Posted on 05/06/2006 1:48:16 PM PDT by Diana in Wisconsin
"I tell people the best women you'll ever see as a group are in the military, but they don't belong there. (with obvious exceptions of course as was the case 50 years ago, finance, nursing etc.)"
Your point is why the "every man and infantryman" philosophy is being stressed. It is tough to do that with a volunteer army though. We just don't have the demographics. The young men are not joining.
Currently, one thing you are forgetting about is the "I'm in Iraq so I have to fire my weapon" syndrome. Who wants to deploy as an 11B, 13F, etc. and never fire a shot?
"What is more important, the act, or the medal which commerates the act? What is more holy, the Altar, or the Gift on the Altar"
How about we ask the dead who got dead when a bunch of irregular ragheads fired a RPG and so pitifully few of the Americans hunkered down and fought.
This support unit would once have been staffed by people held to a standard dictated by the Army's past combat experiences. Those standards were not only lowered but in many cases utterly discarded in the service of PC.
Two of the females reaction to the RPG was to scream "we're not supposed to be here". Bet that helped.
You'll see dual standards eliminated the day conscription is resumed.
To have a solid grasp on reality is to put the lie to the claim the women are capable of doing the job. How often do you hear mentioned the fact that SGT Hester had to hand her grenade off to a male because she could not throw it far enough.
She may to have met the doctor just because she did not want to relive the trauma. Repeated sodomy, if you believe her account.
I served during conscription, and after it. Dual standards were in place during both.
Conscription means that you have soldiers who don't want to be there. You give them training, automatic weapons, and then attempt to lead them against an enemy.
Conscription had lots of medals for enthusiastic volunteers, who hid in bunkers, while conscripts took wounds, death, and did great things as they fought to protect their buddies, and got nothing. Be wary of panaceas. Conscription is a form of slavery. Before I supported slavery, I would require a LOT of evidence.
Was.
Hackworth, in his later years, was a bitter man who, one suspects, realized that he was from another era and knew that his ideas were archaic. Unfortunately, instead of fading away, he lashed out in books, and articles and interviews. A regular on FOXNEWS, his diatribes forced even his friend Hannity to call on him less and less.
A sad ending.
Ayn Rand speaks. The Israeli and Finnish and Korean armies are conscript and quite professional. Our army that fought in Pusan, Bastonge and Tet were all quite professional. Hadn't heard that all the volunteers hid and the conscripts were shot though. Fussell and Ambrose will need to rewrite their accounts.
Geez... you must be frazzled, you don't get home for another 8 months! Just kidding! You need a well deserved break. Hope your home front is falling back in to place. Things are going very well in my current comfy lifestyle. My biggest heartburn is the MSM lies.. but I can turn that off at any time. Thanks again for doing what you do... it is GREATLY appreciated!
"Hackworth, in his later years, was a bitter man who, one suspects, realized that he was from another era and knew that his ideas were archaic. Unfortunately, instead of fading away, he lashed out in books, and articles and interviews"
The Hackworth question is big, and argued much.
Personally I always felt something was wrong in his brain, I would love to know if he was using pot in Vietnam and when he moved to Australia.
Even books written by officers that served under him make my antennae tingle about their integrity.
"I served during conscription, and after it. Dual standards were in place during both. "
There weren't dual standards of course, but B.G Burkett writes in "Stolen Valor" that in WWII about 33% of the military were volunteers (although we were in the great depression)
During Vietnam about 33% of the military were draftees, many of them of course volunteering for the airborne, Special Forces, or other units likely to get them to Vietnam.
So WWII, draftee war...Vietnam, volunteer war.
I hope that was sarcasm... you asked how I was doing. I tried to re-enter active duty USAF in the summer of 2001, but was told I was 2 months to old.
"How often do you hear mentioned the fact that SGT Hester had to hand her grenade off to a male because she could not throw it far enough."
I knew that women couldn't handle the Hand Grenade, but I didn't know it came up during that engagement.
Still she sounds like a very exciting woman, as a southerner I admire a woman like that.
Point well taken. I consider that specific point an issue of the combat rotations and attribute it to a lack of the proper force mix for the mission.
I still contend that the Active Army needs another 6 to 8 combat brigades, and the Marines need 3 or 4.
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