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Army leaders vow 'gender-neutral' standards for women in combat
al.com ^ | January 29, 2013 | Leada Gore

Posted on 01/29/2013 7:38:09 PM PST by Tailgunner Joe

As military officials formulate plans to open combat positions to women, the Commander of the Army's Training and Doctrine Command is vowing any changes in job requirements will be handled fairly.

"Soldiers - both men and women - want fair and meaningful standards" Gen. Robert W. Cone said. "I think that fairness is very important in a values-based organization like our Army."

Last week, Secretary of State Leon Panetta and Army Gen. Martin Dempsey, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, announced the end of the 1994 policy that prohibited women from serving in combat positions below a brigade level. At that time, Panetta said each branch of the military will examine requirements for positions and provide information by May 16 if they feel some jobs should remain off limits to women. Full implementation is due by 2016.

The vast majority of the newly opened positions will be in the Army. As of September, 418 of the Army's 438 military occupational specialties, known as MOSs, were open to women. The remaining positions are now being examined to determine if they will be opened.

Cone said the Army will be "looking at knowledge, skills and attributes of soldiers and get the best match in specialties (now restricted) like infantry, armor, field artillery and engineers."

One of the main areas of examination will be physical requirements.

"Soldiers don't want to see (that) degraded," Cone said.

Cone said each requirements for each position will be examined, such as information on how much infantry soldiers are required to lift and carry and for how long. Once that information is complete, Cone said scientists will develop physical tests to validate those requirements.

He added that TRADOC is also examining armies in countries such as Iraq and Canada, where women already serve in combat roles.

In comments made shortly after the change was announced, Dempsey echoed Cone's statements about fairness and training.

"Some fear that this decision will lower standards in our military. That is simply not the case. The services will carefully examine current standards to ensure we have them right, taking into consideration lessons learned from a decade of war and changes in equipment, tactics and technology. We will study each closed occupational field or unit to determine where women are able to serve," he said.

"Let me be clear: The standards will be gender-neutral -- the same for men and women. The burden of proof used to be 'why should a woman serve in a particular specialty?'" Dempsey added. "Now, it's 'why shouldn't a woman serve in a particular specialty?'"


TOPICS: Government
KEYWORDS: stupid
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1 posted on 01/29/2013 7:38:16 PM PST by Tailgunner Joe
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To: Tailgunner Joe

Yea, right.


2 posted on 01/29/2013 7:39:24 PM PST by doc1019
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To: Tailgunner Joe

“”I think that fairness is very important in a values-based organization like our Army.””

Is this a joke?


3 posted on 01/29/2013 7:39:35 PM PST by Bronco_Buster_FweetHyagh (I cling to guns and religion.)
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To: Bronco_Buster_FweetHyagh

General idiot here is just angling for a another star.


4 posted on 01/29/2013 7:41:19 PM PST by max americana (Make the world a better place by punching a liberal in the face)
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To: Bronco_Buster_FweetHyagh

Should be, but isn’t.

WRT “...such as Iraq and Canada, where women already serve in combat roles.” What was the last time Canadian’s were in combat and how many of their women were involved in sustained, direct ground combat? As far as the Iraqi army, well, we know how their last two major theater wars turned out. Maybe this is designed to give them a “fair” shot.


5 posted on 01/29/2013 7:43:53 PM PST by redlegplanner ( No Representation without Taxation)
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To: Tailgunner Joe

How about you dimwitted generals worry about combat effectiveness. This is not it.


6 posted on 01/29/2013 7:44:34 PM PST by Red Steel
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To: Tailgunner Joe

Women soldiers used in front-line offensive combat operations just don’t cut it.


7 posted on 01/29/2013 7:48:07 PM PST by Red Steel
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To: Tailgunner Joe
"Some fear that this decision will lower standards in our military. That is simply not the case. The services will carefully examine current standards to ensure we have them right, taking into consideration lessons learned from a decade of war and changes in equipment, tactics and technology.

Right. In other words they will determine that the current standards are no longer necessary and they will lower them so that women will be able to qualify. Hence, making them the same for men and women.

8 posted on 01/29/2013 7:50:10 PM PST by VeniVidiVici (Bathhouse Barry wants YOU to bend over for another four years)
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To: VeniVidiVici

Which will decrease the margin of safety resulting in unnecessary loses that gets friendly combatants killed.


9 posted on 01/29/2013 7:53:33 PM PST by Red Steel
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To: Tailgunner Joe
"I think that fairness is very important in a values-based organization like our Army."

Translation: Standards will be lowered across the board so that everyone feels better about themselves. Whether or not America will ever again win a war is irrelevant, as long as nobody's feelings are hurt.

Is this guy actually a career soldier? Did he draw the short straw in the Marxist Club in college and have to infiltrate the military to further their goals?

10 posted on 01/29/2013 7:54:42 PM PST by Washi (PUSH BACK! Encourage your legislators to introduce pro-second amendment legislation.)
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To: VeniVidiVici

PREZACTLY!!!!!!!


11 posted on 01/29/2013 7:55:07 PM PST by RushIsMyTeddyBear (Great vid by ShorelineMike! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KOZjJk6nbD4&feature=plcp)
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To: VeniVidiVici

The nail has been struck squarely on the head.


12 posted on 01/29/2013 7:55:22 PM PST by animal172 (The weak and uninformed will inherit the Earth.......and they have.)
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To: Tailgunner Joe
I sure hope our enemies on the battlefield are kind enough to comply with these rules.

13 posted on 01/29/2013 7:55:59 PM PST by BitWielder1 (Corporate Profits are better than Government Waste)
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To: Tailgunner Joe

Does that mean that the women entering the infantry will have to meet the same minimums on the PT test as the men?

The minimum passing score in the Army in each category (pushups, situps, and the 2-mile run) is 60 points.

For a 20-year-old male, that’s 42 pushups. For a female, it’s 19.

The more common minimum acceptable score for infantry units is 70 points, with a strong push for 80 points. Which are 49 and 57 pushups, respectively.

There certainly are some women who can meet these standards, though not many. Will the women entering the infantry be held to the same standards as the men? Or will they be held to the lower, gender-specific standards?

In the case of an electronics tech, the gender-specific standards make some sense. In terms of general health and conditioning, the male and female standards represent roughly equivalent levels.

But when you’re dragging a wounded buddy out of an alley after an ambush, he doesn’t get lighter just because you’re a woman. In the infantry, objective, rather than relative, measures of performance are appropriate.


14 posted on 01/29/2013 7:56:38 PM PST by jdege
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To: Tailgunner Joe
"I think that fairness is very important in a values-based organization like our Army."

Ugh. Where is fairness suppose to fit into an organization in which the main function is to kill or die in order to protect the nation. With men like this running our military it's not really our military anymore is it? I mean these guys are paid to protect our way of life not transform it into somekind of Communist ideal. And the destruction of the natural differences between men and women and all peoples really is at the core of Communism, which itself is just a means to a end.

15 posted on 01/29/2013 7:56:42 PM PST by Count of Monte Fisto
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To: Tailgunner Joe
So, with a stroke of the pen, we will overcome thousands of years of hardwired social/cultural/genetic programming and make everyone equal.

What's next? Pass a UCMJ regulation against gravity?

16 posted on 01/29/2013 7:57:40 PM PST by Smokin' Joe (How often God must weep at humans' folly. Stand fast. God knows what He is doing)
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To: Tailgunner Joe
then put them in ALL female companies/battalions and let them sink or swim on their own...
17 posted on 01/29/2013 7:58:56 PM PST by Chode (Stand UP and Be Counted, or line up and be numbered - *DTOM* -ww- NO Pity for the LAZY)
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To: Tailgunner Joe

No problem, people. We’ll just make a standard that lots of women can pass and make THAT the standard for both sexes. Then we’ll have infantry made up of women AND weak men! Mission accomplished!

(What mission? Why, turning our armed forces into a new Peace Corp, of course! Only with rifles and APCs!)


18 posted on 01/29/2013 8:00:55 PM PST by servo1969
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To: jdege
There certainly are some women who can meet these standards, though not many. Will the women entering the infantry be held to the same standards as the men? Or will they be held to the lower, gender-specific standards?

Spelling out the realities. You ever go up 1 on 1 in sports against a female? They are always in slow-mo vs a man no what shape the female is in.

19 posted on 01/29/2013 8:01:18 PM PST by Red Steel
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To: jdege
But when you’re dragging a wounded buddy out of an alley after an ambush, he doesn’t get lighter just because you’re a woman. In the infantry, objective, rather than relative, measures of performance are appropriate.

Does that mean the women will have to walk point?

20 posted on 01/29/2013 8:01:35 PM PST by Smokin' Joe (How often God must weep at humans' folly. Stand fast. God knows what He is doing)
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