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 ...
You should have stuck it out in the reserves. It’s easier to survive there as a maverick.
Nor on my granddaughters, though I have a Marine veteran grandson.
That’s just it. Liberals’ kids don’t join the military. What does that tell you?
http://warontherocks.com/2014/11/heres-why-women-in-combat-units-is-a-bad-idea/
“there is a world of difference between women participating on certain missions and women serving alongside men as permanent members of ground combat units.
This difference has everything to do with why combat units exist,they exist to be sent into harms way. Maybe they wont take casualties. But the military can never count on that. The prospect of attrition requires that the military treat individuals not as individuals, but as interchangeable pieces of a complex system. Not only does every combat soldier need to be capable of accomplishing the same essential tasks as every other combat soldier (according to rank, MOS etc.), but every potential replacement has to be able to easily fit into an already-stressed group. This introduces the equivalent of a Goldilocks challenge: Groups must be flexible enough to quickly absorb new members, while new members need to be sufficiently similar to both old members and surviving members that they readily fit.
Unfortunately, proponents of lifting the combat exclusion ban dont seem to get this. So, while it might make academic sense to assume squads, platoons and teams will simply be able to work out their own division of labor (read: task cohesion) under duress, what invariably happens when new members of the opposite sex arrive on the scene? In any setting, group chemistry changes in predictably unpredictable ways.
Unfortunately, the services are not likely to use their sexual assault data to make the case that injecting women into hard-charging, all-male units is not a sound idea. But surely other statistics exist. For instance, how much time do command staffs already spend on boy-girl troubles? Anecdotally, fraternization and related issues eat up way too much time. Is this really what Washington should now saddle combat units and commanders with as they fight ISIS or whomever else in the future?
Or what about combat soldiers spouses, who already have more than enough worries? Why dont their concerns count? This is a question that leads to a cascade of others for anyone who truly cares about equity. Whose equity should most matter? And who should get to determine this?
The irony is that combat units are it when it comes to protecting all the other equities we Americans value. That is inconvenient truth number one. We have no other front-line/behind-the-lines first responders. Why would we want to do anything that jeopardizes their cohesiveness and integrity?
Inconvenient truth number two is that men and women have been each others most consistent distraction since the beginning of time. To pretend that we dont know what will happen when men and women are thrown together for prolonged periods in emotionally intense situations defies common sense. Being overly academic and insufficiently adult about adult behavior is not just irresponsible but imperiling, and belies the deadly seriousness with which we should want combat units to perform.”
Outstanding. The sooner, the better. Let’s have some, all women infantry units. Ask that question- see what the answer is...
The sooner, the better. Of course, the faggotry that is large and in charge- wants to skip the infantry and go immediately to spec branches. Where the greatest effect of a socialist fascist pogram, can be exacted, by the least effort.
“Yet professional baseball remains exclusively male.”
For now!
I’ve served in artillery and armor, they will only perform superbly if they never leave the motor pool and even there don’t do the jobs that require brute strength like breaking track, changing road wheels, pulling packs, & etc.
We had many of the same experiences, I am a retired ADA Major and served as a Brigade S1 after battery command time. Did time in the ADA battalions in the 1st AD, 101st and 108th ADA BDE. The Brigade and Battalion Commanders I worked for in the 101st and at Brigade level were outstanding warriors. I would follow them anywhere.
Absolutely.
Exactly. That’s why I want to see all female crews and not, say, one female with mixed into a crew of males.
This is designed to make the USA unlikely to engage in real warfare. A real war requires a draft, no way American moms and dads will permit their daughters to be drafted to the front lines of a bloody war. So in one move this administration has killed our ability to defend itself (and our allies) from a major adversary with a real war fighting capability. Hello Congress, anybody home.
I can not believe our worthless Congress, not a weep out of the cowards.
I expect someone to sue the select service administration soon to require that girls also register.
A must see mini series and a great read too. One of the few times I like the movie (tv mini series) better then the book.
Any Marines on here care to comment?
(Women's advocacy groups. Meh.)
Stupid liberal progressives endorse violence against women.
DANG!
I was in the 108th when it was the 108th ADA Group, so I sense you're a bit younger than me...lol. I was at 6/56 from 77-mid 81. Started as a platoon leader at C Battery (Hahn AB). Had both Chaparral platoons and one of the towed Vulcan platoons. Best learning experience was flunking my first ARTEP. After dealing with a fecal storm for several weeks, my attitude changed. Since my neck was on the line, it was stay the hell out of my way.
COL Johnie Forte saved my a$$ on one OER. My Battery Cdr was a great staff officer, and the Battalion Cdr was a ring knocking socialite.
Last two years (at Spangdahlem) I filled in as Property Book Officer for 6-7 months, followed by S-4. It wasn't a fair fight when the old man put me in the S-4 slot. In addition to the PBO time, word got out about my Public Accounting degree. The two annual budgets I worked on were a snap for me, and any objections from the Group S-3 were like teeing up a softball. The Group S-4 tried to warn him, but to no avail. On the last one, it got so screwed up, I was put on the next flight from Crete, as I was on the advance team for ASP.
My last Battalion Commander, Phil Holman, was great. We got off to a rocky start, as I got into a major dispute with the CO when I was at Todendorf as the Admin/Log XO. I was in charge at least half the summer, as he was suffering through marital problems. Being 400 miles from home meant that tough decisions had to be made locally. I'll never know, but I think then LTC Jay Garner, CDR 2/60, put in a few good words for me.
Two months before my original tour was up (12/79), the PBO got orders, and he wasn't going to extend. I agreed to "hold down the fort" until the replacement arrived, so long as I was exempt from field duty. He didn't arrive until April...lol.
The old man was rightfully concerned about his property book, so one of the crusty old CW4's came down for an inspection. The outbriefing was quick: "the property book's in better shape than when he took over."
In March 80, the S-4 got his orders, and the rest is history (boring to most, but I loved that job). While at Hahn, I moved to an apartment in Traben-Trarbach, and I kept it when I transferred to Spangdahlem. I could have stayed there forever.
In an unexpected turn of events, LTC Holman was promoted and appointed as President of the ADA Board at Fort Bliss. I was there for the Advanced Course, and he offered me a job when that was completed.
My last assignment was HHB Battery Cdr. Despite a 98.5 pass rate on the PT test, and Commanding General's Best Mess, and rave reviews from the five Directorate Chiefs, my first OER unequivocally told me I'd never make Major. I accomplished my mission in the last few months of command: that Bn Cdr was never selected to the Army War College. He made full Colonel, but he really wanted a star. I'm sure you're familiar with his leadership style: when things are going good, it's all due to him; when things are not so great, it's because his people effed up.
I'm not bitter about a thing, as I never intended to make it a career. I had experiences that very few people could ever hope to enjoy, and I worked with so many outstanding officers, NCOs, and EMs. Two trips to Crete, a summer at Todendorf, two weeks at Reforger '77, living on the Mosel for 4 years, meeting my wife at Fort Bliss...how in heaven's name could one complain? Oh yeah, the Army paid for 100% of college, four years at Gonzaga with zero student debt.
My apologies for the length. My stories don't compare to those that were in combat zones, although the early years of the all volunteer force had their own distinct challenges.
If women are really dumb enough to want full integration, then let there be selective service for them.
I was a total geek in high school, and I would have washed out of BASIC or boot camp within the first few days, but nonetheless, when I turned 18, I had to register.
So let them be registered. Hopefully, they will wash out of BASIC like I would have.
I agree...the end of the series left you with the distinct impression that Sam would bring Courtney down. Alas, that's not what happened in the book.
the war with women....is the war on women....
No woman alive can go through Navy Seal training. Impossible. Most men can’t.
http://navyseals.com/1671/what-buds-is-really-like-a-true-story-of-being-that-guy-part-4/
No I think the draft issue is. I’ve never been I. The armed forces but I will sure as hell go to war against anything or anyone that wants to enslave my daughters.
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