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Pentagon Will Open All Combat Roles to Women
http://www.nytimes.com ^ | December 3, 2015 | MATTHEW ROSENBERG and DAVE PHILIPPS

Posted on 12/03/2015 10:16:18 AM PST by NKP_Vet

In a historic change for the American military, Defense Secretary Ashton B. Carter on Thursday announced that the Pentagon will open all combat jobs to women.

"There will be no exceptions," Mr. Carter said at a Pentagon news conference.

The groundbreaking decision overturns a 1994 Pentagon rule that restricts women from artillery, armor, infantry and other such combat roles, even though in reality women often found themselves in combat in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Mr. Carter said that, after a three-year review, the Army, Navy, Air Force and Special Operations Command agreed that all combat positions should be open to qualified women.

Only the Marine Corps, he said, requested some exemptions.

But Mr. Carter said he overruled the Marines to open all combat positions to women because the military should operate under a common set of standards. The Marine Corps has long held concerns that integrating women into combat units could erode morale in all-male platoons and lead to increased sexual tension that would undermine fighting capability. But a Marine Corps study made public by a women's advocacy group this week found that after months of testing mixed-gender combat units, troops reported morale equal to that of all-male groups and higher than noncombat integrated groups.

In addition, the study found sexual assault levels no higher than in the Marines as a whole.

Nancy Duff Campbell, co-president of the National Women's Law Center, praised the announcement.

"It's a thrilling day for women serving in the military -- and for women across the country," she said. "We applaud today's announcement that knocks down the last remaining official barrier to women's military service and ensures the full integration of women into all military jobs, positions and units."

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


TOPICS: Culture/Society; Foreign Affairs; Government; Politics/Elections
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To: NKP_Vet

Such a “thrilling privilege” to be in combat.


41 posted on 12/03/2015 10:53:41 AM PST by central_va (I won't be reconstructed and I do not give a damn.)
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To: NKP_Vet

On second thought a good way to cull the heard of uglies..../sarc


42 posted on 12/03/2015 10:55:05 AM PST by central_va (I won't be reconstructed and I do not give a damn.)
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To: Night Hides Not

Yeah I didn’t last 20 either.


43 posted on 12/03/2015 10:56:43 AM PST by corlorde
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To: RummyChick

Oh, silly. Here is an example of how it is going to work in practice.

An 81mm mortar squad consists of 5 soldiers, the Squad Leader and 4 crew members. The mortar can be broken down into 4 components: barrel (35 lbs), mount (27 lbs), baseplate (29 lbs) and sight (2.5 lbs).

The squad must be able to carry all of these components, plus their own equipment (lets use 60 lbs for this example - most loads are more), and ammunition at 9.8 lbs each.

Here’s how the new modern mortar squad will do it:

The 3 male crew members will carry the barrel, mount, baseplate, their personal kit (60 lbs) and 4 rounds of ammo (40 lbs). That will given them a total of about 130 lbs.

The female soldier will carry her own equipment (50 lbs as she will get others to carry her share of the radio batteries, Night vision gear, claymores, etc.) She will carry 2 rounds of ammo (20 lbs) and the sight (2.5 lbs)for a total of about 72.5 lbs.

See how easy this is, boys and girls.


44 posted on 12/03/2015 11:01:48 AM PST by centurion316 (,)
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To: lastchance
This is a colossal mistake. Offering up young women as cannon fodder is not the best way to assure a country's future.

It's no MISTAKE.


45 posted on 12/03/2015 11:01:58 AM PST by TADSLOS (A Ted Cruz Happy Warrior! GO TED!)
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To: RummyChick

They can changed their damned law if they want they are not putting my daughter in a combat unit, to hell with that idiocy. If liberals want their daughters to see the horrors of war more power to them, they will not inflict their stupidity on my child.


46 posted on 12/03/2015 11:02:25 AM PST by sarge83
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To: NKP_Vet
NKV.... You have hit the nail squarely on the head. When men allow their women folks to do the fighting, they have forfeited their manhood. :-( oohrah!
47 posted on 12/03/2015 11:05:10 AM PST by willibeaux (de ole Korean War vet age 86)
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To: NKP_Vet

48 posted on 12/03/2015 11:06:59 AM PST by Travis McGee (www.EnemiesForeignAndDomestic.com)
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To: NKP_Vet

Whatever. If these women want to commit suicide, it’s no skin off my nose. However, if the government thinks they will ever draft me into war, they have another thing coming.


49 posted on 12/03/2015 11:07:53 AM PST by Politicalkiddo (“How many observe Christ's birthday! How few, his precepts!"- Benjamin Franklin)
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To: LeoWindhorse

This is what the US military has long needed. Consider this. Most people don’t know it, but after the failure of Pickett’s Charge and the eventual rout of the Confederate Army at Gettysburg, General Lee lamented that if only his army had been 50% female, they would have been able to take Missionary Ridge on the first day of battle. Longstreet & Beauregard agreed. Many of Lee’s other Generals deeply regretted their reduced fighting capability due to the lack women and transgendered soldiers in their ranks. In more recent times, Eisenhower, upon reviewing the after action reports, wrote with great bitterness that the D-Day invasion could have been achieved faster and with far fewer Allied casualties if only he had had women under combat arms in the invasion force. It was a bitterness he carried the rest of his life. Its time our military is given the edge it has always wanted and needed.


50 posted on 12/03/2015 11:15:32 AM PST by Steppenwolf
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To: Politicalkiddo

If I had a daughter I would kill to keep her out of a war.


51 posted on 12/03/2015 11:15:35 AM PST by Psalm 144 (The mill grinds exceedingly fine.)
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To: NKP_Vet

One physical fitness test for male and female.

All females between the ages of 18-50 must register with the Draft.

All female military will be sterilized. Males can’t get pregnant.

Welcome to the Infantry, ladies!

You were the ones who could have stopped this.


52 posted on 12/03/2015 11:15:48 AM PST by blueunicorn6 ("A crack shot and a good dancer")
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To: NKP_Vet

Sadly, I can see no other reason for a red-blooded, warrior type young American male to join the military anymore. It is becoming the girls scouts and if you are in a combat unit with a chick you had better watch out or you will be at a minimum taking sexual sensitivity training every month.


53 posted on 12/03/2015 11:17:07 AM PST by Resolute Conservative
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To: NKP_Vet

This will not end well.

There are a few women who are up to being in the combat arms and capable of performing at the level of an average man in those roles. Damned few, but they exist. But, even the best women are not up to the standards of elite troops


54 posted on 12/03/2015 11:17:45 AM PST by CatoRenasci (Ceterum Censeo Islam Esse Delendam -- Forsan et haec olim meminisse iuvabit)
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To: oncebitten

Well said.


55 posted on 12/03/2015 11:21:30 AM PST by july4thfreedomfoundation (Just say NO to muslim "immigrants")
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To: NKP_Vet

Said it before and will say it again: If I was the new President, I would fire every three and four star officer for putting their careers ahead of their country. No exceptions.


56 posted on 12/03/2015 11:25:49 AM PST by armydawg505
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To: CatoRenasci

God never created women to do what men do. Men fight so that women don’t have to. Women are not called the weaker sex for nothing.


57 posted on 12/03/2015 11:31:02 AM PST by NKP_Vet (In matters of style, swim with the current; in matters of principle,stand like a rock ~ T, Jefferson)
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To: NKP_Vet
Stupid, stupid, stupid. Israel tried this and found out it doesn't work. Men react differently to seeing a woman wounded vs. a brother in arms.

These Communists are destroying our America.

58 posted on 12/03/2015 11:34:23 AM PST by jimbug
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To: cgbg

Disagree. The inability of most women to carry the weight of their gear for extended periods of time, or to carry a severely wounded fellow soldier to safety are the moral breaking factors most important. I’m a woman and in my day was in top shape and would have made a damn fine shooter to take out “targets” but would have been operating alone. There are many “jobs” excellent for women, but those requiring strength should be out of bounds for women. This ruling is insane!


59 posted on 12/03/2015 11:36:07 AM PST by Mollypitcher1 (I have not yet begun to fight....John Paul Jones)
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To: Pollster1

The vast majority of the time, those qualities are not relevant to the task at hand, with rare exceptions lasting a mere few minutes (or hours at most) a handful of times in a career.
..............................................
Who cares about the vast majority of the time????????????????????

It only takes ONCE in many situations to bring disaster.

I certainly hope your post was meant as sarcasm!


60 posted on 12/03/2015 11:39:13 AM PST by Mollypitcher1 (I have not yet begun to fight....John Paul Jones)
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