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Women in Combat? Secretary Mattis Steps Into a Minefield
The American Conservative ^ | October 19, 2018 | Edward D. Chang

Posted on 10/19/2018 5:20:53 AM PDT by Colonel Kangaroo

...Jim Mattis has largely avoided the major controversies that have plagued his fellow Trump cabinet members. But if the reaction to his recent remarks at the Virginia Military Institute (VMI) are any indication, his luck may have begun to run out.

During a September visit to the military school, Mattis offered his thoughts on women serving in combat infantry jobs, later interpreted by the Associated Press as a “dim view” of their prospects. The comments were further panned by those advocating the integration of women into combat, who characterized Mattis as “poisoning the well” and “sabotaging” efforts to integrate women. Other reactions, some from veterans, were even less flattering.

Are these reactions justified? Better yet, what exactly did Mattis say? A male VMI cadet, who went to bat for his female classmates, asked the secretary about his thoughts on women in combat. The following quotations are part of a longer reply, but these appear to be the most contentious points:

"It’s a very, very tough issue. Because it goes from some people’s perspective of what kind of society do we want… it goes to the almost primitive needs of a society to look out for its most vulnerable."

"How did the infantry get its name? Infant soldier. Young soldier. Very young soldier. They’re cocky, they’re rambunctious. They’re necessarily macho. And it’s the most primitive, I would say even evil, environment—you can’t even explain it."

"This is an area we are going to have to resolve as a nation…the military has got to have officers who look at this with a great deal of objectivity, and at the same time remember our natural inclination to have this open to all. But we cannot do something that militarily doesn’t make sense…"

(Excerpt) Read more at theamericanconservative.com ...


TOPICS: Culture/Society; News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: mattis; military; militarywomen; secdefmattis; trumpdod; womenincombat
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To: Mogger
and other major powers did not employ women in combat in World War I or II

The Russians did in WWII with excellent results.

To the best of my knowledge as snipers only.

And as spies....record the French lady who passed away a few years ago...and the family found all her memoirs and some of the highest bravery medals that she was awarded.

41 posted on 10/19/2018 6:10:19 AM PDT by spokeshave2 (The Paradigm has shifted...the New World Order is Trumpian.)
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To: central_va
You mean return to the way it was before the 1970's? Ok.

I mean return to the way it was before World War II.

42 posted on 10/19/2018 6:10:50 AM PDT by DoodleDawg
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To: DoodleDawg
Go back to an all-male armed forces and that way you don't have to worry about it. Of course you're going to have to come up with a few hundred thousand more guys will or able to serve...

Get rid of the women and the armed force will become MORE attractive to men.

43 posted on 10/19/2018 6:11:05 AM PDT by central_va (I won't be reconstructed and I do not give a damn)
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Weak Link: The Feminization of the American Military
44 posted on 10/19/2018 6:12:27 AM PDT by mykroar (Congratulations President Trump)
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To: DoodleDawg
The US Military is No Longer a Male Rite of Passage
45 posted on 10/19/2018 6:12:49 AM PDT by central_va (I won't be reconstructed and I do not give a damn)
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To: DoodleDawg
Let's not be sexist here. There are male nurses and I'm sure you can find guys who can type and file and shuffle papers. Do that and you can eliminate all those pesky females from the ranks entirely.

We agree there are male nurses and there are males who can file and shuffle papers. However, I'm sure there are women who want to serve their country. I agree they should be given the opportunity. I do not agree that it should be in combat or in forward areas at risk of combat, or in integrated units with men (ie ships at sea - etc).

46 posted on 10/19/2018 6:14:13 AM PDT by Repeat Offender (While the wicked stand confounded, call me with Thy saints surrounded.)
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To: central_va
The US Military is No Longer a Male Rite of Passage

It hasn't been probably since the end of conscription back in the 70's.

47 posted on 10/19/2018 6:18:04 AM PDT by DoodleDawg
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To: Colonel Kangaroo

I think we should first address women on deployment. I hear too many stories of women becoming pregnant just before a scheduled deployment, on deployment and having to thus be taken off, being excused from deployment due to child-care issues, etc, etc.

For men, if you miss deployment due to deliberately making yourself unfit for duty, you have a problem. It should be the same with women: you miss deployment, you’re out, here’s your discharge papers, no benefits.

And have frequent surprise deployments to weed out the deadwood.


48 posted on 10/19/2018 6:20:50 AM PDT by PapaBear3625 ("Those who can make you believe absurdities, can make you commit atrocities." -- Voltaire)
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To: Colonel Kangaroo

If you are in a depoyable MOS, you need to shoulder your share of combat duty.

Do not pull some crap head stunt and claim your malingering is actually freeing someone else to fight.


49 posted on 10/19/2018 6:21:06 AM PDT by MrEdd (Caveat Emptor)
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To: Colonel Kangaroo

I have always had mixed concerns about Gen. Mattis. I do not like how he turned his back on his Marines in Haditha,Iraq.


50 posted on 10/19/2018 6:25:34 AM PDT by MGunny
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To: Mogger
Actually, not every Soviet woman that served was a sniper.

Badass of the Week: Mariya Oktyabrskaya


When Nazis invaded her homeland, bombed her city, blew up her house, kicked over her garbage cans, walked across her kitchen floor without taking their boots off, and violently killed her husband during the Battle of Kiev, the Ukrainian housewife/political activist/ultimate killing machine Mariya Oktyabrsakaya didn't just get so roid-ragingly pissed that should could have torn the turret off a Panzer IV with her teeth.

She got revenge. Violent, armor-piercing, high-explosive, white-knuckled revenge served Siberian Ice Cold with a side of mashed potatoes and a pot of hot borscht to the face.

This hardcore woman sold all of her worldly possessions, clenched her teeth, bought a 26-ton T-34 Main Battle Tank, taught herself how to drive it and repair it, and just start blasting the ever-loving unholy Nazi-loving dickballs off of every single gun-swinging Fascist bastard that came within range of the fearsome-looking 76mm cannon mounted on the turret of her vengeance-fueled war machine, and she didn't take her finger off the trigger or her hands off the throttle until someone pried them out of her cold dead hands.


Excerpt-read balance of article at link
51 posted on 10/19/2018 6:25:51 AM PDT by Bratch ("The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing." - Edmund Burke)
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To: Alberta's Child
The dirty little secret is that the military is pushing women and homosexuals into these roles because they can’t find enough straight men to do the job.

And the more the military becomes infested with drama queens, the harder it will be to find men willing to join.

52 posted on 10/19/2018 6:26:02 AM PDT by PapaBear3625 ("Those who can make you believe absurdities, can make you commit atrocities." -- Voltaire)
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Any woman protesting FOR the use of women in front line battle position, should involuntarily drafted and placed in said positions... Fora fresh perspective and all of that.


53 posted on 10/19/2018 6:28:12 AM PDT by Clutch Martin (The trouble ain't that there is too many fools, but that the lightning ain't distributed right.)
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To: Mogger
The Russians did in WWII with excellent results. To the best of my knowledge as snipers only.

Women snipers were in defensive positions, and did not have to carry 80 pounds of gear for days across miles.

54 posted on 10/19/2018 6:28:28 AM PDT by PapaBear3625 ("Those who can make you believe absurdities, can make you commit atrocities." -- Voltaire)
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To: G Larry

Doesn’t it strike you as a little odd, that if women in combat infantry battalions was even REMOTELY a good idea, that they would grease the skids first by integrating say, the Army football team?

Ever notice there aren’t any female linebackers? What about professional football? Ever wonder why that is?

The whole thing is batshit crazy.


55 posted on 10/19/2018 6:29:30 AM PDT by Freedom4US
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To: Repeat Offender
However, I'm sure there are women who want to serve their country. I agree they should be given the opportunity.

But only the opportunities you think they should have, not the opportunities they believe they are capable of succeeding at.

56 posted on 10/19/2018 6:30:08 AM PDT by DoodleDawg
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To: be-baw

Was he saying that soldier in combat are evil
_____________________________
No, he is saying that combat is hell and it’s no place for women. However, the feminazis want in so they can screw up this institution too. Now, even in non-combat situations, women have declared war on men by weaponizing their internalized biases against men. I know of one instance where a female non-performer launched a pre-emptive sexual assault charge against her superior to destroy the rating officer’s career. And, of course, in today’s military as elsewhere, all sexual complaints are automatically taken at face value. Women know it and they can have an officer relieved of command in a heartbeat. Do you have any idea how long it takes for these inquiries to be completed? Even if unfounded, with the long delays and innuendo, it’s the death knell to an officer’s career. Today, as in the general society, liberals have managed to promote raging divisions between men and women.


57 posted on 10/19/2018 6:33:25 AM PDT by iontheball
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To: Colonel Kangaroo

The Red Chinese want US women in combat roles...and thinks that’s a grand idea.


58 posted on 10/19/2018 6:42:43 AM PDT by WKUHilltopper
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To: Colonel Kangaroo

The mighty men of Babylon have forborn to fight, they have remained in their holds: their might hath failed; they became as women...

Jeremiah 51:30


59 posted on 10/19/2018 6:48:08 AM PDT by WKUHilltopper
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To: DoodleDawg
But only the opportunities you think they should have, not the opportunities they believe they are capable of succeeding at.

Doesn't matter what I think they should be capable of succeeding at. Everything in the military should be geared toward increasing combat effectiveness, and minimizing breaks in unit cohesion. If it doesn't increase combat fighting ability and solidify unit cohesion as a whole - it shouldn't be done.

Additionally, In order to have equality for promotion in the military you have to do one of two things - #1 Have separate standards for men and women (sexist), or #2 create equal, but lower standards (degrades combat effectiveness).

This isn't my theory, or belief. It's reality. The Marine Corps conducted a study of integrated combat units. They put people in charge of the program who wanted integrated units as much as Elizabeth Warren wanted to be an Indian. And, even with them putting folks in charge who so badly wanted to show GI Jane was every bit the badass as GI Joe, in every instance - the integrated, elements had less cohesion and performed at a lower level.

Case in point - my standard load out through 4 combat tours in 5 years = 100% the average female body weight in the Marine Corps. I don't know many women or even many men who can carry 100% of their body weight and still fight.

I've also seen adjacent Army units that women in support roles - I believe 1BCT had something like 30+ females pregnant in one deployment. You can blame Joe, you blame Jane, you can blame them equally, but the fact of the matter is that's one short-handed unit that was now down 30 more soldier than they started with - and that's before taking into account any combat casualties.

I was also on a MEU where one Marine though it would be a good idea to send nudie pics of his Marine g/f. Within days - those pics were across all three ships in the ARG. Male Marine's fault? Definitely. Female Marine's fault? Definitely. Breakdown in good order and discipline that should've never occurred and wouldn't have happened if the combat ships at sea weren't integrated? Definitely. I've probably seen more s4!t than your septic tank. I speak from experience, not feelings.

Are there one offs - What about Jane that can bench press more than Joe, or run faster? Yes, certainly. But, we're not talking the rare exception - we're talking the force as a whole.

If you want cohesive fighting units - keep women in the rear. If you want happy happy joy joy - reconstitute the WPA and do what you want.

60 posted on 10/19/2018 6:48:43 AM PDT by Repeat Offender (While the wicked stand confounded, call me with Thy saints surrounded.)
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