pboyington,
Well said. And a majority of what you said got down to the real issue, that of physical capacity. War in direct combat is a taxing and overwhelming strength requirement of the upper body as much as the lower. Both halves must be at top performance so as not to put yourself, your unit, or the mission in jeopardy.The lowest level of pass/fail to stay in the military is the annual PFT, (Physical Fitness Test). At this time the Army is trying to re-create those standards. Here is an article from the Army Times:
The Army is on the eve of rolling out new MOS-specific, gender-neutral fitness tests, and new details have begun to emerge.
The tests “should be good to go by June,” said Patrick Murphy, acting Army secretary, in a Tuesday interview with Army Times. That plan, and others related to adding women into previously closed military occupational specialties, is contingent on Defense Department approval.
While no final decisions have been made, it’s unlikely every MOS will get its own fitness test, owing to the impracticality of creating and conducting one for each specialty, Army test-developers said. One solution could involve implementing a single test and creating a tiered scoring system — soldiers with high marks could serve in the most physically demanding jobs, while those who eked out passing grades would have their MOS options restricted.
The tests likely will incorporate exercises that soldiers will need on the battlefield, Murphy said, and they are expected to revolve around “advanced individual skills that are MOS-specific, gender-neutral and standards-based.”
_______________________________________________________
Now in many years of watching, scoring and conducting these tests and those for the academies, I have never personally seen a woman with the capacity to pass the test good enough to be combat qualified. So what the Army is saying in my mind is that they know the women can’t get there so they are giving them an out to other less fitness required MOSes. So if they know hardly any of the women, if at all, can qualify. this is how they are going to get out of admitting it was just a stupid idea to begin with. And everybody’s ego is covered and the liberals get their vote pandering.
red
I'm a Vietnam combat vet, not an 11 Bravo infantryman, but a former Huey door gunner who has inserted many infantrymen into combat situations, and then picked them up again as the mission required.
Please don't tell me that women could have stood along side these brave men and pulled their own weight. It's laughable to even consider it.
These men with their 100+lb. combat loads to include weapons and ammo had a rough time of it on their own.
Women are not physically, emotionally or psychologically prepared for war.
Get over this rare woman crap.
The new MOS based PT tests will also exclude men from going into MOSs they are not qualified for. That is a good thing.
One USMA female cadet I know who branched infantry is on the triathlon team. Girls that make it through IOBLC will be fine.
Kids today are used female leadership — more than I will ever be. I just hope the Army does not start force branching girls into combat MOSs because diversity.