The Conservative Cave
Current Events => Breaking News => Topic started by: txradioguy on January 23, 2013, 02:40:46 PM
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Senior defense officials say Pentagon chief Leon Panetta is removing the military's ban on women serving in combat, opening hundreds of thousands of front-line positions and potentially elite commando jobs after more than a decade at war.
The groundbreaking move recommended by the Joint Chiefs of Staff overturns a 1994 rule banning women from being assigned to smaller ground combat units. Panetta's decision gives the military services until January 2016 to seek special exceptions if they believe any positions must remain closed to women.
http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2013/01/23/panetta-opens-combat-roles-to-women/
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Senior defense officials say Pentagon chief Leon Panetta is removing the military's ban on women serving in combat, opening hundreds of thousands of front-line positions and potentially elite commando jobs after more than a decade at war.
The groundbreaking move recommended by the Joint Chiefs of Staff overturns a 1994 rule banning women from being assigned to smaller ground combat units. Panetta's decision gives the military services until January 2016 to seek special exceptions if they believe any positions must remain closed to women.
http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2013/01/23/panetta-opens-combat-roles-to-women/
Hitler and Stalin had one thing in common......their generals were yes men also.....didn't dare question dear leaders orders or wishes.
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Will 18 year old girls now be required to register for the draft?
Hey, bitches want equality......give it to 'em.
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Will 18 year old girls now be required to register for the draft?
Hey, bitches want equality......give it to 'em.
Amen.
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And the gutting of the military continues....
Same thing happened with Jimmah, but this time, it's for keeps.
TRG, what's your sense insofar as combat arms? They on board with this? Or are they looking for the exit sign?
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And the gutting of the military continues....
Same thing happened with Jimmah, but this time, it's for keeps.
TRG, what's your sense insofar as combat arms? They on board with this? Or are they looking for the exit sign?
Not too much reaction yet. I'll have a better idea by tomorrow. An 11B buddy of mine's first reaction what HOLY SHIT!
His next comment was that 15 year retirement is sounding good.
IMO...there's gonna be a lot of people heading for the exits or changing their mind about staying after 20 years.
It's certainly got me rethinking my position on when to retire. Three hours ago I'd have told you with unwavering certainty that I was gonna stay till they dragged me out of the building.
Now...not so sure about that.
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WTF is wrong with this crop of JCOSs we've had lately? I know flag officers are political animals, but just...damn.
:banghead:
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What a brilliant idea. Not.
It isn't crystal clear that this means ALL combat jobs like direct offensive ground combat in the 11, 18, and 19 series MOSs, and I thought there was a statutory barrier involved in this as opposed to a purely policy one. The pressure for this is mainly coming from female officers, who feel they are professionally disadvantaged by not being allowed to command infantry, armor, and SF units, there are not a Hell of a lot of women who are dying to get into the line ranks to do this shit. God forbid we hamper some West Point woman's chance of becoming CofS...
The unintended consequence of this is that the next four years will set up a situation where the Administration is even less willing to commit boots on the ground than they were under Clintoon's time in office, because as much bad press as young men dying makes, young women dying or being offed in some colorful and protracted way by Muslims is even worse.
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What a brilliant idea. Not.
It isn't crystal clear that this means ALL combat jobs like direct offensive ground combat in the 11, 18, and 19 series MOSs, and I thought there was a statutory barrier involved in this as opposed to a purely policy one. The pressure for this is mainly coming from female officers, who feel they are professionally disadvantaged by not being allowed to command infantry, armor, and SF units, there are not a Hell of a lot of women who are dying to get into the line ranks to do this shit. God forbid we hamper some West Point woman's chance of becoming CofS...
The unintended consequence of this is that the next four years will set up a situation where the Administration is even less willing to commit boots on the ground than they were under Clintoon's time in office, because as much bad press as young men dying makes, young women dying or being offed in some colorful and protracted way by Muslims is even worse.
I'm about halfway through reading Sebastian Junger's book "War." It's his account of a couple of platoons of the 173rd Airborne while they were holding down a couple of OPs in Afghanistan's Korengal Valley.
This is a place that is simply f'n VERTICAL. These guys hump 120 lbs. of body armor, ammo, weapons, grenades, and oh yeah, food and water while they go up and down those damned mountains. There are some tough women out there, no doubt, but you're not going to find many who can handle that kind of humping. And if they can't handle their load, they're a tactical liability and could very well see their battle buddies dead because Panetta's a ****ing tool.
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I think if they are going to be in combat units, they need to be able to do 42 push ups, 52 sit ups, and run the 2 miles in 14 minutes.
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I think if they are going to be in combat units, they need to be able to do 42 push ups, 52 sit ups, and run the 2 miles in 14 minutes.
Is that what the physical requirements are for men? Of course instead of requiring that women meet the men's standards, they'll lower the standards for everyone.
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Is that what the physical requirements are for men? Of course instead of requiring that women meet the men's standards, they'll lower the standards for everyone.
Gotta lower the standards for minorities. :argh:What is next---allowing two dike freaks to marry.
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Gotta lower the standards for minorities. :argh:What is next---allowing two dike freaks to marry.
Obama would be happy with a military made up of women and queers.
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I will bs'd for this I am sure,But God made men and woman differtent physically for a reason. I am not saying that women are inferior, but each sex has their strengths and weaknesses. Some women can't accept that, and they want to push physically themselves to prove a point.
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Another insane, dangerous idea but this idiot administration ! This is never going to work, women simply don't have the upper body strength as men plus all the other problems involved. Most women would never drop their pants and take a dump in front of a group of men, then there is that time of the month problem. Are they going to change THAT in from of the men ? Do they intend to carry a porta potty around for the female troops? I will say there are some excellent women fighter pilots but they are not ground troops. I have nothing against women in the military but not in combat. Absolutely not ! More problems than it's worth.
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And somehow all the "smart" people in the Pentagon haven't connected the dots to the fact that sexual assaults and harassment has shot up in the military the closer they push females to the front lines and allow them into traditional combat roles.
After all of the training we've gotten on this stuff over the last 20 years...you'd think the incidents would be way down. Instead they continue to climb.
Only one reason I can see for that.
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All in the name of some false equality. The DUmmies were having a DUmpgasm over this, but they have no idea why they think it's a good thing, they just think it is.
Toss a woman and a man into sperate cold and wet ditches to pull guard duty for three days. Which one is more likely to have to go to the medic for some reason related solely to having been stuck in a ditch for three days with no showers? How about patrols as has already been stated, are they going to carry a porta-potti? How are they going to adjust for the extra time it takes women to "prepare to pee" and "secure from peeing"? It didn't matter much in a communications unit, once our equipment got setup, we weren't going anywhere in a hurry. Also, what are they going to do when female infantry start showing signs of skeletal issues related to all the impact and weight? Regardless of her athletic prowess, female athletes tend to show a range of skeletal and joint issues earlier and in greater amount than their male counterparts.
I hope the paragraph above is readable, it's just what I was thinking off the top of my head.
As I told my daughter after hearing this, a nation whose young men won't fight for it doesn't deserve to live.
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All in the name of some false equality. The DUmmies were having a DUmpgasm over this, but they have no idea why they think it's a good thing, they just think it is.
Toss a woman and a man into sperate cold and wet ditches to pull guard duty for three days. Which one is more likely to have to go to the medic for some reason related solely to having been stuck in a ditch for three days with no showers? How about patrols as has already been stated, are they going to carry a porta-potti? How are they going to adjust for the extra time it takes women to "prepare to pee" and "secure from peeing"? It didn't matter much in a communications unit, once our equipment got setup, we weren't going anywhere in a hurry. Also, what are they going to do when female infantry start showing signs of skeletal issues related to all the impact and weight? Regardless of her athletic prowess, female athletes tend to show a range of skeletal and joint issues earlier and in greater amount than their male counterparts.
I hope the paragraph above is readable, it's just what I was thinking off the top of my head.
As I told my daughter after hearing this, a nation whose young men won't fight for it doesn't deserve to live.
There's also that "time of the month". That's a huge issue and I'd love to hear how the females pushing for this expect to handle it. I can just see a female troop having to stop every couple of hours to "change". Then, the preggers issue. It happens even with the best of BC. Somebody tell me it ain't gonna happen on the line just like it happens behind it.
I'm all for us females pulling the duties that we are physically prepared to pull. I did it so I know it can be done. There are simply some jobs we cannot and should not try.
edit: No one can deny that there is an emotional component to this as well. It's real and we observe or participate in in daily. I don't see it being addressed.
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I can just see the mess my "X" would make in a higher command position 7 to 10 days out of 28.....the answer to every situation would be "NUKE THE BASTARDS"......same for my "X" menopausal M-I-L.
....and then there's the 3 days of crying and saying "I'm sorry".... :???:
Thank god for the present wife.....think I'll take her out to eat tonight.....but I'm not going to tell her exactly why, just, "You deserve it".
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Is that what the physical requirements are for men? Of course instead of requiring that women meet the men's standards, they'll lower the standards for everyone.
It was 20 years ago. Not sure if it has been changed at all.
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It was 20 years ago. Not sure if it has been changed at all.
The fourteen minutes not so much, though if you go to Airborne School, being able to run two seven-minute miles is about the level of aerobic fitness you'd have to have to hack it. Now everything is mostly by PT Test scores, which have age brackets. Unfortunately they also have completely different scoring for men and women as well, so figuring out what 'Qualified' means here is going to be a goat-rope of legendary proportions.
Posted by: txradioguy
And somehow all the "smart" people in the Pentagon haven't connected the dots to the fact that sexual assaults and harassment has shot up in the military the closer they push females to the front lines and allow them into traditional combat roles.
They aren't all that stupid, but they are career people who know better than to piss in the corn flakes of the political leadership unless they want to move every year and be stuck at their current grade until they either retire or quit in frustration.
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The fourteen minutes not so much, though if you go to Airborne School, being able to run two seven-minute miles is about the level of aerobic fitness you'd have to have to hack it. Now everything is mostly by PT Test scores, which have age brackets. Unfortunately they also have completely different scoring for men and women as well, so figuring out what 'Qualified' means here is going to be a goat-rope of legendary proportions.
They aren't all that stupid, but they are career people who know better than to piss in the corn flakes of the political leadership unless they want to move every year and be stuck at their current grade until they either retire or quit in frustration.
Yeah they had age brackets and women had a different standard, I think they only had to do like 4 push ups, but they had to do more sit ups for the min score and they got a longer time for the run.
I do recall when I hit 22 I didn't have to do as many sit ups or push ups and I think the run time was closer to 15 minutes.
The numbers I used is what I think they were for the 18 to 22 bracket for men.
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A woman Marine's perspective, I guess the politicians did not think to get the women's opinions.
Get Over It! We Are Not All Created Equal
Author:
Capt Katie Petronio
http://www.mca-marines.org/gazette/article/get-over-it-we-are-not-all-created-equal
As a combat-experienced Marine officer, and a female, I am here to tell you that we are not all created equal, and attempting to place females in the infantry will not improve the Marine Corps as the Nation’s force-in-readiness or improve our national security.
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A woman Marine's perspective, I guess the politicians did not think to get the women's opinions.
Get Over It! We Are Not All Created Equal
Author:
Capt Katie Petronio
http://www.mca-marines.org/gazette/article/get-over-it-we-are-not-all-created-equal
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She can kiss her eagles goodbye. Those kinds of politically incorrect comments lead to stalled/dead careers.
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They aren't all that stupid, but they are career people who know better than to piss in the corn flakes of the political leadership unless they want to move every year and be stuck at their current grade until they either retire or quit in frustration.
That's the problem with the officer corps being as politicized as it is. If you can't state your opinion, or ask questions, or state facts that may impact command decisions , then why bother. We seem to be breeding a breed of officer corps that was the exact same vain, unthinking glory hounds that led the charge of the light brigade.
I know back in my day it led to every officer that came on board implementing changes whether the changes made any logical sense or not. I had an officer try to give me an article 15 for the crime of not being available for urinalysis on a day and time that I had already requested off because I had a job interview. Command only backed off when I made it apparent that I intended to fight them and hired a civilian lawyer. It was the only time I ever faced disciplinary action.
I saw another time where a commander ordered a soldier that was out the next Tuesday to go out on a two week field excercise. The soldier had to report to his college classes on Thursday (as he explained), so at midnight (as far as I know) he walked off his shift leaving behind his rifle and his ID card, got a ride from some friends and skipped town. The commander's reason was that he would have had to request a soldier from another company to fill that team until another soldier was assigned. I know the soldier was not harassed after leaving, he had obtained his DD-214 somehow on the way out. I don't know if the commander ever caught any flack over that.
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I think if they are going to be in combat units, they need to be able to do 42 push ups, 52 sit ups, and run the 2 miles in 14 minutes.
Yeah, there are NO females in MARSOC, with good reason. I doubt they'd be able to join anyway as even qualifying for the school is grueling.
Cindie
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I will bs'd for this I am sure,But God made men and woman differtent physically for a reason. I am not saying that women are inferior, but each sex has their strengths and weaknesses. Some women can't accept that, and they want to push physically themselves to prove a point.
Exactly. Very true.
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What a dumb idea.
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Yeah they had age brackets and women had a different standard, I think they only had to do like 4 push ups, but they had to do more sit ups for the min score and they got a longer time for the run.
I do recall when I hit 22 I didn't have to do as many sit ups or push ups and I think the run time was closer to 15 minutes.
The numbers I used is what I think they were for the 18 to 22 bracket for men.
They still have those same kind of brackets.
Women in the 27-31 age range have to do 17 push ups 45 sit ups and complete the two mile run in 20:30 to get a 180 the minimum for passing the APFT.
Male of the same age range has to do 37 push ups 45 sit ups and have 17:00 to run the two miles in just to hit the minimum passing score of 180.
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A woman Marine's perspective, I guess the politicians did not think to get the women's opinions.
Get Over It! We Are Not All Created Equal
Author:
Capt Katie Petronio
http://www.mca-marines.org/gazette/article/get-over-it-we-are-not-all-created-equal
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I agree with what the Captain said.
But what we ALL need to realize is that this isn't about closing gender gaps or opening doors previously closed.
It's about breaking the will and the spirit of the U.S. Armed Forces.
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There is also the "hygiene" issue. Right now regulations state that women are required to come in from the field every three days for female hygiene. Is that going to change as well? Again it will be impossible to build unit cohesion...especially when your'e in a hostile area when one or more members of the team are deserting you every three days to get a shower and clean up when you're still stuck in a fox hole smelling like the local goat herd freezing your backside off.
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I think it was Patton that said that battles and wars are won by men. The equipment only helps. The way we're going, God help us if we ever get into another land war.
All of my complaints aside, the men in my family have a military tradition dating back to the Mexican-American War that I know about. It was a kind of proving ground for us. I made the decision that my son won't join and most of my cousins are in the same place. I wonder how many other similar families are making similar decisions.
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Pregnant soldiers?
(http://cache.jezebel.com/assets/images/39/2009/12/pregnant_soldiers.jpg)
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As I see it, the next "GREAT WAR" will bea bloody slaughter that won't be won on the battle field but in the bedroom. The nation or people that can repopulate the fastest will be the winner......and how can we win if the woman of child baring age are killed on the battlefield?
And don't think that I just thought that up today....that's been my thought for 40+ years.
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Pregnant soldiers?
In my time, before black berets for everybody and SF tabs, you could see women assigned to Group with huge bellies and wearing green berets. It's easy to say that it should have been ignored, but the guys who wore green berets worked damn hard to get them. I didn't blame them for feeling pissed off every time they saw that.
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In my time, before black berets for everybody and SF tabs, you could see women assigned to Group with huge bellies and wearing green berets. It's easy to say that it should have been ignored, but the guys who wore green berets worked damn hard to get them. I didn't blame them for feeling pissed off every time they saw that.
In my time (long before the black beret was issued instead of earned) the women that wore green berets were assigned to JFKSWC or to it's attached PsyOp unit. The PsyOp unit was a leg unit which had the Group guys really pissed off. I am not 100% sure, but I thought they changed the standard at SWC to Q-Course qualified personnel only, and the PsyOp unit at least went Jump Qualified.
JCOS have already came out and said that women will be allowed as Infantry with a fair standard for all. In other words we are going to lower the standard to accommodate.
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Who's going to apologize to France now? Pregnant military vs a gay one? Hell, I'd rather have a gay male soldier than a pregnant one. At least if they have to fall on their bellies they won't miscarry and bleed to death on the battlefield, while getting someone else killed trying to rescue their ass. :rotf:
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In my time (long before the black beret was issued instead of earned) the women that wore green berets were assigned to JFKSWC or to it's attached PsyOp unit. The PsyOp unit was a leg unit which had the Group guys really pissed off. I am not 100% sure, but I thought they changed the standard at SWC to Q-Course qualified personnel only, and the PsyOp unit at least went Jump Qualified.
JCOS have already came out and said that women will be allowed as Infantry with a fair standard for all. In other words we are going to lower the standard to accommodate.
In my time CA and Psyop were primarily composed of legs, but did have some jump slots. Group admin (the preggers I was talking about) were permitted to wear the green beret, jump qualified or not. SWC was a mix and what with FAO courses and other whatnot I could rarely determine what the hell people were. Then the changeovers from Green Berets to tab qualified and the permitting of SOCOM personnel, leg or no, to wear maroon berets, more shitstorms.
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In my time CA and Psyop were primarily composed of legs, but did have some jump slots. Group admin (the preggers I was talking about) were permitted to wear the green beret, jump qualified or not. SWC was a mix and what with FAO courses and other whatnot I could rarely determine what the hell people were. Then the changeovers from Green Berets to tab qualified and the permitting of SOCOM personnel, leg or no, to wear maroon berets, more shitstorms.
That was all before my time, tabs were the norm when I served. Maroon berets were for Airborne designated units only (except the 101st Airborne {Air Assault} Div). SWC and Group had green and Ranger designated units had Black. The black beret was taken from Rangers after I ETS'd and issued to the reg army. Because of the uproar from the SpecOps community the Rangers were given brown berets. My son is in now and says everyone has a tab for some bs qualification or another and the CIB is issued like it comes in a MRE container.
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In my time CA and Psyop were primarily composed of legs, but did have some jump slots. Group admin (the preggers I was talking about) were permitted to wear the green beret, jump qualified or not. SWC was a mix and what with FAO courses and other whatnot I could rarely determine what the hell people were. Then the changeovers from Green Berets to tab qualified and the permitting of SOCOM personnel, leg or no, to wear maroon berets, more shitstorms.
PsyOps personnel have to attend the Basic Airborne Course BEFORE they go to AIT, and have since at least 1999. I believe that CA personnel have the same requirement, although they have a selection process now, so maybe they just need to be abn qualified before they are MOS-Q.
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PsyOps personnel have to attend the Basic Airborne Course BEFORE they go to AIT, and have since at least 1999. I believe that CA personnel have the same requirement, although they have a selection process now, so maybe they just need to be abn qualified before they are MOS-Q.
yeah that was after my time. Thanks for the update.
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Using the military as a social petri dish again.
DUMB DUMB DUMB.
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Just remember, when a woman is captured, raped repeatedly and tortured before being put to death by Muslims, don't blame the Muslims, their just acting like the animals they are.
No, the blame goes directly to Obama and his administration.
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Just remember, when a woman is captured, raped repeatedly and tortured before being put to death by Muslims, don't blame the Muslims, their just acting like the animals they are.
No, the blame goes directly to Obama and his administration.
Actually we all know damn' well that it is the military that will get the blame, the Muslims and Obama both will get a free pass on it from the MSM.
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Actually we all know damn' well that it is the military that will get the blame, the Muslims and Obama both will get a free pass on it from the MSM.
People that think for themselves will know, not that it does much good against the MSM.
ETA: The MSM will do its best to bury the news when it happens.
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Women do not need to be on the frontlines. Betcha this has something to do with pay...
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Women do not need to be on the frontlines. Betcha this has something to do with pay...
It mostly has to do with improving senior officer promotion prospects for female officers. A horrible case of the a very small tail wagging a very big dog.
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Women do not need to be on the frontlines. Betcha this has something to do with pay...
Military pay charts are dictated by Congress, so it'd be hard to have it be for pay, unless you're talking about sea pay in the Navy
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Military pay charts are dictated by Congress, so it'd be hard to have it be for pay, unless you're talking about sea pay in the Navy
Which they already get if they're attached to a ship.
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The Liberals and about to get what they really want. A military that can barely protect it's own borders...incapable of projecting power aroundthe globe much less around the block.
This move is going to cause people to run for the door rather than serve in a military where the standards are lowered for social engineering purposes.
The warriors will depart...leaving the political animals to do what they want with the Armed Forces.
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Which they already get if they're attached to a ship.
And is based on how many years of sea duty
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And is based on how many years of sea duty
And also rate/rating.
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And also rate/rating.
Never knew of that one, guess it was a nuke/bubblehead thing
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Women are now allowed to make me a sammich on the front lines?
:bolt:
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Never knew of that one, guess it was a nuke/bubblehead thing
Sorry, was talking about sea/shore rotation, which last time I checked, didn't have a male/female split.
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So just how are they going to house them in the barracks? Only women to each room or are they going to let them go coed? And if they only allow women to share a room then what happens when the unit gets two or more males and no extra room space? Make them sit in supply till some one rotates out/ETS? They might have them get rooms at hotels or base housing but at the expense of paying for it with more money from the taxpayer.
If they allow the troops to room coed then what's the CO going to do when someone in that room become snugglebuddies and the female has issues over getting pregnant or finds out she was cheated on by someone in the unit? This is a whole can of worms the Army doesn't need.
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So just how are they going to house them in the barracks? Only women to each room or are they going to let them go coed? And if they only allow women to share a room then what happens when the unit gets two or more males and no extra room space? Make them sit in supply till some one rotates out/ETS? They might have them get rooms at hotels or base housing but at the expense of paying for it with more money from the taxpayer.
If they allow the troops to room coed then what's the CO going to do when someone in that room become snugglebuddies and the female has issues over getting pregnant or finds out she was cheated on by someone in the unit? This is a whole can of worms the Army doesn't need.
Woman have volunteered to act as spy's and even a few have enlisted as men to fight since the Revolutionary War.
Their history is intriguing to say the least. [There was at least one female pivateer], today we have females in space and soon aboard Subs.
We had Annie Oakley and wild west bandits, Bell Star for one and Bonny with her Clyde. Females flew food supplies to distant areas in WW2 and the nurses in the pacific captured by the Japanese to endure a hell on earth time in a POW camp.
Israel has had woman in combat since its beginning, and from what I see so does Iran at this time. China an NK use huge numbers of female troops ---- Go way back in time Joan D'Ark could ride a horse and fight some how peeing over the side of her Saddle as the men did.
We could not have tamed the West had it not been for the woman that loaded the guns for the men to use in an Indian attack. When a male fell the woman picked up the weapon and fought herself. No shrinking violets these woman.
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Woman have volunteered to act as spy's and even a few have enlisted as men to fight since the Revolutionary War.
Their history is intriguing to say the least. [There was at least one female pivateer], today we have females in space and soon aboard Subs.
We had Annie Oakley and wild west bandits, Bell Star for one and Bonny with her Clyde. Females flew food supplies to distant areas in WW2 and the nurses in the pacific captured by the Japanese to endure a hell on earth time in a POW camp.
Israel has had woman in combat since its beginning, and from what I see so does Iran at this time. China an NK use huge numbers of female troops ---- Go way back in time Joan D'Ark could ride a horse and fight some how peeing over the side of her Saddle as the men did.
We could not have tamed the West had it not been for the woman that loaded the guns for the men to use in an Indian attack. When a male fell the woman picked up the weapon and fought herself. No shrinking violets these woman.
That may be true in the scenarios you outlined, Vesta. But women were not carrying up to their bodyweight for miles at a time in the mountains in the civil war. It puts a toll on the body, even for us men. I've known of Command Sergeants Major who had to have both knees rebuilt, and they were PT studs. You are telling me that a woman carrying 200+ lb loads in some cases for miles at a time will not cause them injuries?
All this will do if women are let into the Infantry and SOF community is get a lot of women hurt prior to reaching the 20 year mark just from TRAINING. Why should we want to permanently damage some of our best and brightest women?
Are there some women out there who could do it for a full 20? Maybe. But there has been no argument put forth from the affirmative action types as to how this makes us more COMBAT EFFECTIVE.
All I can see from my perspective of 20 years as an airborne and mechanized Infantryman, is this is adding more stress and drama to a job that already has enough stress and doesn't NEED drama. This politically correct B.S. will not make our nation safer, nor more combat effective, PERIOD.
Women are doing a fine job on FET teams in Afghanistan. They are better pilots than men, play to your gender's strengths Vesta. This is more 'everyone gets a trophy' B.S. plain and simple.
P.S. We have the finest army in the world, comparing what we do with those crazy martyr lovers in Iran and North Korea of all places? Not really helping your case.
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That may be true in the scenarios you outlined, Vesta. But women were not carrying up to their bodyweight for miles at a time in the mountains in the civil war. It puts a toll on the body, even for us men. I've known of Command Sergeants Major who had to have both knees rebuilt, and they were PT studs. You are telling me that a woman carrying 200+ lb loads in some cases for miles at a time will not cause them injuries?
All this will do if women are let into the Infantry and SOF community is get a lot of women hurt prior to reaching the 20 year mark just from TRAINING. Why should we want to permanently damage some of our best and brightest women?
Are there some women out there who could do it for a full 20? Maybe. But there has been no argument put forth from the affirmative action types as to how this makes us more COMBAT EFFECTIVE.
All I can see from my perspective of 20 years as an airborne and mechanized Infantryman, is this is adding more stress and drama to a job that already has enough stress and doesn't NEED drama. This politically correct B.S. will not make our nation safer, nor more combat effective, PERIOD.
Women are doing a fine job on FET teams in Afghanistan. They are better pilots than men, play to your gender's strengths Vesta. This is more 'everyone gets a trophy' B.S. plain and simple.
P.S. We have the finest army in the world, comparing what we do with those crazy martyr lovers in Iran and North Korea of all places? Not really helping your case.
It's not about making us COMBAT EFFECTIVE, it's about making us COMBAT INEFFECTIVE.