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U.S. Army Defies Bush
Human Events Online ^ | April 1, 2005 | Elaine Donnelly

Posted on 04/01/2005 10:02:43 AM PST by hinterlander

It's very late. Does the President know what the Army is doing? On the issue of women in land combat, it seems no one is in charge. High-level civilians are circumventing law and policy, members of Congress are being misled and decorated generals seem to have lost all perspective.

President Bush has been a strong leader on national defense, which makes it difficult to understand why he is saying one thing, but the Pentagon is doing another.

During an interview with the Washington Times in January, Bush declared, "No women in [land] combat." He was referring to current Defense Department regulations that exempt female soldiers from land combat troops such as the infantry and from smaller support companies that "collocate" with them.

A Little Bit Pregnant

If the Defense Department wants to change those rules, federal law requires formal notice to Congress 30 legislative days (approximately three months) in advance.

Despite these directives, Army officials are implementing plans that would force (not "allow") female soldiers into smaller forward support companies, which operate with land combat troops 100% of the time. These unprecedented assignments will needlessly complicate combat missions and undermine the progress of Army "transformation," which is complex enough.

The Defense Department has sent out contradictory signals on this issue. Early in November 2004, several flag officers told congressional staffers that they had no intention of repealing the collocation rule. A different briefing by Human Resources Policy Director Col. Robert H. Woods, Jr., to Army Staff Director Lt. Gen. James Campbell, inside the Pentagon on November 29, called for elimination of the regulation.

On January 13, Secretary of the Army Francis Harvey assured House Armed Service Chairman Duncan Hunter (R.-Calif.) that the Army has not changed or violated Pentagon regulations. Eleven days later, the secretary's office prepared a "Women in the Army Point Paper" that indicates otherwise.

The four-page document--which is described as "unofficial" but is being implemented anyway--actually changes the wording and meaning of the Pentagon's collocation rule. It also alters the "gender codes" of 24 of 225 Army positions--mostly mechanics--in a typical forward support company (FSC), opening up 10% of these previously all-male positions to women. This arbitrary change in status, which is comparable to being "a little bit pregnant," clearly violates current Defense Department rules. FSCs differ from transportation and other support units that come and go intermittently. All soldiers are at risk, but FSC personnel are trained to operate in constant proximity with land combat troops that engage in deliberate offensive action against the enemy.

During a February meeting at the Pentagon with an associate and me, Army Secretary Harvey and Gen. Richard Cody, the Army vice chief of staff, confirmed that female soldiers are serving in forward support companies. Thirteen of the newly co-ed FSCs recently deployed to Iraq with the 3rd Infantry Division. This does not violate the rules, the officials told us, because female soldiers will not be collocated with combat troops when the battle begins.

This made no sense until we received the "Women in the Army Point Paper" from Harvey's office. This document includes a subtle but consequential change in Defense Department rules, which the Army is not authorized to make.

Current Defense Department regulations exempt female soldiers from support units that collocate with troops, such as the infantry, which are "assigned a direct ground combat mission." The Army's revised version adds the word "conducting" to that definition. This creates a new collocation rule, which applies only when a combat unit is actually "conducting an assigned direct ground combat mission."

Army officials claim that the new wording--call it the "collocation catch"--makes it unnecessary to provide legal notice to Congress, since the rules have not been changed. This is not a valid argument, but even if it were, how would the plan actually work?

Imagine a hapless battalion commander standing in front of a gender-mixed support company, telling the men that they will go forward to the battle, but the women will not. After that divisive moment, he will have to find a way to send the women elsewhere.

"Beam me up" transporter machines are in short supply. An active duty infantry officer estimates that it would take one Chinook, two Blackhawk, or six Huey helicopters, or two five-ton trucks, or 12 up-armored Humvees to evacuate 24 fully loaded female soldiers in a single forward support company.

That's assuming that the women would be willing to go. A female officer wrote to the Center for Military Readiness: "That is ridiculous. When does the combat begin?...[C]ommanders in the field will not follow those guidelines." The Army's top leaders told me, "They will have to."

So, field commanders are supposed to decimate their own support troops (remove 24 of 225) at times when they are needed most. A former armor officer described that scenario as "nuts." Responsible combat battalion leaders will not allow sophistry or semantics to detract from mission requirements.

The battlefield has changed, but land combat realities have not. When an infantry soldier is wounded under fire, his ability to survive may depend on a single male support company mechanic who can lift and carry him to life-saving emergency care. A female mechanic trained with "gender-normed" standards could not do the same. Under the Army's equivocal plan, there might not be any support soldier nearby at all. So much for "train as we fight" and the concept of "unit cohesion," which depends on mutual trust for survival in battle.

Doublethink definitions have consequences. The Army's revised collocation rule sets a new precedent for all land combat support units subject to Defense Department regulation. Absent intervention, this will affect all Special Operations Forces and eventually the Marine Corps. The "Women in the Army" blueprint even presumes to eliminate multiple launch rocket systems (MLRS) and Stryker brigade reconnaissance surveillance target acquisition (RSTA) squadrons from the list required to be all male.

'Growing' Careers

Why is this happening? More than one general has told me that the objective is to "grow" the careers of female officers, including their own daughters. This is careerist groupthink, which cannot justify incremental changes that will force the majority of enlisted women and men to pay the ultimate price.

A May 2004 Pentagon briefing speculated about insufficient "inventory" of male soldiers for the combat support companies, but presented no data to support that concern. If there are shortages of men, officials who retained gender-based recruiting quotas for women--including Defense Under Secretary David Chu, his deputy, Charles Abell, Army Chief of Staff Gen. Peter Schoomaker, and Personnel Vice Chief Lt. Gen. Franklin Hagenbeck--should be held accountable for their failure to plan ahead.

The military needs sound leadership on personnel policies, not problematic decisions by default. Members of Congress should insist on compliance with the law requiring advance notice of proposed policy changes, including the effect of the revised collocation rule on women's exemption from Selective Service registration. Officials might claim that the new wording is "pre-decisional" (even though it appears in the Army's official magazine Soldiers). If that is so, immediate revocation should not be too difficult.

The ultimate responsibility to bring the Army back into compliance with law and policy resides with the commander in chief, President Bush, and Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld. The time for principled leadership is now.


TOPICS: Foreign Affairs; Front Page News; Government
KEYWORDS: army; bosnia; collocate; combat; defy; elainedonnelly; frontlines; military; women; womenincombat
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To: Always Right
Besides, several days a month they are totally worthless...

No, several days a month they are extremely deadly.
61 posted on 04/01/2005 1:13:13 PM PST by R. Scott (Humanity i love you because when you're hard up you pawn your Intelligence to buy a drink.)
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To: jb6

The non-firing data, as I recall, came from the SLA Marshall "Men Against Fire" study. Crew-served weapon gunners, leaders, and soldiers directly supervised by leaders most consistently fired. The redesign of infantry squads to include more NCOs and "fire teams" was partially based on the Marshall study. Increasing the leader to led ratio was supposed to help ensure more soldiers actually engaged the enemy with their weapons.


62 posted on 04/01/2005 1:17:47 PM PST by mark502inf
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To: verity
…team leader Sergeant with her M4 and M203 grenade launcher, rush the nearest ditch about 20 meters away to start clearing the natural trenchline.

63 posted on 04/01/2005 1:21:03 PM PST by R. Scott (Humanity i love you because when you're hard up you pawn your Intelligence to buy a drink.)
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To: jb6
In the end, all computers be damned, it's the infantry man/ tanker who gets the job done.

Yes, and it’s the truck driver, boat operator and helicopter pilot who makes sure he has the “beans and bullets” he needs – often fighting their way to his position. It is the field MP and the transportation/supply weenie that provides convoy security. The combat arms types would be pretty worthless all by themselves.
64 posted on 04/01/2005 1:25:47 PM PST by R. Scott (Humanity i love you because when you're hard up you pawn your Intelligence to buy a drink.)
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To: R. Scott
transportation/supply weenie that provides convoy security. The combat arms types would be pretty worthless all by themselves.

Yes we saw how well the Ash and Trash defend themselves in fire fights. Half the weapons jammed from lack of maintenace in the ambush during the main offensive.

As for bullets and beans, the point of it all is, every single branch of the army/airforce/navy is there for a single purpose: support the Army & Marine infantry and tankers who are the ones who at the end of the day either win the battle or loose the war.

Because until a grunt or tanker is standing on the ground and hoisting the flag, you really haven't won jack crap.

65 posted on 04/01/2005 1:36:49 PM PST by jb6 (Truth == Christ)
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To: R. Scott; mark502inf

Yup, extremely deadly, like my wife the past two days: heavily cramped, bloated, tired and a bit of virtigo. Not to mention requiring shower facilities to keep infection rates down.


66 posted on 04/01/2005 1:38:28 PM PST by jb6 (Truth == Christ)
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To: ran15

They are not pro-life, they are pro-replacement. Any society where a mother tells her son to go do something with his life: by blowing up some of those damned zionist/american/christian/indian/fill in the blank, pigs, is no pro-life society. They are against abortion because that would 1. cut down on the replacement rate and jihads eat up meat resources very quickly and 2. would give the women to much idol time to think or read or get upity ideas.


67 posted on 04/01/2005 1:40:24 PM PST by jb6 (Truth == Christ)
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Comment #68 Removed by Moderator

Comment #69 Removed by Moderator

To: TaxachusettsKaren

Is this response in anyway related to the sympotms in post #66 above?


70 posted on 04/01/2005 1:47:27 PM PST by pajama pundit (TM)
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Comment #71 Removed by Moderator

To: TaxachusettsKaren

Well said !


72 posted on 04/01/2005 1:58:56 PM PST by ChadGore (VISUALIZE 62,041,268 Bush fans.)
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To: bannedfromdu

Women can't even carry thier own toolboxes much less an injured soldier. And that is not silliness. Ever been in combat pal?


73 posted on 04/01/2005 2:04:51 PM PST by Stopislamnow (Three co-equal branches? Not anymore. Sig heil mein black robed tyrant!)
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To: TaxachusettsKaren

thanks. I need a good laugh.


74 posted on 04/01/2005 2:41:38 PM PST by Mulch (tm)
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To: B4Ranch
"I have one daughter that no man wants to threaten..."

That's the one we'll accept.

75 posted on 04/01/2005 2:43:17 PM PST by verity (A mindset is a terrible thing to waste.)
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To: jb6
Hey, former company grade officer, if you can holster your reproductive appendage for a moment, you need to understand that the Army does not have a sufficient number of males to fill its CSS needs.

Perhaps that's a failing on your part for not sufficiently reproducing yourself.

What's your plan for a functioning Army without females?

76 posted on 04/01/2005 2:58:21 PM PST by verity (A mindset is a terrible thing to waste.)
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To: pawdoggie
"A bit hard to follow"

That's a personal problem.

77 posted on 04/01/2005 3:03:58 PM PST by verity (A mindset is a terrible thing to waste.)
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To: JillValentine
I wouldn't call Donnelly either a cow or a hero.

Then don't, but then, I doubt you know the woman. I do. So does every pilot who ever flew out of Miramar or Oceana, because she is responsible for reporting on the BS that was going on when women-aviators where not making the grade to the point of one of them buying the farm who never should have sat in a fighter to begin with.

For those who fought for the current standards where women don't get easier rules than men, Elaine Donnelly is indeed a hero.

78 posted on 04/01/2005 3:17:32 PM PST by Pukin Dog (Sans Reproache)
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To: jb6
Yes we saw how well the Ash and Trash defend themselves in fire fights. Half the weapons jammed from lack of maintenace in the ambush during the main offensive.

Remember that the Ash and Trash have as a main purpose to haul cargo. Their training is primarily in hauling cargo. In my own experience, weapons maintenance was limited to one day a year – when we used them to qualify. All of our weapons training and maintenance was limited to those few hours a year. Those involved in the ambush you refer to were in a similar situation according to all reports I have read.

As for bullets and beans, the point of it all is, every single branch of the army/airforce/navy is there for a single purpose: support the Army & Marine infantry and tankers who are the ones who at the end of the day either win the battle or loose the war.

Very true, and none should be denigrated.
79 posted on 04/01/2005 3:20:59 PM PST by R. Scott (Humanity i love you because when you're hard up you pawn your Intelligence to buy a drink.)
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To: pawdoggie

So you don't like the way that article was "edited to emphasize the gender of the participants."

What about the Jessica Lynch incident? There were male soldiers there who performed as badly as she did, but you never hear about them. Lynch is emphasized because of her gender.

Are you okay with emphasizing the gender of soldiers when female soldiers perform poorly, but not when female soldiers perform well?

Claudia Kennedy is a woman who had a lot of stupid ideas and is a terrible role model. Soldiers like Sgt. Leigh Ann Hester and Spec. Ashley Pullen are much better role models for young women (and men) to look up to.


80 posted on 04/01/2005 3:21:37 PM PST by JillValentine (Conservative women are tougher than liberal men.)
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