounts, this incident should never have happened.

By all accounts instead of crying in fear and hiding helplessly behind their male counterparts, The female soldiers in this fire fight fought back as well as any other soldier there.

What we have here is a rear echelon unit thrown unexpectantly thrown into a vicious ambush, poorly armed and unsupported by even a squad of grunts, fighting back valiantly, and only being captured after every bit of ammo they had on hand had been expended. If anything this incident has nothing to do with women in combat but everything to do with the protection of support units in a convoy.

The fact that there were women attached to this unit has nothing to do with the way all the soldiers in this ambush fought back, they would have fought back even if it had been an all male unit and given the weapons and ammo they had on hand the results would have been the same, if anything it might have been worse.

They never should have been in the combat zone in the first place.

In 1994 Secretary of Defense Les Aspin redefined Direct Ground Combat, and eliminated “inherent risk of capture” as a factor to consider in exempting women from serving in units previously defined as close combat. To open up even more “career opportunities” for women, Aspin also eliminated the Defense Department’s (DoD) Risk Rule—a regulation intended to exempt women in non-combat positions from being assigned close to the front lines.

None of this would have ever happened if not for Bill Clinton.

That is the most brilliant thing I've read on this or related topics in ages, and if anybody flames you, they're going to have to flame through me first.

According to 3 of the soldiers FOX's O'Rielly had on his show last night they were not LOST. They were where they were supposed to be they were just ambushed. These 3 were in another truck and they had gone about 3 miles in retreat before one realized he was even "hit"

They were just on a path that was not covered every inch by friendly forces. It happens. They had no armor so the attackers saw their opportunity.

As for women in combat I am against and for; Against - because it is the whole male protects female argument. That is how we was raised honest. For - if they can handle the physical parts, they can shoot just as well, remember Russia's female snipers one second only to Vasily in confirmed kills. And we men all know this women can be wholly more cruel that men on some levels. It is also proven that women handle G-Forces better than men in fighters. But it still goes back to do you want your mother, daughter, wife, or sister in a line unit? Jessica did what she had been trained to do, it amazes people that a soldier when all hell is breaking loose never really thinks of their training, it somehow very quickly becomes instinct.

if the standards are not lowered they should be allowed, the problem has been that PC allows the standards to be lowered to fill a spot. I seem to remeber an F-14 pilot who was killed. Can't recall her name, but Patsy Schroeder was a big reason this pilot got "in" she failed an emergancy landing 3 times that is an intentional "flame out" where you lose an engine. 2 times for a male and he is history. She never did pass but was pushed thru anyway again PC popped it ugly head in. Her death was a result of a real "flame out" which for a while F-14's were prone to do, that is why they recieved new engines. Her RIO ejected and she never recovered the plane and went into the sea.

A few years ago a male pilot over a city had a flame out in an F-14 there was a witness to it all. The pilot could have ejected, he chose to stay with the plane and it hit 3 houses. It just missed an office building, the guy who watched it said the plane was headed for the office like 20 stories, and it looked like the pilot fought it and it rolled away and nose dived into a suburb.

The point being is that the male pilot had the upper body strength to fight the plane, the female did not. I give her credit because she tried to save the plane. She had no reason and could have ejected into the sea like her RIO. The male pilot did the honorable thing, cause less destruction by self sacrifice. Two different instances but the one difference is the male took it in, the female went in with it.

"Can someone explain to me just how the ambush of the 507th is directly related to the dangers of women in Combat? "

I thought that is was a tank maintenance unit. Therefore, its assets (Jessica) would be expected to travel into dangerous areas to service equipment. I think that puts it at significant combat risk and on some level, "a combat unit".

Thank you for a truthful, succinct and apt analysis of the subject and this incident.

I am not in favor of women in combat but I can understand that poor females who need an opportunity beyond what they could normally earn, view this as a way out.

To use the issue to force the role of women in service is an indication of the sub-basement character of the feminists, but then that is what their leadership has always been.

Incidentally in the Revolution there were women on the battlefield in support of their men in addition to the now famous Molly Pitcher.

It is also a matter of history that the hardened, world conquering Roman legions, met their match time and again in the Celts of Britain. To the Romans, the most fearsome sight, it is said, was of the Celtic women in battle beside their men, blonde hair streaming and blue eyes blazing, as capable with swords and horse as their males and in accordance with Celtic cultural practice, just as naked.

Re: Post 16 - A good analysis of the problem concerning the capture of Jessica's unit. Yes, the main issue should be, why was her support unit unescorted. How could this be prevented in the future? Let's wait and see what the investigation shows.

Very nicely stated.

If you're in a combat zone your secondary MOS is rifleman. Just ask the men that were trapped in the Battle of the Bulge. We'll have to wait and see what happend to the women of the 507th. We know from Gulf War that POWs were more than tortured. We know that Jessica did not break those bones unassing the truck she in which she was riding. I believe the female A-10 pilot made the extra effort to get her plane home because she knew that the alternative was going to be real bad.

I'm not big on women that close to the noise. But this old fart is interested in hearing how well they've performed and will probably have to give grudging respect to the women who have been in Iraq. The armed forces have done a good job of integrating the women into the units. I was watching a segment on the policing going on in Afghanistan and the female MP was taking no crap and the Afghans were jumping.