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How Do You Feel About Women in Combat?
Spouse Buzz ^ | May 9, 2012 | Staff

Posted on 05/19/2012 11:01:09 AM PDT by QT3.14

The topic of women in combat has always been a touchy one. Many feel that while women should be allowed in the military, they do not belong in jobs that place them on the front line. Others believe that women are just as capable as men and should be given the opportunity to take on any role within the military.

(Excerpt) Read more at spousebuzz.com ...


TOPICS: Culture/Society; Foreign Affairs
KEYWORDS: combat; equality; men; military; selectiveservice; war; waronmen; waronwomen; women
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To: ansel12
For those who do support women on ships I very highly recommend them watching the actual footage of the USS Forestall fire. This is usually shown in Basic Training and each time a sailor goes to fire fighting school. The film shows hero's dieing. It is not a Hollywood created film it is real Fligt Deck Footage. They use it too pound the seriousness of fire fighting into sailors heads because mistakes were made in that fire. They were heroic mistakes made simply due to miscommunication. That fire caused a revamping of shipboard fire fighting.

A sailor at anytime may be called upon to do a fireman's carry of his shipmate up several decks too safety. So now addressing the operational limitations women on ship impose we'll see a few things not talked about. First is General Quarters. The alarm sounds and you get up and start dressing, when you get your shoes on you start running to your assigned station many times dressing as you go. You have a few short minutes to get there, get your equipment on, and start setting ZEBRA which is closing ALL hatches. Seconds count.

Next is Fires. It's the same thing really. Another highly important event is Man overboard. A shipmate is in the water or is suspected as being such. An accurate VISUAL Muster has to be done in a few short minutes to see who is not there. That is important because it also tells you what the shipmate was wearing and if they had survival gear, from what level they fell, etc. That Muster was so serious you had permission to report to your work center in your skivvies. If you were in the shower and the Man overboard whistle sounded you wrapped with a towel then and there and went to Muster.

No one will convince me there critical functions are not hampered by having women present. Ships are no place for PC. They are no place for worrying about someones feelings when there is a job to be done.

In my rating which was Machinist Mate you likely worked in a place called "The Hole". Welcome to hell. The temps are close too 120 and the humidity is 100%. A work day in hell was sometimes 20 hours a day counting watches. Do this for six months at sea.

Bad things can and do happen when ships deploy. People get killed in war and peace alike. It can go from calm to save the ship mode in an instant and not have a thing to do with being attacked by an enemy.

I was a Machinist Mate and I was also a Fire Fighter . My job in the Fire Department was what is called One on One. Meaning Nozzleman. Fires on ships are not like fires in civilian structures. Heat transfers fast through steel. Too fight a fire you can not stand up. You have to walk squatted down. It takes two hose teams the heat is so intense. The second hose team has a guy called One on Two. He has a goose neck nozzle held over One on Ones shoulders so as to keep the heat away from him. Navy Ships are deadly serious business.

81 posted on 05/19/2012 12:55:48 PM PDT by cva66snipe (Two Choices left for U.S. One Nation Under GOD or One Nation Under Judgment? Which one say ye?)
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To: exit82

I remember reading that Israel tried this quite some time ago. If I remember the article correctly, having mixed combat units ultimately reduced their effectiveness as well as their ability to engage in combat. Also, if my memory serves me the capability was reduced by an average of 40%.


82 posted on 05/19/2012 12:58:36 PM PDT by Parmy
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To: Navy Patriot
I'm glad she was around when we needed her.
83 posted on 05/19/2012 12:58:59 PM PDT by fella ("As it was before Noah, so shall it be again.")
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To: QT3.14

No way! Never! Men and women are different. (signed, Captain Obvious).


84 posted on 05/19/2012 1:04:51 PM PDT by bboop (Without justice, what else is the State but a great band of robbers? St. Augustine)
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To: ansel12
The issue is what happens to you when you lose a serious war.

Odds are good that you've got a White Coat back there ~ but you don't even know about him. His very existence disappeared.

85 posted on 05/19/2012 1:11:57 PM PDT by muawiyah
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To: QT3.14

In the early seventies I was a tech in the electronics industry. A meeting was called one day to tell us that management was thinking about hiring female techs. All of the other techs were drooling at the idea of having females around us.

The head-knocker asked if there were any objections. No one said a word, except me.

I said, “Some of this equipment weighs upward of 75 pounds. The very first time a female asks for help picking up a piece of equipment I am going to tell her to do it herself then go to you and complain.”

They decided against hiring female techs.

Some people just have to be shown logic. They can’t even see it if it slaps them in the face.


86 posted on 05/19/2012 1:23:45 PM PDT by spel_grammer_an_punct_polise (I wanna start a Seniors' Motor Scooter Gang. Wanna join?)
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To: muawiyah

It is creepy for someone to be on the internet talking about my genealogy as if they know details about me that I don’t know.

What are you talking about, and why, why are you involving me and my family so personally?

At least tell us what you are talking about in regards to dates and geography.


87 posted on 05/19/2012 1:31:02 PM PDT by ansel12 (When immutable definition of Bible marriage of One Man, One Woman, is in jeopardy, call the Mormon.)
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To: chuckee

“Depends on the woman and the dimensions of the fox hole I am sharing with the woman.”

If you think falling asleep while on watch will get you killed quickly, what you are thinking of will be instantaneous.

Dying naked, with both of you having your throats slit, definitely won’t make you a “war hero”.

Other than as rear area clerks, communicators, nurses or possibly ambulance drivers, women have no business anywhere near combat. And these billets should be off limits if the enemy treats women like scum.

War is dirty, nasty, brutish. It is not about “equality” or political correctness. If it is about those, then it is not “war” it is instead very expensive suicide.


88 posted on 05/19/2012 1:34:04 PM PDT by BwanaNdege (Man has often lost his way, but modern man has lost his address - Gilbert K. Chesterton)
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To: ansel12
Hmm, I merely encouraged you to LOOK into the parts you haven't looked at ~ where the trail goes cold ~

I might very well know something about your genealogy though. Ansel is an unusual name. My great grandfather Hughes' grandfather was named Ansel.

89 posted on 05/19/2012 1:34:07 PM PDT by muawiyah
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To: spel_grammer_an_punct_polise

We bought mobile racks to carry equipment ~ manageable by women. The organization required everyone to be able to lift 70 pounds though.


90 posted on 05/19/2012 1:36:03 PM PDT by muawiyah
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To: QT3.14

Nurses, desk jobs...yep.

Absolutely no combat!!!


91 posted on 05/19/2012 1:37:17 PM PDT by Brad’s Gramma (PRAY for this country like your life depends on it......because it DOES!)
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To: QT3.14; All
Ship them to the front lines and registered 18 yr old women for Selective Service.

I'm sick of the "more equal than others" feminism that pervades the culture from media portrayals of women and men from products and advertisers (virtually any sitcom), to medical coverage (ObamaCare rules), to charity prominence (Komen), to parental rights (bias in favor of mothers no matter their competence), to the "social safety net" (women have priority while men are more likely to be homeless), to education (boys are falling behind in fundamentals and women are an increasing majority of college undergrads), to abortion...

92 posted on 05/19/2012 1:39:14 PM PDT by newzjunkey (I advocate separation of school and sport)
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To: QT3.14

Years before I retired (1986) women were allowed on Army ships and boats. They had to meet minimum standards. One – in training – was to carry two 5 gallon cans of red lead paint about 50’ without stopping, most made it. Some men did not. Later when I was a skipper I had several women on my crew, they outworked the men and did darn good at the firing range. If a woman can meet the requirement why not let them into direct combat?
Times have changed, men are no longer as concerned with protecting women.


93 posted on 05/19/2012 1:40:40 PM PDT by R. Scott (Humanity i love you because when you're hard up you pawn your Intelligence to buy a drink)
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To: muawiyah; moder_ator

Parts of what that I haven’t looked at? What cold trail?

You really are creeping me out, what does me and my family have to do with this thread?


94 posted on 05/19/2012 1:42:37 PM PDT by ansel12 (When immutable definition of Bible marriage of One Man, One Woman, is in jeopardy, call the Mormon.)
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To: QT3.14
totally against it for three reasons...

1)morally it's wrong

2)it's bad for moral when sex comes into play

3)if two people are having sex in the same squad/platoon, they will sacrifice YOU and EVERYBODY else in the squad/platoon for their lover if they have to when the time comes...

95 posted on 05/19/2012 1:44:41 PM PDT by Chode (American Hedonist - *DTOM* -ww- NO Pity for the LAZY)
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To: GeorgeWashingtonsGhost
NO, NO and NO! It is instinctive for a man to want to protect a female. Why turn two guns into one? Let’s not violate God’s ways AGAIN, shall we?

Perhaps you've never heard about Joan of Arc.

96 posted on 05/19/2012 1:46:51 PM PDT by newzjunkey (I advocate separation of school and sport)
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To: WellyP
!! CRIMSON TIDE !!
97 posted on 05/19/2012 1:48:21 PM PDT by Delta 21 (Oh Crap !! Did I say that out loud ??!??)
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To: QT3.14

For the same reason that men are not allowed to play in womens sports teams, because women cannot fight to the same standards. The present government wants, even demands the destruction of the country, and also demands the reduction of population. Two very good reasons to have gays and women in the military.

If you want to see women in the military, do this, bet your life on a woman boxer against a male boxer in a match. Because that is what we are doing. Other nations dont try to re-educate the nations they conquer, they just kill them off.

We are betting our survival on this stupid, and obvious issue.


98 posted on 05/19/2012 1:51:04 PM PDT by American in Israel (A wise man's heart directs him to the right, but the foolish mans heart directs him toward the left.)
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To: newzjunkey

What would he be forgetting about Joan of Arc?


99 posted on 05/19/2012 1:53:16 PM PDT by ansel12 (When immutable definition of Bible marriage of One Man, One Woman, is in jeopardy, call the Mormon.)
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To: ansel12
"if we lose in a major war, we disappear from the future, forever." ~ your words.

I simply provided you with an example ~ millions of Americans today have an ancestor who was a White Coat in the French army that lost to the Brits in Canada in the mid 1700s.

They don't even know those people existed ~ we are THEIR FUTURE.

Those fellows are hard to find in anyone's genealogy, but probability says they really are there but you have to look for them.

I hope you can figure it out from there ~

100 posted on 05/19/2012 1:53:28 PM PDT by muawiyah
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