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Panetta removes military ban on women in combat, opening thousands of front line positions.
Associated Press ^ | January 23, 2013 | Staff

Posted on 01/23/2013 12:39:15 PM PST by AnAmericanAbroad

Panetta removes military ban on women in combat, opening thousands of front line positions.

(Excerpt) Read more at bigstory.ap.org ...


TOPICS: Breaking News; Government; Politics/Elections; War on Terror
KEYWORDS: bho44; bhodod; bhosecdef; combat; military; militarywomen; obamalegacy; panetta; women; womenincombat; womeninmilitary
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To: Brownie63

From boots on the ground to high heels.


201 posted on 01/24/2013 7:51:38 AM PST by billhilly
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To: AnAmericanAbroad
I'm a simple enlisted aviation swabbie from 1975-1986 and never saw combat, but here's my point of view in no certain priority:

1. Women should have to register for the draft if they truly want to be equal;
2. Women can be as effective as men in aerial combat. They are very dextrous. So let them die in a dog-fight or an RPG hit the helo;
3. If they are to be assigned ground infantry, they should have NO special quarters nor other facilities. They want to be grunts, then they "shit, shower, and shave" the same place as men;
4. NO excuses for their menstrual cycles as in PMS;
5. Must be able to complete "basic training" within the same requirements of men if they want to be grunts;
6. If they get pregnant, then a "less than honorable discharge". No more re-assignment while the men take up the slack;
7. Train the men to deal with a woman dying/wounded in ground combat and Triage the worst wounded first. No exceptions;
8. Any woman who dies/wounded in combat gets the same honors as a man;
9. If in a fire fight and they can't carry a wounded man out when having the opportunity, they are to be discharged. No exceptions;
10. ANY sexual contact with either sex in a combat zone, they should be discharged. Same with men;
11. ABSOLUTELY NO women on submarines! Talk about pregnancy just waiting to happen;
12. Train them to stop being so sensitive about perceived sexual harassment;
13. Stop letting them in to our elite forces, only to "ring out", as the only 2 trainees just did in the Rangers, I believe.

Here's my experience with female sailors back around the early 1980's:
Our Frigate was tied up outside a tender (support ship) before women were allowed on combat vessels. While in line on the tender to await the liberty boats, a male sailor just happened to say how nice a female looked from the tender. Next thing I saw was him being pulled out of line by a female CPO for harassment. Not sure what happened to him, but it was indicative of things to come.

They want ground combat? Then assign them all or none. Political Correctness be damned.

Disclaimer: I adore women and think they are the better of our species in many ways. But if they can't hump 70lbs and deal with the rigors of ground combat (which most can't), the few hardy types aside, then ALL should not be there or ALL should be there. No more special treatment. They want to play with the boys, then make them play by the boy's rules;

Years back, I saw too many good careers go down at the Tailhook scandal simply because a couple of female aviators got swatted on the ass, just like the men were getting. Play on the same field or go back to support positions.

Again, all women of the same status of men should have to register with the Selective Service. They want to be equal then be equal.

Last thought: Israel tried putting women in ground combat units only for that experiment to fail. They stopped.

202 posted on 01/24/2013 7:54:13 AM PST by A Navy Vet (An Oath is Forever.)
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To: dead; wardaddy

No; I haven’t missed your point. I think women will be a hindrance in any form of combat more stresful than sitting in a truck and pushing buttons.

My point is more fundamental: I care about the damage to our culture. Looking at what we’ve become, the (in)effectiveness of women in combat is irrelevant when this country is no longer worth fighting for.


203 posted on 01/24/2013 8:07:56 AM PST by Romulus
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To: A Navy Vet

They can’t even fix the sexual assualt epedimic they are having now much less address anything you posted.

This is how I’ve heard it presented.

A guy is in the desert at night going to his tent.

He hears a woman screaming for help.

He says to himself, she’s a soldier like me so she should be able to defend herself.

He ignores the cries for help.

GI Jane files a sexual assault charge the next day.

Leadership beats up the males for not helping.


204 posted on 01/24/2013 8:09:32 AM PST by USAF80
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To: A Navy Vet

Simple Question: Do the women really want this? What is the real motivation behind this madness? Our current administration is good about dealing with fantasies but reality? No. There is no way I would want my daughter out in the trenches knowing that if she came face to face with a male soldier on the battlefield and her gun was inoperable or out of ammo that she would have to physically engage on those terms in the heat of battle. It’s an unfair fight from the gitgo (on the avg) no matter what fantasies the left have about females from watching Columbiana, Charlies Angels, or The Avengers. In real life people don’t jump 50 ft in the air land on their opponents shoulders and grip their heads and twist and break it then backwards somersault onto their feet to engage in more Kung Fu’ery with another enemy (yes I think some of the left probably believe this is real because they live in a fantasy bubble perpetrated by Hollywood and the MSM).

I agree, I think women make excellent pilots, are good at administration, and management but let’s give them some respect and honor and nt put them in the trenches. The reality would be a nightmare for many of he reasons you stated. It would be true great a distractor due to the human condition.


205 posted on 01/24/2013 8:14:45 AM PST by jsanders2001
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To: A Navy Vet

Simple Question: Do the women really want this? What is the real motivation behind this madness? Our current administration is good about dealing with fantasies but reality? No. There is no way I would want my daughter out in the trenches knowing that if she came face to face with a male soldier on the battlefield and her weapon jammed or out of ammo for some reason that she would have to physically engage on those terms in the heat of battle. It’s an unfair fight from the gitgo (on the avg) no matter what twisted fantasies the left have about females engaging in combat with males from watching Columbiana, Charlies Angels, or The Avengers. In real life people don’t jump 50 ft in the air land on their opponents shoulders and grip their heads and twist and break it then backwards somersault onto their feet to engage in more Kung Fu’ery with another enemy (yes I think some of the left probably believe this is real because they live in a fantasy bubble perpetrated by Hollywood and the MSM).

I agree, I think women make excellent pilots, are good at administration, and management but let’s give them some respect and honor and not put them in the trenches. The reality would be a nightmare for many of he reasons you stated. It would be true great a distractor due to the human condition.


206 posted on 01/24/2013 8:16:32 AM PST by jsanders2001
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To: All

I can no longer in good conscience advocate for my sons to enter the military service of this country.

Pains me to say this, as a 82nd ABN veteran, but with 4 more years of Obama and 8 years of Hillary coming, and now this, women to infantry and SpecOps units....

I can’t delude myself any longer, I don’t believe our Founders or their Minutemen would fight for this brand of America, but they would fight against it, to restore a Constitutional Republic.


207 posted on 01/24/2013 8:25:35 AM PST by rbmillerjr (We have No Opposition to Obama's Socialist Agenda)
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To: ScottinVA
"I think it’ll ultimately be a wash, because few women will volunteer from infantry front-line duty. However... for those who do, not a single standard should be lowered in training to ease the path for them. Whatever their male counterparts must accomplish, so must they."

And they simply can not.

208 posted on 01/24/2013 8:27:13 AM PST by 444Flyer
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To: ParityErr

SEMPER FI!


209 posted on 01/24/2013 8:29:27 AM PST by TomasUSMC ( FIGHT LIKE WW2, FINISH LIKE WW2. FIGHT LIKE NAM, FINISH LIKE NAM)
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To: fr_freak

The upcoming fights between men and women and gay women and gay men and....well its going to be a circus except with bullets and dead bodies. Viewership for NCIS will soar.


210 posted on 01/24/2013 8:32:18 AM PST by TomasUSMC ( FIGHT LIKE WW2, FINISH LIKE WW2. FIGHT LIKE NAM, FINISH LIKE NAM)
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To: Romulus

What we will see is true stats written by all these new girl hating gay clerks exposing just how many thousands of women in the military all of a sudden get pregnant. The media will get a hold of this and it will be a battle royal behind the newsmedia scenes between gay men producers and lesbian producers.


211 posted on 01/24/2013 8:37:54 AM PST by TomasUSMC ( FIGHT LIKE WW2, FINISH LIKE WW2. FIGHT LIKE NAM, FINISH LIKE NAM)
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To: Saoirise
Watered down useless affirmative action military is no way to win wars. Of course, Obama has no plan on winning any wars..

that is, for America anyway.

212 posted on 01/24/2013 8:39:37 AM PST by 444Flyer
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To: ScottinVA
"... because few women will volunteer from infantry front-line duty."

And therein lies the inequality. Other than those who are guaranteed certain Army/Marine specialties upon enlistment, aren't all others assigned as the particular service demands?

Maybe things have changed since I served, but at the time, if not guaranteed an "A" school for a particular rating (MOS to Army/Marines), then you got assigned to whatever billet needed filled.

If that's still the case, then ALL non-specialty women should be assigned where ever, including ground combat units. Let's see how that works.

213 posted on 01/24/2013 8:45:06 AM PST by A Navy Vet (An Oath is Forever.)
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To: jsanders2001
" Do the women really want this?"

I don't believe most do. I give them major kudos for serving, but just how many really want to be in a fire fight? Probably 1% or less.

As a side note: One of the best supervisors I served under was a female Chief Petty Officer (CPO), but that was during my short stint as a Naval Reserve Recruiter ashore. She was as butch as they come, but fair, competent, and gave me some my best evals ever. I respected her highly.

If I had joined the Marines (as I originally planned), she would have never made it through Marine "basic" because of her sleight stature. I decided on Navy because of a better fit growing up around the water and boats. Went to "basic" in San Diego and used to watch an ambulance follow the Marine runs just across the fence, while I had it easy in Navy "boot". Although it was tough for me since I joined at 25 - poor me...ha.

Again, no, I don't believe military women want to be combat ground grunts. But as I said above, if this is the position of DOD, then they get NO special considerations. It won't work and when the next war comes and we see our daughters come back in more body-bags and limbless, it will change back. The Israelis found out the hard way.

214 posted on 01/24/2013 9:24:55 AM PST by A Navy Vet (An Oath is Forever.)
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To: A Navy Vet

For some specialties, you can get a contract for the MOS and for the unit guaranteed.

When I went in in 80, the recruiter at the Depot, tried to lie to me and tell me he got me the 101st for airborne.

I advised him that the 101 was no longer Airborne. He showed me the unit patch with the Airborne designation. I informed him that that was for purely historical purposes.

After telling me that that was the only slot available...I thanked him and told him I’d wait for a slot. He continued to lie and I thanked him for the trip to Pittsburgh told him to have a nice day.

I waited for 2 hours and the Recruiter mysteriously came back with an 82nd slot that just opened up.


Bottom line is that eventually they will lower standards to allow women to qualify for Infantry and Special Operations units.


215 posted on 01/24/2013 9:44:26 AM PST by rbmillerjr (We have No Opposition to Obama's Socialist Agenda)
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To: ClearCase_guy

Among other problems, the issue of sending military women with small dependent children into combat.....part of the Dem war on children.


216 posted on 01/24/2013 11:10:15 AM PST by OldArmy52 (The question is not whether Obama ever lies, but whether he ever tells the truth.)
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To: Migraine

“I kinda like the idea of a Battleaxe Battalion.”

Finally, a bit of levity on this topic.


217 posted on 01/24/2013 11:24:07 AM PST by billhilly
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To: cunning_fish

There is a martial arts dojo. Two women are there pretty regularly, a young adult woman and a middle aged woman. The older woman is a black belt instructor. The younger is an advanced beginner. Commendable and welcome.

However, the black belt woman instructor though a superb teacher of martial arts technique, is not much of a fighter. The younger woman martial artist has great technique, but lacks the size and power to make her excellently done techniques effective against even beginner adult male students.

In the Army, I served under a female Captain who was a superb officer (peace time Army, CONUS). We did have female soldiers. The young men soldiers were happy to have the young females. Much effort was made to keep the two groups separate, but not always with success.

I can see in combat, some real problems....guy: “I’ll carry your pack if you....” or “I’ll protect you if you....”

And there are the minor issues of bathroom needs, bathing, housing, not to mention the issues involved when you are a big guy and your buddy is a small woman...and you get hurt and need your buddy to carry your out of harm’s way, etc.


218 posted on 01/24/2013 11:51:07 AM PST by OldArmy52 (The question is not whether Obama ever lies, but whether he ever tells the truth.)
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To: USAF80

Those who want it desire it for career advancement

Not something military should exist for actually

And yes i know as a rule women do not handle stress well...or as well
The damage to our culture and military is neverending

On the other what if everyone wantef to be spared combat?

Which is why we used women more rationally in WWII when it truly mattered


219 posted on 01/24/2013 1:49:38 PM PST by wardaddy (wanna know how my kin felt during Reconstruction in Mississippi, you fixin to find out firsthand)
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To: USAF80

Those who want it desire it for career advancement

Not something military should exist for actually

And yes i know as a rule women do not handle stress well...or as well
The damage to our culture and military is neverending

On the other what if everyone wantef to be spared combat?

Which is why we used women more rationally in WWII when it truly mattered


220 posted on 01/24/2013 1:54:29 PM PST by wardaddy (wanna know how my kin felt during Reconstruction in Mississippi, you fixin to find out firsthand)
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