Free Republic

In Australia, a “debate” is raging. Should women fight alongside manly men on the frontlines? The left-leaning APP reports: “Prime Minister Julia Gillard has voiced strong support for women taking on military combat roles to allow them to fight and if necessary die for their country.” As well, the APP uncritically reports: “Australia lagged behind Canada and perhaps New Zealand.” But that’s a Labor talking point – not a fact. Who fears Canada? Who fears New Zealand? In military terms, these allegedly progressive countries can’t even defend themselves. Also, in recent token-related history the Air Force Times (U.S.) reports: “Air...

Last night I watched the movie 9th Company on Netflix. This is an outstanding war movie that in my opinion is not to be missed by war movie aficionados. It's a riveting, true account of a group of young enlisted Soviet paratroopers. In the beginning, you follow this group of young men through the rigors of bootcamp where they eventually develop a close camaraderie. They're mentored by a tough, stomach-punching drill sergeant who's the lone survivor of his unit from the Afghan conflict. Even though he's tough as nails, he cares about his soldiers he mentors and wishes he could...

President Obama’s actions in Libya were already suspicious for a number of reasons. First, during Obama’s presidential campaign, he asserted that his priority was to get America out of the two wars it was already fighting. Second, Obama was a staunch critic of the Bush administration for unconstitutionally embarking on a war without congressional approval — an action of which President Obama is now guilty. Finally, as the economy is teetering on collapse, one would assume the last thing the President would want is to have to fund a third war. And yet here we are. However, once we delve...

The Pentagon is about to pull its attack planes out of the international air campaign in Libya, hoping NATO partners can take up the slack. The announcement Thursday drew incredulous reactions from some in Congress who wondered aloud why the Obama administration would bow out of a key element of the strategy for protecting Libyan civilians and crippling Moammar Gadhafi's army. "Odd," ''troubling" and "unnerving" were among critical comments by senators pressing for an explanation of the announcement by Defense Secretary Robert Gates and Joint Chiefs chairman Adm. Mike Mullen that American combat missions will end Saturday. "Your timing is...

WASHINGTON, March 7, 2011 – A commission established to study diversity among military leaders is recommending that the Defense Department rescind its policy that prevents women from being assigned to ground combat units below the brigade level. In a report issued today, the Military Leadership Diversity Commission recommends that the department and the services eliminate combat exclusion policies for women, as well as other “barriers and inconsistencies, to create a level playing field for all qualified service members.” Retired Air Force Gen. Lester L. Lyles, who chaired the commission, said the recommendation –- one of 20 in the report and...

Combat troops to get gay sensitivity training—The Washington Times, Feb. 25 From: Commander U.S. Forces, Afghanistan To: All Officers Re: Homosexual Sensitivity training As everyone by now knows, the president has signed the order rescinding Defense Directive 1304.26 – “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell.” As the DOD implements this policy change, all U.S. forces in every theater must receive integration training, otherwise known as “sensitivity training.” This training will be immediately and will include every unit in this theater, including combat units, wherever they are operating.

American combat troops will get sensitivity training directly on the battlefield about the military’s new policy on gays instead of waiting until they return to home base in the United States, the senior enlisted man in Afghanistan said Thursday. The Pentagon is launching an extensive force-wide program to ease the process of integrating open homosexuals into the ranks, including into close-knit fighting units. Army Command Sgt. Maj. Marvin Hill, the top enlisted man in Afghanistan where 100,000 U.S. troops are deployed, said that the sessions on respecting gays’ rights will go right down to the forward operating bases, where troops...

The Administration’s “Military Leadership Diversity Commission” is reported to be about to announce a recommendation that women should be allowed to serve fully in combat, Big time bad idea. The commission says that it is seeking to dismantle the last major area of “discrimination” in the armed forces. The commission was established by Congress two years ago. The panel is to send its proposals to Congress and President Obama. According to initial reports, “It is time to create a level playing field for all qualified service members.” “To provide a level playing field” for what?

Reactions mixed on women in combat arms By Nancy Montgomery Stars and Stripes Published: January 14, 2011 HELMAND PROVINCE, Afghanistan — The notion that women in the armed forces might be allowed to serve alongside men in combat provoked sharp reactions Friday among a sampling of Marines on the front lines of the war in Afghanistan, suggesting a heated debate yet to come. “It’s very tough, what we have to go through,” said Lance Cpl. John Rolfes of 2nd Battalion, Third Marines, deployed with a Marine infantry unit at Patrol Base Jaker in Nawa. “I personally don’t know any women...

WASHINGTON (AP) -- A military advisory commission is recommending that the Pentagon do away with a policy that bans women from serving in combat units, breathing new life into a long-simmering debate.

The Army is studying whether to open combat arms units to female Soldiers, the Army's top officer said Jan. 6. "We're looking at revising the policy," Gen. George W. Casey Jr. told a breakfast gathering of the Association of the U.S. Army in Arlington, Va. "We've had some work going on for a while, and that'll double back up to the secretary, I would think, in the next couple of months." Women are currently barred from infantry, armor and Special Forces branches, Casey said. He did not say whether the Army is considering opening up all three areas to women,...

Dear friends, How are you? I hope my Christmas greeting finds you well! For many people Christmas is a joyful season because THEY HAVE BEEN FORTUNATE enough to have received from their parents or from other faith communities a knowledge and a first hand experience of what Christmas means in the lives of people around them. Many others, who HAVE NOT BEEN SO FORTUNATE to have experienced a true communion of love with God personally and with others, have taken refuge in the less demanding belief of deism. They believe that God is a supreme being; at the beginning of...

A U.S. Marine Corps sergeant in action in Sangin, Afghanistan on Nov. 9, 2010. (Defense Department photo/Lance Cpl. Dexter S. Saulisbury, U.S. Marine Corps) (CNSNews.com) - 66.5 percent of U.S. Marine combat forces surveyed by a special Defense Department working group said that putting homosexuals in their units would hurt their effectiveness in the field, and 47.8 percent of Marines in combat units specifically said putting homosexuals in their units would hurt their effectiveness “in an intense combat situation.”The U.S. Congress voted last week to repeal the law—commonly known as Don’t Ask, Don’ Tell—that barred homosexuals from serving in the military.Earlier...

Taking the lead where Washington has wavered, California on Thursday is expected to adopt the nation's most ambitious plan yet to curb global warming. The California Air Resources Board is all but certain to vote to approve comprehensive "cap and trade" regulations designed to cut greenhouse gases. The regulations would impose limits, or "caps," on emissions from large industrial polluters through permits, or allowances, that could be traded on a market. California's plans to forge ahead are in sharp contrast to the lack of action from Washington, where Congress has rejected cap and trade at the national level. While the...

An actual read-through of the results shows much greater combat troop opposition to repeal than the initial public statements would have you believe. According to an early media report of the just released Pentagon study on elimination of Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell (DADT) it was recognized that it “might cause some disruption at first but would not create widespread or long-lasting problems.” In the absence of any explanation of “some disruptions,” “at first,” and “widespread or long-lasting,” and the lack of reference in that assertion to combat effectiveness, that is not entirely comforting. Some top leaders of the military have...

Imagine a future when a Soldier's helmet is an integrated communications center with a heads-up computer display, night vision, thermal sensors and enhanced hearing. That future is nearer than many think. During the 2010 Association of the United States Army Annual Meeting Oct. 25-27 at the Washington Convention Center, civilian researchers from the Natick Soldier Research, Development and Engineering Center displayed futurist equipment design concepts to senior Army leaders, congressional staffers and Soldiers attending the show. "What we're trying to do is tell the story of how we're setting the force for the future," said Jean-Louis "Dutch" DeGay, Strategic Outreach,...

President Barack Obama told the nation we have ended combat operations in Iraq. So why the need to send ANOTHER Brigade to Iraq?! I thought he was going to bring all our troops home from Iraq! Wasn't there supposed to be a troop draw-down? Is this just another broken promise? [DOD announced today]..."The unit consisting of approximately 3,800 personnel will deploy in January... and will replace redeploying units with no increase in overall force levels." What?! No increase in force levels??!! What happened to a DECREASE?!

NAIROBI (AFP) – Climate change can be curbed by changing the diet of livestock, whose feed crops, farting, belching and manure contribute a fifth of the planet's greenhouse gas emissions, a new study said Friday. The study by the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI) said livestock risk growing as global demand for meat and milk surges and recommended simple steps to curb livestock-related greenhouse gas emissions. It recommended using more nutritious pasture grasses, supplementing diets with crop residues, restoring degraded grazing lands and adopting more productive breeds, among other simple measures for tropical countries. ... The scientists said the burden...

WASHINGTON – President Barack Obama is declaring an end to the U.S. combat role in Iraq after more than seven years of war, saying the country's future now is up to its own people. The president, who opposed the war as a senator, says: "It is time to turn the page." Comments of the president were released in advance of his prime-time Oval Office speech. .. Obama says that ending the war is not only in Iraq's interest — it is in America's, as well. In a sign of the domestic troubles weighing on his own nation, Obama reserved part...

The Navy indicated Monday there would be a several-month delay in awarding a high-profile combat ship contract. The Navy was expected to announce the winner of the Littoral Combat Ship (LCS) contract this summer. Instead, it will take several more months to weigh the competitors’ offers. Lockheed Martin, teamed with Wisconsin-based Marinette Marine and Alabama-based Austal USA, a unit of Australian Austal Ltd., are competing for the contract, which is initially worth about $5 billion for 10 shore-hugging combat ships and includes combat systems for five additional ships.