Death toll of female troops 'troubling'

The number of military service women killed in Iraq and Afghanistan has reached 70, more than the total from the Korean, Vietnam and Desert Storm wars.

"Some have argued that the women who have died are no different than the men," according to a report noting the 70 casualties from the Center for Military Readiness, which opposes women in combat. "But deliberate exposure of women to combat violence in war is tantamount to acceptance of violence against women in general."

The reasons for the historical high casualty rate are multiple. Women now make up more than 14 percent of the volunteer force, performing a long list of military occupational specialties they did not do 50 years ago. Women in earlier wars were mostly confined to medical teams. Today, they fly combat aircraft, drive trucks to resupply fighting units, go on patrol as military police (MPs) and repair equipment.

What's more, the Afghan and Iraq conflicts are lasting longer than the relatively brief Desert Storm, which featured the first large contribution of American women in a war zone. But the real difference in Afghanistan and Iraq is the battlefield. It is virtually every road, neighborhood and rural village. Insurgents do not just attack front-line combat troops. Suicide bombers and improvised explosive devices (IEDs) strike at any time, meaning that women in support units can be just as vulnerable as men in ground combat.

Artillery Units can award the "Molly Pitcher Award" to women that have contributed to the Field Artillery "community." My friend Nancy, who was the wife of one of our artillery unit First Sergeants, has this award. :)

ARTILLERY ORDER OF MOLLY PITCHER. The award authority for the Artillery Order of Molly Pitcher is decentralized to the Field Artillery commanders, Lieutenant Colonel or above. Such commanders may approve the award for individuals in their communities. When there is no such Field Artillery commander available, the Commanding General of the United States Army Field Artillery Center and Fort Sill is the approving authority for the Artillery Order of Molly Pitcher. The Artillery Order of Molly Pitcher recognizes individuals who have voluntarily contributed in a significant way to the improvement of the Field Artillery Community.

http://www.usfaa.com/awards/

My husband (God Bless his America-Loving Civilian Heart!) was awarded 'The Commander's Award for Public Service.' I roped him into running a Mess Hall for me one summer when I ran a summer camp for kids that had parents overseas for Operation Desert Storm. He was a professional chef at the time, so he knew what he was doing. He displays his award proudly in his office, as he should! (He really saved my bacon that week, LOL!)

Yes, physically, men and women have different upper body and cardio-respiratory abilities (running). As you will also notice, there is no difference in the standard for sit-ups, where fit men and fit women have more-equal strength. Those physical fitness standards are just that, physical fitness, and nothing more, there are not the same as the specific requirements for any specific MOS (military occupation speciality). They represent base level general fitness standard and do not represent the absolute requirements of any specific military occupation speciality. For example, a duece-and-half (2 1/2 ton) truck driver, male or female has to meet the same requirments.

In addition, the minimum level of difficulty of fitness standards varies widely among the services. For example, to measure the cardiovascular endurance of 45-year-old men and women, the Navy requires a 1-1/2 mile run within about 17 and 18 minutes, respectively; the Army, a 2-mile run within about 19 and 24 minutes; and the Marine Corps, a 3-mile run within 30 minutes for men and 33 minutes for women (compariable to respective 15 minute and 16.5 minute rates for the 1.5 mile run used by the Navy). The Air Force measures cardiovascular endurance by having its personnel use a stationary bicycle, and requires 45-year old men and women to complete a simulated distance of about 1-1/2 miles in about 17 and 19 minutes, respectively.

And yes, because of the physical differences alone few women are able to qualify for some job categories - combat infrantryman for instance - but in todays highly technical military, which entails far more "support" roles than ever before, there are a wide range of MOS's that many women can qualify for. Also, while it is true that more women than men, at rates that vary between the different services, fail the physical fitness tets in basic training; guess what, just like the smaller number of men that fail, it means they don't get in.
http://books.nap.edu/openbook.php?record_id=6104&page=68

Some jobs require different levels of physical fitness, and always have, and some women meet the levels required for some MOS's. http://books.nap.edu/openbook.php?record_id=6104&page=67

And further, every woman serving in a role that requires less than the top optimum physcial strength and endurance, opens the availability for a man that can be slotted into those roles that DO require that top optimum strength and endurance.

And yes, there are some women in the military who exceed the minimum physical fitness standards, just as there are men who just make their minimum standard and do not exceed it. The standards represent minimums desired/required, not fitness levels achieved.

"Maybe one day people who enlist in the armed forces will understand that it is not a social club."

You honestly think people enlist in the military thinking it's a SOCIAL CLUB? Everyone I served with understood full well the consequences of their choice to serve, and accepted the risk. Nobody I knew ever mistook the military for Thursday Night Bridge club, that's for sure.

Ms. Donnelly of the Center for Military Readiness, whatever that is, is the one with her lace panties in a wad. This griping is NOT coming from military women.

Batalla de Elviña

This is a re-enactment of the Battle of Elviña also know by the British as "The Battle of Corunna". In this re-enactment British, Spanish and French troops took part together with the women of Coruña.

Even in those days, 1809, the women fought and died along with the men.

That was a time when the British fought with the Spanish against French.

But, long before that, on the 4th of May 1589 an English fleet under the command of Sir Francis Drake sailed into the bay of La Coruña to attack the city in reply to the Great Armada that one year before had tried to invade England.

The English found themselves face to face with a small town defended by medieval walls and a few soldiers. The difference in numbers between attackers and defenders was made up for by the heroism of the latter, whose stubborn resistance saved the city from falling into English hands.

According to the chronicles of the time, it was the providential part played by María Pita that saved the city, killing the standard bearer just when he was about to climb over the walls. She thus acquired fame and became a historical symbol of La Coruña.

No - I saw them, but didn't choose to engage them yet, I wanted to say I appreciated the posts I ~was~ seeing. In past years I remember the POV that women didn't belong in the military at all being the only opinion you could find on the forum, and I used to fight them alone sometimes. I'm happy to see that changing. My dad was one of those, he talked me out of trying to go Air Force to fly. Not because I was too girly, but because I was too argumentative. He thought I'd spend my whole service doing punitive pushups or something, lol. I've since found plenty of opinionated people do quite well in the military, they just get smarter. Ah well... too late now. I support all our troops. Men and women.

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