Local servicewomen weigh in on decision to allow women in combat

sanluisobispo.com ^ | January 25, 2013 | Kaytlyn Leslie

[SuziQ]

The decision may increase the number of women enlisting in the military, Balliet said.

“I think (an increase) is a very good possibility,” she said. “And that’s not a bad thing.”

I think it will have exactly the OPPOSITE effect. I believe FEWER women will go into the military, if they know they could be sent to the 'front line'.

[ansel12]

And, albeit in lesser numbers, in Vietnam, Korea, WWII, the Civil War and the Revolutionary War. So ... to quote Hillary ... what, at this point, difference does it make?

A female nurse accidentally being killed doesn't ruin combat efficiency of the fighting forces. In Vietnam only one American female soldier was killed by the enemy, a nurse was struck by shrapnel, while working in a hospital during a shock terror attack.

[ansel12]

When we went to war after 9/11, female and black enlistments shrank because they didn’t want to join during war.

[higgmeister]

Though Balliet is not sure whether she would have chosen to be on the frontlines when she entered the service 25 years ago...

She is a lieutenant colonel in the Nationl Guard. Don't they have an "up or out" rule in the Guard. I suppose she could have come up through the ranks.

[tbpiper]

For the 'ladies' looking forward to front line combat:

My son was with the 101st in Iraq. Being an airborne unit, that meant he walked all the way from Kuwait to Baghdad. So goes the army... Anyway, he carried an M249 with a 100 round magazine (take that DiFi!). He also carried 500 extra rounds, an extra barrel, a Beretta pistol(should have been a Colt), a ruck sack some mules would balk at, and about 85 pounds of body armor. All of this in the the desert heat.... Honey, how would you like to do that on your period? They don't carry couches in the open air latrine for your cramps either.

[central_va]

If you want to stop these pro women in combat lunes dead in their tracks ask them this hypothetical question:

You are a General of an Infantry division and your Commander lets you choose one of two enemy divisions to fight in an upcoming engagement. Intel confirms the first enemy division that you could choose to oppose in the upcoming battle is all male. Or you could instead choose to fight the second enemy division that was mixed faggot, women and men. So which enemy division would you choose to fight?

Answer Yes or No and explain your answer.

[Texas resident]

Another question for them.

Will we ever go up against another army that has female front line combat soldiers?

[MasterGunner01]

Note to Lt. Col. Nicole Balliet: It is difficult for me to understand anyone who has risen to the O-6 pay grade not to understand what REAL combat is like.

You really need to do some serious reading on the subject. I suggest Eugene Sledge's “With the Old Breed: Peleliu and Okinawa” or Robert Leckie’s “Helmet for My Pillow” or “Strong Men Armed.”

Colonel Balliet rhapsodizes that “it's about time” and “I'd like to have had the chance”. Are you absolutely insane, woman? Let's talk about the numbers.

Has it occurred to you that infantry units in ground combat lose people and those deaths are not “Hollywood” kinds of deaths? These deaths are as gruesome as you can imagine: people are vaporized; people with heads, arms, legs blown off; people eviscerated with their internal organs spread around. In Eugene Sledge's K Company, they went into action with 240 men and came out with 5 still walking upright. So, Colonel, what exactly happened to the other 235? Do you envy them that they got a chance to experience “front line combat”?

One of the dirty little secrets in the military that no one talks about is the female “option”. If Suzie Soldier, Airman, Sailor, or Marine gets an assignment she doesn't like or doesn't want to do, Suzie gets pregnant. Pregnancy gets her a free ticket out and back to a nice, safe rear area so she can have her child [and about a year's duty in this safe duty station as she raises her new born]. Meanwhile, the unit she abruptly left gets no replacement for her and those remaining have to do her job besides their own.

Now imagine Sledge's K Company with 50 Suzie Marines who don't want to invade Peleliu or Okinawa so they get pregnant to avoid combat? That leaves 190 males to shoulder the load of the original 240 BEFORE the shooting actually starts. That's hardly fair, is it Colonel Balliet? You don't think females in infantry units would exercise the “option”, Colonel? The women already ARE exercising the “option” and the women aren't in combat arms, Colonel.

There's also another thing I notice about people like Colonel Balliet — it is officers who think front line combat is just wonderful because it gives them a resume enhancement for advanced promotion! I don't see a lot of senior and junior enlisted people clamoring for ground combat slots. Let me be blunt, Colonel Balliet. I have been on the sharp end of the spear and it is not a pretty place to be when the real crap hits the fan. This is not a “stepping stone” to an advanced promotion; this is a good way to get maimed, permanently disabled, or killed. You cannot get promoted if you're dead Colonel Balliet [or maimed or permanently disabled].

Let's be very frank, Colonel Balliet: infantry ground combat is an equal opportunity killer and respects neither gender nor rank. Anyone who looks on it as a fast track to advanced promotion is a bloody fool [or worse].

[MasterGunner01]

Oops. Typo: O-5 vice O-6. I promoted Nicole to full colonel where it was not warranted.

[knife6375]

Just another way to weaken OUR military to appease the chi-coms!!!!

[Anoreth]

"..it is officers who think front line combat is just wonderful because it gives them a resume enhancement for advanced promotion!"

That was my initial reaction when her name came up. The O-5 isn't going into combat.
Why don't these newspeople pick a random female E-3 or E-4 at the base PX and ask her what she thinks?

[trebb]

...Lt. Col. Nicole Balliet’s first reaction was, “Well, it’s about time!”

Hell, I'm 60 years old and a retired AF weenie. I still bet, sight unseen, that I can clean her clock in hand-to-hand and carry more than she can over a 5 mile hike.

[csmusaret]

A man and a woman in the same foxhole? By all means; why should gays have all the fun?

[Vesparado]

Couldn’t agree more!

[ABN 505]

Try humping 80lbs in your knapsack plus a Mortar Barrel,Baseplate, tripod and rounds to use in assembled weapon all of which add another 50 to 60 Lbs to your load. I have seen 200 lb men gasping for air and in agony trying to haul such loads. I don't believe for a minute that even 1% of woman could keep up with a typical weapons platoon squad.

[wardaddy]

Exactly

We had a guy on here the other day crowing about Marine daughter and then in the same breath stating they hoped she wouldn't get combat assignment

Women appear to join for career....like too many generals today

In WWII men apologized for being rear support and not actually in the fight like they were embarrassed

Women in harms way is unavoidable at times

But as frontline assault force.....that is ridiculous

[Venturer]

Any man who wish’s a combat assignment for his daughter is a friggin nutcase.

I don’t want my grandson to have to serve in combat, but if he has to he will.Not my grand daughter. I want her to be like my wife. A woman.

[wardaddy]

We cannot have military based on who diesnt want to fight

Which is why integrating women into our male military has been a disaster

There are plenty more reasons too

Whats next....wheelchair combat

12 year old boys

My 7th grade boy is a crack shot full of vigor....lets give him a shot

To be FAIR and all

The age of lunacy my man.....ain’t it grand