Posted on 05/04/2005 4:50:17 AM PDT by Cornpone
KARMAH, Iraq — Lance Cpl. Erin Libby doesn’t want to be treated the same as her male Marine Corps counterparts. But she does want to be treated as an equal — even in combat.
In a way, she got her chance last weekend when Marines from the 3rd Battalion, 8th Marine Regiment led a raid into the city of Karmah in search of high-value targets and hidden weapons.
“We’re out here, and we’re rocking on the front line,” said Libby, a 21-year-old from Niceville, Fla., who pinned on the rank of lance corporal during a break in the mission.
In all, 14 women from Combat Logistics Battalion 8 were called away from their usual jobs of supplying ammunition, food, water, fuel and mail for the three-day offensive that kicked off in the pre-dawn hours Saturday about 15 miles northeast of Fallujah.
Cultural sensitivities precluded male Marines from searching women, so the female Marines were meant to deflate fears of Iraqi men and women, said the battalion executive officer, Maj. Larry Miller. It was a first in Iraq to have female Marines embedded at the lowest levels of infantry companies and working alongside their male counterparts, said Chief Warrant Officer 2 Jill St. John, 39, an embark officer with CLB-8.
“This is history. This is huge for us,” St. John said. “I’ve been in the Marine Corps for 18 years, and this is my first opportunity to be out with an infantry company. Even five years ago, the Marine Corps wouldn’t be doing this. This is a major change in how we think women can be used in the military.”
While female Marines were used in similar fashion during missions in Afghanistan, they were not fully integrated with line companies, St. John said.
“It wasn’t quite as dynamic as this. They’d wait at a camp in the rear and were called in when needed, often called in for resupply,” such as bringing in food and water.
“I’m so sick of hearing females can’t do this and females can’t do that. Blah, blah, blah,” said Cpl. Rachel Bergstrong, 20, of Cumming, Ga. “We’re in it as much as the grunts, and we love it.”
The battalion’s Lima and India companies absorbed the women into their ranks, giving them the primary mission to search women and children suspected of hiding anything. But the female Marines’ presence was not intended to show a softer side of the Marine Corps, said Capt. Mark Liston, commander of India Company.
“They’re still a fighting force for us,” he said. “With them, we can grab a wife [of a suspected insurgent], for example, put the screws to her, and find out where the husband might be hiding. And while it hasn’t been used here, [the insurgency has] been known to use female suicide bombers,” Liston said.
But there were times in which the softer side appeared in both the male and female Marines. When they weren’t raiding homes and businesses, the Marines were on humanitarian missions, handing out food, water and toys, especially to the hordes of children who flocked to the streets when the Humvees rolled in.
“Whenever I read about these humanitarian missions, I always thought it was so cheesy,” Libby said after tossing out handfuls of stuffed animals. “Now I’m the one sounding cheesy, but I like this. It makes you feel good inside.”
They’re often referred to as the WMs, or women Marines. They hate it, and the crass distortions of the acronym some say they’ve heard.
“We’re Marines, bottom line,” said Cpl. Dawn Lansberry, 31.
“I’m out here to prove a point,” Libby said. “A lot of males think females are weak. It’s time to shine, and I’m going to leave here golden.”
There's no way the rampant leftism in our military and in the press would allow our troops to kill random ragheads. Same for average Americans "knowing their enemy and destroying it."
Our leftists simply will not let us fight in the proper way.
hi5
There's more to being in the infantry than carrying a gun and I want my brother by my side not my sister. It's war!!
Well, we could start by eliminating the reduced physical fitness, height and weight standards. The promotion and selection quota's probably ought to go as well.
Resume the Draft, as we've done in all of our other wars, and it won't be necessary...
I think the standards should be the same. I had a female training instructor that trained women according to male standards. She was one tough b*tch too OMG.
Darn few if any female grunts could haul an M-249 and 300 rounds around all day.
But then again, not every guy is man enough to handle the SAW ;-)
It seems the Marines need all the help they can get and now they're happy to be getting it from their WMs.
We used to call them BAMs (but only out of hearing)
To form an opinion all one has to do is watch the currently running Marine training film airing on Military channel.
URRRRAAAAH BABY.
One thing though. I think after an IED ambush, some of our ladys might do a fine job of interrogating those male scumbags. It would do wonders for their arab male mindset to see a woman yelling and kicking their ass.
This social engineering of the armed forces is ruining it. Women do not belong in combat, period, end of story.
I googled up BAM easy enough. I still can't find the alternate meaning for WM. What is it?
I can't figure out why the media can't abbreviate state names correctly:
"Niceville, Fla."
WTF is Fla.? Florida? FL? F.L. F.L.O.R?
The same is true in Afghanistan where "bad guys" hide under burkas. Females troops are definitely a critical element to search the women.
That's right sweetheart.. being a Marine is all about you....
I believe as a platoon sergeant who has had the honor of taking my troops overseas, living in a desert, and returning all of them safely home, I have at least a little authority on the subject.
KEEP FEMALES OUT OF COMBAT!
I was always better with my M16A1 & A2 and finally my M4. However, I liked having the SAW firepower near me as we didn't have M60's my last 6 years or so.
Of course rocking and rolling with the M2 and MK19 was jolly fun but thankfully we didn't have to carry those.
And NO, a women should NOT be in combat.
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