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The Marine Corps may have to change its physical standards in order to put females in positions to one day lead infantry platoons in combat. Both the Marine Corps and the Army continue to wrestle with the mandate that former Defense Secretary Leon Panetta issued in January, directing the U.S. military to open hundreds of combat-arms jobs that have been closed to female servicemembers. So far, the Marines have been out ahead.

It was back in March 23, 2003, just three days after the start of the Iraq War, when Private First Class Jessica Lynch's unit was ambushed in Nasiriyah, Iraq. Lynch was only 19 when she was captured, badly injured and raped by Iraqi forces and held hostage for nine days before her dramatic rescue by US Rangers on April 1, 2003. Controversy surrounds the "mythic" rescue story line. Lynch has blamed the Bush administration for exaggerating the bravery and success of the war with her story. "I knew that, even ten years later, I would not have been able to...

“She's a redneck boy's dream come true. Theresa Vail is a bowhunter, an M-16 sharpshooter, skydiver, national guard soldier, grease monkey, and also Miss Kansas. She's been a motorcycle racing queen and can skin out a deer with the best of them. And if that wasn't enough to melt your heart, she is also devastatingly beautiful. She is not, to say the least, your typical beauty queen contestant. She will also differ from past and present contestants in another way. She intends to let the whole world see her tattoos, which include the Serenity Prayer and the army's medical insignia....

As the U.S. military prepares to send women into the toughest combat billets for the first time, Pentagon medical officers have just released data showing that while “battle injuries” were the leading reason male troops were flown outside Afghanistan for medical care, “mental disorders” topped the list for female troops. That shouldn’t come as a complete surprise. After all, women remain technically barred from the infantry and other units where close-in combat is the norm. But the data also show that despite the ban, women were medically evacuated from Afghanistan at a rate 22% higher than their male comrades.

(CNSNews.com) - Why shouldn't women in the military have the same opportunities as men do? Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel asked on Thursday. It's not a matter of lowering standards, he said. In remarks at Offutt Air Force Base in Nebraska, Hagel was asked how he feels about putting females on the front lines of combat -- "based on our social background of men being the protectors of women," as the questioner put it. Hagel's reponse: First, I think everyone understands, and this is the right thing, we can't lower standards. We have high standards. We should have high standards. Our...

When the Pentagon said earlier this year that it would open ground combat jobs to women, it was cast in terms of giving women equal opportunities in the workplace — the military workplace. But the move has practical considerations, too. The military needs qualified people to fill its ranks, and it's increasingly harder to find them among men. "It's fairly common knowledge that our population of military-age young men, who qualify for the military, is declining," Joint Chiefs Chairman Gen. Martin Dempsey said in an interview with NPR just after the Pentagon announced that women no longer be excluded from...

In a report by NPR’s Tom Bowman aired during Monday’s broadcast of “All Things Considered,” Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Martin Dempsey explained why the military is having difficulty recruiting qualified young men. “I think it’s fairly common knowledge that our population of military-age young men who qualify for the military is declining,” Dempsey told NPR. “And so, as a very practical matter, we decided if in 2020 we’re going to need these young ladies and we’re going to need to attract as much diversity and as much talent as we can possibly attract, if that’s going...

For 15 years she has proudly served her country as a Royal Navy engineer, risking her life in Afghanistan when she fought against the Taliban. But far from showing Nicky Howse the respect she deserved as she flew back to her latest posting, Virgin Atlantic staff chose to humiliate her – by demanding that she remove her uniform because it was ‘offensive’. They warned the 32-year-old helicopter technician she would not be allowed to fly unless she took off her combat fatigues and wore a sleep suit instead. -snip She was confronted by a G4S security guard and Virgin Atlantic...

For 15 years she has proudly served her country as a Royal Navy engineer, risking her life in Afghanistan when she fought against the Taliban. But far from showing Nicky Howse the respect she deserved as she flew back to her latest posting, Virgin Atlantic staff chose to humiliate her—by demanding that she remove her uniform because it was “offensive”. They warned the 32-year-old helicopter technician she would not be allowed to fly unless she took off her combat fatigues and wore a sleep suit instead. … They told her—wrongly—that it was the company’s policy not to allow military personnel...

U.S. AIR FORCE ACADEMY, Colo. (AFNS) -- The president of the United States nominated Maj. Gen. Michelle Johnson for the appointment to the rank of lieutenant general and for assignment to serve as Air Force Academy's 19th superintendent. If confirmed by the Senate, Johnson would become the first woman to hold the position. Currently serving as NATO's deputy chief of staff for operations and intelligence, Johnson is a 1981 distinguished graduate from the Academy where she earned a Bachelor of Science degree in operations research. She was the first female cadet wing commander and the first female Rhodes Scholar from...

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Another one of the many military jobs on the front lines of combat may be opening to women: Flying the high-tech helicopters that move special forces under cover of darkness for missions like the one that killed Osama bin Laden in Pakistan. The Army's most elite aviation unit has proposed a test program to let women serve as pilots and crew chiefs, pending congressional approval. The 160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment, based at Fort Campbell, Ky., and known as the Night Stalkers, decided to give women a trial as pilots and crew chiefs as part of...

The equal treatment of gay spouses in the military took a step forward after the Fort Bragg spouse’s club offered full membership to the wife of a female officer. Ashley Broadway, who is married to Lt. Col. Heather Mack, was offered full membership to the Association of Bragg Officers’ Spouses on Friday, after initially being offered a guest membership. “In order to immediately support all military officer spouses who are eligible for ABOS membership, a more inclusive definition of spouse was needed,” the group wrote on its website. Moving forward, the group said any spouse of an active duty commissioned...

When outgoing U.S. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta announced that he had lifted the Pentagon’s ban on allowing women to serve in front-line combat roles, one of several questions it raised was: Is that unusual? Do a lot of countries allow women to serve in combat? The answer is that many Western, developed countries have women on their front-line forces. But outside of the West, it’s rare. The map at the top of this page shows in red which countries formally permit women in combat positions. Shown in orange are countries that allow women to serve in military roles that involve...

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

Congress, in the pre-Christmas rush, passed a Democrat-sponsored provision that will allow women in the U.S. military to use their health insurance to pay for abortion in cases of rape or incest. Right now, the Defense Department pays for abortion only when the mother’s life is at stake. The expanded abortion coverage is included in the defense authorization bill that is now on its way to President Obama for his anticipated signature. Sen. Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.), who introduced the abortion measure, said on Nov. 30—in a speech on the Senate floor—that it was “unfair” to deny military women “reproductive health...

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) -- Four female military service members have filed a lawsuit challenging the Pentagon's ban on women serving in combat. The lawsuit was filed in federal court in San Francisco Tuesday and is the second such federal challenge filed by female service members this year.

Vanessa Dobos is a gunner on board a USAF AC-130 gunship.  The blue-eyed blonde has seen action in Iraq and Afganistan, and enjoys long walks on the beach, men who aren't afraid to cry, and puppies. Vanessa's dislikes include feed-tray stoppages, tracer flareout of her NVGs and premature fixed-wing strikes scattering her high-value targets... The 19 year old former Ohio high school cheerleader is in-fact the Air Force's first female aerial gunner ever: Raised in the small town of Valley View, Ohio, her interstest in the military was sparked by her father. Described by Dobos as 'a history buff', her dad talked...

A local soldier killed in Afghanistan on Saturday died in a suicide bomb attack, U.S. Rep. C.W. Bill Young told the Tampa Bay Times on Monday night. Earlier Monday evening, the U.S. Department of Defense issued a news release saying that Army Spc. Brittany B. Gordon died from injuries caused by an improvised explosive device in Kandahar, Afghanistan. The military provided no other details. Contacted by phone later that night, Young, R-Indian Shores, told the Times that military officials had advised him that the IED came from a suicide bomber. "It is not one that was planted as a mine....

WASHINGTON — Army leaders have begun to study the prospect of sending female soldiers to the service's prestigious Ranger school — another step in the effort to broaden opportunities for women in the military. Gen. Raymond Odierno, Army chief of staff, said Wednesday that he's asked senior commanders to provide him with recommendations and a plan this summer. And while he stressed that no decisions have been made, he suggested that Ranger school may be a logical next step for women as they move into more jobs closer to the combat lines. "If we determine that we're going to allow...

WASHINGTON D.C. - Calling for an evolution of policy, Republican U.S. Sen. Scott Brown is asking for changes that would allow women to serve on the front-lines in military combat. Brown's push comes on the heels of a Department of Defense report calling for changes to the 1994 Direct Ground Combat Definition and Assignment Rule which barred women from certain roles in the military, including front-line ground-combat positions. The report to Congress concluded that changes were needed so policy doesn't prevent enlisted female military members from rising to their potential. But Brown, in a letter to Secretary of Defense Leon...

At 9 o’clock this morning, Sgt. Sandra Coast will graduate from Basic Combat Training on Fort Leonard Wood, officially beginning her Army career — at 51 years old. According to the U.S. Army Recruiting Command, the average age for an Army Reserve recruit is about 23, making Coast one of the oldest people to go through Basic Combat Training. “Everybody in the world thinks I am a total nutcase,” Coast said. “I just want to support our troops. I love all of them.” From 1982 to 1993, Coast devoted her life to the U.S. Navy. She gave up her lifestyle...

The Pentagon made big news last week when it announced it was opening up more combat positions to women in the U.S. military. These 14,000 positions include tank mechanics and front line intelligence officers. However, about one-fifth of active-duty military positions, including the infantry, combat tank units and special operations commando units, will remain off-limits. ... Last week’s rule change in the United States was largely a reflection of the fact that women are, to a large extent, already participating in combat. Despite the restrictions in place, 144 American women have been killed and 865 wounded in Afghanistan and Iraq...

A retired female fighter pilot running for former Rep. Gabrielle Giffords' open seat in Congress said Friday that Rick Santorum's recent remarks on women in combat make her want to "go kick him in the jimmy." Martha McSally, a retired US Air Force colonel and a veteran of the war in Afghanistan, is running in Arizona's congressional special election as a Republican. According to her Facebook page, she was the first American woman to fly in combat since the 1991 lifting of a ban on women in that role. Appearing Friday morning on FOX News Channel's "FOX & Friends," she...

Warship to be commanded by a woman for the first time in Navy's 500-year history By Daily Mail Reporter Lieutenant Commander Sarah West is in charge of HMS Portland A woman is to command a frontline warship for the first time in the history of the Royal Navy, it has emerged. Lieutenant Commander Sarah West, 39, is taking charge of HMS Portland - a 5,000-ton Type 23-Frigate which is prepared for 'total warfare'. Women, who were first allowed to go to sea with the Navy in 1990, have until now only commanded small non-fighting ships. Lt Cdr West is said...

COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) — For the first time in its 96-year history, a female general is taking charge at the famed Marine Corps training depot at South Carolina's Parris Island. Brig. Gen. Loretta Reynolds, who is also known as the first female Marine to ever hold a command position in a battle zone, takes charge Friday at the installation south of Beaufort.

Heather Pfleuger -- an exuberant, all-American, girl-next-door -- was transformed when she arrived in Afghanistan. She'd shrug into her body armor, strap on her helmet, yank on gloves, goggles and scarf, and slide down behind her turret-mounted Mark-19, a 40mm grenade launcher. From there, she could kill an armored vehicle and everybody in it a mile away. When she whooped with glee and led a convoy outside the wire, local Afghan fighters, hard men who'd faced down the Russians and the Taliban, fell respectfully silent. "Specialist Pfleuger can hit anything," her squad leader. Sgt. Kevin Collins, told me proudly. "I...

WASHINGTON (AP) -- A military advisory commission is recommending that the Pentagon do away with a policy that bans women from serving in combat units, breathing new life into a long-simmering debate.

The Army is studying whether to open combat arms units to female Soldiers, the Army's top officer said Jan. 6. "We're looking at revising the policy," Gen. George W. Casey Jr. told a breakfast gathering of the Association of the U.S. Army in Arlington, Va. "We've had some work going on for a while, and that'll double back up to the secretary, I would think, in the next couple of months." Women are currently barred from infantry, armor and Special Forces branches, Casey said. He did not say whether the Army is considering opening up all three areas to women,...

WASHINGTON — The fight to allow gay and bisexual people to serve openly in the military is already drawing political blood in Washington, but tucked into the same 852-page Pentagon policy bill as the repeal of “don’t ask, don’t tell” is a little-noticed amendment that takes on another emotionally charged issue: making abortion easier for military women in war zones. In a vote that advocates of abortion rights sought beforehand to keep quiet, the Senate Armed Services Committee passed a provision on May 27 to allow privately financed abortions at military hospitals and bases. Current law bans abortions in most...

WASHINGTON, April 29 (UPI) -- U.S. Navy Secretary Ray Mabus formally announced a policy change Thursday clearing the decks for women to serve on submarines. Women had never been allowed to serve on submarines in the 110-year history of the underwater force. The new coed era will begin once selected female officers complete 15 months of training. The plan calls for three women to be assigned to eight crews attached to four guided-missile attack and ballistic missile submarines, the Navy said on its Web site. The change had been anticipated since Defense Secretary Robert Gates formally presented a letter to...

On the surface, the Navy's leadership has sounded exuberant in speaking publicly about its recent decision to begin deploying female sailors in the cramped confines of combat submarines by next year. But behind the scenes, the prospect of coed submarines is presenting medical and ship-construction challenges. A specialist on undersea medicine is warning Congress that the air inside a submarine can be hazardous to fetal development. "Atmosphere controls are different between ships and a submarine's sealed environment," retired Rear Adm. Hugh Scott, a former undersea medical officer, told The Washington Times. "There are all types of organic traces that off-gas...

WASHINGTON, March 15, 2010 – As we celebrate Women’s History Month, we reflect on the past generations that have served. One of those women, Dorothy Canty Forsberg, fondly referred to as “Dottie,” celebrates her 91st birthday today, and she recently recalled her experiences in uniform. World War II veteran Dorothy Canty Forsberg, known as “Dottie,” is part of the legacy of service by the nation’s women that’s honored each March during Women’s History Month. Courtesy photo  (Click photo for screen-resolution image);high-resolution image available. Dottie served in World War II as a member of the U.S. Navy’s Women Accepted for Volunteer Emergency...

Push for integrating women into the submarine service and expect the language to get a little ... salty.

The long-standing ban on stationing female sailors in submarines is about to become a thing of the past. This week the Pentagon sent a letter to lawmakers telling them of this change in Navy policy, adding that the first female officers will probably start appearing on nuclear submarines by next year. This is one more step forward for women in the military, although the ban on females serving in certain combat positions still remains intact. Women now make up some 15 percent of the all-volunteer services, and have become crucial to keeping the nation’s military operational.

WASHINGTON - The Pentagon seeks to lift a decades-old policy that prohibits women from serving aboard Navy submarines, part of a gradual reconsideration of women’s roles in a military fighting two wars whose front lines can be anywhere. At issue is the end of a policy that kept women from serving aboard the last type of ship off-limits to them. The thinking behind the previous policy was that the close quarters aboard subs would make coed service difficult to manage. Defense Secretary Robert Gates notified Congress in a letter signed Friday that the Navy intends to repeal the ban on...

The military isn't asking, it's telling. In a letter to Congress last week, Defense Secretary Robert Gates notified lawmakers that women will be allowed to serve on submarines for the first time in the Navy's 110-year history, ABC News reported. Congress has 30 days to pass a law to stop or delay the policy, but if it remains silent, women could be aboard Navy submarines in 18 months. The lifting of the ban removes one of the last glass ceilings for women in the military. Unless Congress steps in, women could be serving on Navy submarines for the first time...

The Pentagon will lift a decades-old policy that prohibits women from serving aboard Navy submarines. WASHINGTON -- The Pentagon has moved to lift a decades-old policy that prohibits women from serving aboard Navy submarines, part of a gradual reconsideration of women's roles in a military fighting two wars whose front lines can be anywhere. At issue is the end of a policy that kept women from serving aboard the last type of ship off-limits to them. The thinking was that the close quarters aboard subs would make coed service difficult to manage. Defense Secretary Robert Gates notified Congress in a...

The US navy has decided to allow women to serve on submarines, Pentagon officials said on Tuesday, ending one of the last all-male bastions in the American military. Defense Secretary Robert Gates approved the recommendation and sent letters to Congress on Monday informing lawmakers of the plan, officials said. Navy Secretary Ray Mabus and Admiral Gary Roughead, chief of naval operations, had briefed Gates on the change and "he's endorsed it and sent it on to Congress," press secretary Geoff Morrell told reporters. Lawmakers have 30 days to comment on the move before it goes into effect, officials said. American...

Women are a big step closer to serving on U.S. Navy submarines. ABC News has learned that the Navy has decided to lift the ban on female submarine crew members. Subs are one of the last places in the military from which women are excluded.

February & March 2010Table of ContentsFeatures:Mothers in Combat Boots By Mary EberstadtReassessing a military policy font-size: 300%; float: left; color: #000000; font-family: sabon,garamond,serif; In november 2009, one of the uglier fruits of the current practice of seeding mothers into the American military burst briefly onto the national stage. Ordered to Afghanistan from Hunter Army Airfield in Georgia, an Army cook named Alexis Hutchinson refused to go. A 21-year-old single mother, she explained that there was no one to care for her infant son because initial plans to leave him with her own mother had fallen through. What happened next should...

The United States Veterans Administration (VA), despite over half a century of experience in taking care of veterans, suddenly finds itself in unknown territory. That's because the last decade has produced, for the first time, a large number of female combat veterans. There are nearly a quarter million of them, including over 5,000 receiving disability benefits (for injuries received in combat, or non-combat, operations). The female veterans do not respond to the stresses of military service, or the physical injuries, the same way as men do. This has forced the VA to adapt, or at least try to. For example,...

A single mother from Oakland has been discharged from the Army for refusing to leave her infant son behind to go to Afghanistan, but she will not be court-martialed, her attorney said Thursday. Alexis Hutchinson, 21, had faced criminal charges at a court-martial for refusing to accompany her unit when it deployed in November. Although that is no longer a prospect, Hutchinson has been demoted from specialist to private and will lose all military and veteran benefits, said her attorney, Rae Sue Sussman of San Francisco. She said Hutchinson had been given an other-than-honorable discharge. In a statement, Hutchinson said...

Before After

(AP) Shoshana Johnson survived gunshot wounds to both legs and 22 days as a prisoner of war in Iraq. Life wasn't so easy when she came home, either. In a new book out this week, the 37-year-old single mother describes mental health problems related to her captivity and tells how it felt to play second fiddle in the media to fellow POW Jessica Lynch, who was captured in the same ambush. "It was kind of hurtful," the former Army cook said in a telephone interview with The Associated Press. "If I'd been a petite, cutesy thing, it would've been different."

For the first time ever, the Pentagon is requiring military bases worldwide to offer the so-called morning-after pill. WASHINGTON - The Pentagon for the first time will require military bases worldwide to offer emergency contraception or the so-called morning-after pill, a military spokesman told Fox News Friday. The decision follows a recommendation by an independent panel of doctors and pharmacists in November, Pentagon spokesman Bryan Whitman said. The panel determined that emergency contraception should be added to the military's list of medications that must be stocked at each military facility. The decision represents a policy shift from the Bush administration...

Obama Admin Forces Military Hospitals to Stock Morning After Pill Washington, DC -- Late Thursday, the Obama administration issued a new order for the U.S. military requiring all military hospitals and health centers to stock the morning after pill. The Department of Defense will soon begin having military medical facilities stock the Plan B drug, which can sometimes cause an abortion. http://www.lifenews.com/nat5967.html

WASHINGTON (AP) - The Pentagon for the first time will require military bases worldwide to offer emergency contraception or the so-called morning-after pill, a military spokeswoman said Thursday. The decision follows a recommendation by an independent panel of doctors and pharmacists in November, said Defense Department spokeswoman Cynthia Smith. The panel determined that emergency contraception should be added to the military's list of medications that must be stocked at each military facility.

At 90, Anna Monkiewicz has a lifetime of stories and memories. The ones about flying start here. "My father had driven us over to see the planes take off and land" in Framingham, which, by the mid-1930s had two airfields: one at the Musterfield, used primarily for military planes, one for charter planes and flying lessons on Western Avenue near the Sherborn line. When she was a girl, there was also a small airfield in Natick, off Rte. 9, near the Wellesley line, the former Anna Flynn recalled.

SEATTLE — They were mavericks of their day, taking to the skies when the nation was at war and most women were at home caring for families. At a ceremony this spring, 11 Washington state women will join the 200-some surviving Women Airforce Service Pilots (WASPs) in receiving Congressional Gold Medals for service during World War II. Sixteen more medals will be given to local WASPs posthumously. Congressional Gold Medals have been awarded nearly 150 times since the nation was born in 1776. The women join polio-vaccine inventor Dr. Jonas Salk and poet Robert Frost, as well as two other...