Women Prohibited in Combat

House Armed Service Committee ^ | May 11, 2005 | House Armed Services Committee

[mike6181]

        PRESS RELEASE

 

For Immediate Release:                                                                                  Contact: Josh Holly or Harald Stavenas

May 11, 2005                                                                                                                                   (202) 225-2539

 

Armed Services Committee Prohibits Women in Combat

 

Washington , D.C. – House Armed Services Committee Chairman Duncan Hunter (R-CA) today defended the line of demarcation that the Military Personnel Subcommittee established with respect to women in combat support units.  An amendment was offered this afternoon by Subcommittee Chairman John McHugh (R-NY) at Hunter’s request.

Hunter’s statement is as follows:

“The Forward Support Companies under the new Army modularization will be called upon to move into battle to support combat forces.  Rocket-propelled grenades, machine gun fire and all the other deadly aspects of war will make no distinction between women and men on the front lines.

“The nation should not put women into the front lines of combat.  In my judgment, we will cross that line soon unless we make a policy decision as we design the new Army.

“Forward Support Companies go forward into battle.  That is why they are labeled ‘forward’ support companies.  This in no way forecloses hundreds of defense specialties for women away from the live fire of today’s battle field.

“The American people have never wanted to have women in combat and this reaffirms that policy.”

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[mike6181]

Congress reacts - but instead needs to act.

[bnelson44]

There are no front lines in Iraq

[leadpenny]

Hunter is blowing smoke. He nor anyone else can define the battlefield.

BTW, Duncan, are female Blackhawk and Apache pilots restricted from combat?

[Guenevere]

bttt

[mystery-ak]

This should be interesting....I guess this will have to mean that no women will be allowed in Iraq or Afghanistan...there is no safe place in either country...

[leadpenny]

. . . amendment was offered . . .

Like I said, he's blowin' smoke.

[mystery-ak]

You cannot have politicans defining a battlefield.....Mike(hubby) just said this means there can't be women in AVN...no pilots..

[leadpenny]

I agree. Besides, Hunter can't decree anything.

[Cool Multiservice Soldier]

Mike(hubby) just said this means there can't be women in AVN...no pilots

Very true. In aviation the is no defined "battle zone" when in the air any idiot can make the spot where that plane is a "front line" or a "combat zone". Also where in Iraq isn't there a combat zone

[Lazamataz]

"If I saw a woman in combat, I'd be all like, 'HEY! You.. you get in the kitchen and bake me a pie and make babies and knit sweaters!'"

[Constitution Day]

ROFL

[mystery-ak]

Last fall a female blackhawk pilot, in my hubby's BN, was shot down by an RPG...she was not on a *combat mission*...nonetheless, she lost both legs...

[Meldrim]

Hunter is a great guy. We are fortunate to have somebody like him (173d Airborne Brigade and Ranger Battalion, Vietnam) ...one of the few amongst his fellow Republicans who were man enough to serve his country and in a unit(s) guaranteed to send him into combat.

His ammendment should have gone on to mandate real world physical test to assure that soldiers deploying at the division level can at least road march, manage one end of a two man litter and evacuate the average size soldier 100 meters using a carry method. That alone would effectively eliminate 80-90% of females from combat service. See the 1992 report on women in combat for more stats. For those interested in the subject, it makes for enlightening reading.

[leadpenny]

I've heard Bob Dole talk about her after visiting her at Walter Reed. She wants to get back in the cockpit.

[mystery-ak]

A very brave woman and a credit to the 106th AVN BN.....I don't know if she'll ever fly again, we'll see..

[Cool Multiservice Soldier]

I heard about that. I do try to keep up on the events about 106th Avn. when i have the time particularly F Co.

By the way I used to be in your husbands BN. He was my 1st Sgt. My screen name used to be Armyboy. I have changed my screen name since I have transferred into the Navy.

[Americanexpat]

"There is no front lines in Iraq."

That's a fact, as soon as they drive out the gate they are in the front lines. A lot of these units provide convoy security and many of them have women in them. No one is safe in in base camp due to rocket and mortar fire. So what ya gonna do, bar them from the war zone? Not without crippling the combat effectiveness of every unit there.

[Meldrim]

"BTW, Duncan, are female Blackhawk and Apache pilots restricted from combat?"

Two more questions might be; Were they selected as aviators because ROTC/USMA/OCS have a policy of selecting a minimum number of female cadets to be aviators regardless of whether there are more highly qualified males? and; Are those female pilots physically capable of extracting an average size soldier from their copilots seat?

Hunters problem is that he is applying standards from his two tours with elite units in Vietnam to an army that has dropped standards and applied quotas to most--though not all --units....and there are some soldiers that fully support the quotas and reduced standards. He is also dealing with folks who honestly believe that a relatively few insurgents equate to the type of enemy he fought in Vietnam.

[mystery-ak]

Hi, armyboy....how's the navy treating you?...Mike is no longer F Co's 1sg...he was transferred to E Co.....big shake ups in Illinois..all senior NCO's being transferred...hmmmmmmm!

[xzins]

excellent point

And it's the way America fights wars now that front lines don't really exist.

Could this mean that women will not be permitted forward of pre-war staging areas....in the case of Iraq that would be Kuwait.

Not foward of Corps Support Areas? Division Support Areas?