Army colonel: Physical strength not the end-all, be-all of combat service

The Washington Times ^ | August 12, 2013 | Rowan Scarborough

[kitchen]

Which do you think she idolizes?

[headsonpikes]

Relax - at least there will always be a praetorian guard for the Emperor’s protection.

Of course, they might not be Americans...

[Hillarys Gate Cult]

The only concern about Audie Murphy was his size going in. He was able to do everything required of him in training.

[yarddog]

I always thought it interesting that for some time, the French Kings were protected by the Scottish Guard. The Pope by the Swiss Guards and there probably are other instances.

[TADSLOS]

Check out this Colonel's background and "experience". She's an EO social engineering quota recipient and a Nothing Burger.

Colonel Haring

[3Fingas]

Both examples provided work against her reasoning. They might have been small, but they were physically fit and capable of traversing any o-course or confidence course a military could devise. So, she gets an “F” for poor research and delusional thinking.

The words Audie Murphy and NVA insurgent (not accurate either, the Viet Cong were the insurgents, NVA were regulars) should never be used together. Audie Murphy was a bonafide American hero. The NVA were murderous communist scum, their physical characteristics not withstanding.

[elcid1970]

“....am hoping that her assignment to the staff puts her on the sidelines where she belongs”

Which means her promotion to G.O. is certain but there’s no guarantee she won’t wind up in a position of pernicious influence.

Remember that two star friend of Hillary who was in charge of the goofy Consideration of Others program? I had to teach that during the 1990’s but it appears the PC has gotten far worse since I retired.

[EternalVigilance]

I’m descended from the Proctor clan. Five of the Proctor brothers served in Kentucky during the Revolution. In 1782, one of them, Joseph Proctor, carried a wounded man forty miles back to the fort after the Battle of Little Mountain in which Captain James Estill was killed by the Wyandotte Indians.

Anyone who thinks women could come anywhere close to doing anything resembling that is loco.

[wbill]

Yeah, that'd be a haul from Florida. Though the last time I was there, the guy I talked to who had the winning bid to drive the tank in the "car crushing demo" had driven in from Colorado for the opportunity. :-) "Worth every bit of it.", he said.

We were talking in the cafeteria. He said that "When he was done, the car would be able to slide under a door." Yeah, right, I figured, buncha chest thumping.

Nope. He was absolutely right, after he ran over the car (an 80's Buick junker) a handful of times with his M48, then parked on top of it and spun the tracks....the car wasn't more than a few inches thick. lol!! Fun. WBill Jr. talked about it, and the flamethrower demo, for weeks....

[G Larry]

The Col. is an idiot!

“judge a service member’s ability to stay calm and think quickly”

Audie Murphy didn’t have somebody else packing his gear for him, or provide him with undue attention.

If the lady needs a lighter pack, then she can figure out what to leave behind.

And when she can’t keep up...?

[wally_bert]

I will have to see that. Thanks!

[wku man]

"It’s over. Fold up the tents, go home, and wait for the end."

Not yet, man. We haven't had our say. Just wait 'til Claire Wolfe's alarm clock goes off, which won't be long now.

Scouts Out! Cavalry Ho!

[Vendome]

It needs to be pointed out that this officer is a woman, who has sued to loosen the minimum standards for entry into certain combat units.

 

To my mysoginistic thinking her ideas on competency could result in decreased operational efficiency and more casualties.

 

If a woman wants to join any activity of war, she should be held to the same standard as a man.  I don't mean that in a macho way but, more that there are reasons the military set the standards.

 

Women shouldn't be excluded by viritue of having ovaries but, should be excluded because they are incapable of doing the work that genetics enable some to do while others won't be able to.

 

Does that include all women?  Certainly not but, it would and should necessarily have the result of few women qualifying. 

 

I don't buy her contrivance that Audie Murphy and some little people from Vietnam demonstrate her premise that anyone can be a extraordinary.

 

It should be noted that Audie Murphy was of slight height and very much a scrawny man.  Most men wouldn't achieve one of his many accomplishments but, for one key characteristic:

 

A mind and spirit consumed with "Definite of Purpose" and a willpower that informed him "failure" was unnacceptable.

 

It takes that kind of sould to win at anything and if a woman has that quality then she should be inducted into whatever vocation she wants and we should applaud her.

 

 

 

This woman, Colonel Haring, makes the absurd claim that physical strength should not be overemphasized.  Really?  It ought to be a minimum requirement much like being a college graduate to get an interview for a job.

 

She acutally wants the services to consider the ability to stay calm and act quickly as prerequisites.  Asinine!  Not because those qualities shouldn't be considered but, that they should be emphasized while marginalizing the various excersises of marches and obstacle courses.

 

I call Boo Chit.  That you can compel your body to perform a certain task beyond pain and previous limits of the mind by sheer will power is the point of the excersises.  I mean really? 

 

I want women to fight next to me not because they were given special consideration but, because I know I can count on their capabilities which the rest of us were tested on, to the same standard.  That isn't exclusionary but, life saving and mission expedient.

 

“We can’t be sure, but odds are that Murphy would have washed out here, as well,” Col. Haring said. “An obstacle course that relies on physical prowess tests none of the important qualities that Murphy possessed.”

 

That is complete balderdash and an insult to Audie Murphies tenaciousness.  It should be noted that he was overwhelmed with a patriotic duty to enlist after the Japanes bombed Pearl Harbor.  This was wartime not peace and a good many people who sign up today do so understanding their probability of seeing, much being involved in, combat is fairly low. 

 

Audie wanted to fight for America and kill for America.  I don't believe that is the mindset going on here.

 

 

 

Further, when Audie was was assigned to infantry he earned Marksmanship.  That isn't just some skill anyone can do.  You have to want to do something requires so many precise actions that most men will not become a Marksman and the same is true for women.

 

It should be well noted that the officer in charge of training didn't believe Audie would be well suited to serve in the infantry.  If his body revealed the officers assesment to be correct then we never would have heard of Audie.  But, his mind informed him he could do what any other man could and he proved it in training and again during combat over and over and over.

 

Colonel Haring continues: in focusing only on physical strength in violent situations, she said: “We diminish the importance of what are probably more important traits in soldiers: the ability to remain calm, focused, creative and quick-thinking in times of extreme duress. These are the traits that we should be measuring as we assess soldiers for combat specialties. Physical strength is important, but it shouldn’t be the most important trait that we assess, and it certainly shouldn’t become a way to filter out the Audie Murphys of our population.”

 

If she is right then any poosy can be in combat remaing calm while others fight on all around them as they focus on their creative talents while sewing drapes for the foxholes and decorating the ammo can with decoupage.

[jazusamo]

Yep, thanks for the link.

[sten]

and shortly they will insure the upper ranks are all progressives

what a lot of crap

[ansel12]

says commanders need to downplay obstacle courses and judge a service member’s ability to stay calm and think quickly.

A couple of things, the physicality of military males is based on the average male soldier, sailor, or Marine already, not some superman model.

Also, even the ditsiest chick with no interest in this topic at all, knows that a large measure of a more elite GI or Commando is physical toughness, which has always proven that the proper direction for physical standards is to seek moving to higher standards when you can, never to move to weaker standards when you don't need to.

[Utilizer]

Glad to hear it. Although I come from a different branch of service, Marines always have My respect, and anyone on the front of it all always has everything I have to give for their support.

When I was in high school, I was heavily into the Martial Arts and not really into sports like football, not a big bloke at all. One day a group of us decided to have a small game of tackle to blow off some steam. After awhile, some of the girls came over and asked if they could join in. Being full of normal red-blooded male hormones we jumped at the chance to playfully grab and tackle lots of pretty girls and started playing.

After a couple of scrimmages, the girls huddled together for a moment and then one of them came over and asked if we could please take it easy on them because they were having some difficulty making any yardage and couldn't make any goals. The majority of us had to sigh and turn away, some with rolled eyes, and one of the guys finally had to tell her we HAD been taking it easy.

After that, we made sure that they could get some plays going for their side and just concentrated on having fun and not worry about the score.

[RginTN]

As a female this woman makes me sick.

Watching the military channel or Nat’l Geo’s war documentary and every scene has men needing physical strength in combat situations. Traveling thru rough terrain, doing what the SEALS do takes physical strength.

Drones aren’t gonna win wars and I can see not needing physical strength to use drones.

If this idiot has the influence of powers in the military then yes this country is doomed.

[real saxophonist]

Strength and Muscle and Jungle Work

[Utilizer]

No kidding, mate. I am 5’9” and an ex- Martial Artist and I will be the first to tell you that what shorter guys lack in height they make up for in speed and density. Males are just built denser than females, and that is how nature made us.