FReeper Canteen ~ Honoring Military Women ~ 06 March 07~

Supporting the best Troops in the world. ^ | March 5, 2007 | Soaring Feather/FReeper Canteen

[Soaring Feather]

Good morning Troops!
Thank You for your service.


FR CANTEEN MISSION STATEMENT

Showing support and boosting the morale of our military and our allies military and the family members of the above. Honoring those who have served before.

Honoring Military Women. Click here.

Welcome to the home of the skeptical, irascible, doubting, iconoclastic Captain Critical, aka Captain Barb, whose pontificating will try to amuse, bemuse, irritate and generally annoy anyone bold enough to stay long enough to read the ramblings of a self appointed distaff critic who will continue to remind you that women are veterans too!
Did you know that there are almost two million women veterans? From the American Revolution to Panama, Bosnia, Kosovo,
Afghanistan and Iraq , women have served in some way in every conflict. Not that they were legal in the early days. History tells us that thirty three thousand women served in World War One and almost 500,000 took part in World War Two. During the Korean era 120,000 women were in uniform and seven thousand were deployed in theater during Viet Nam. During Desert Storm seven per cent of the total U.S. forces deployed were women - over forty thousand of them. On these pages you will find the history and accomplishments of those women who have served this country - voluntarily - since it's beginning.

Please remember the Canteen is cyber Home to our Troops.
Check your politics at the door.
Don't forget to hit hyper link for more information.
Thanks to all who enter this Canteen to Honor our Military.

[SandRat]

And not 10 Minutes ago my Ping list crapped out too. That was somewhat easier to recover.

[Kathy in Alaska]

Yep.....she is focused and confident.

[The Mayor]

Hey the twin cities...

[SandRat]

About Sybil Ludington:

Sybil Ludington was the eldest of twelve children. Her father, Col. Ludington, had served in the French and Indian war. As a mill owner in Patterson, New York, he was a community leader, and he volunteered to serve as the local militia commander as war with the British loomed.

When he received word late on April 26, 1777, that the British were attacking Danbury, Connecticut, Colonel Ludington knew that they would move from there into further attacks in New York. As head of the local militia, he needed to muster his troops from their farmhouses around the distict, and to warn the people of the countryside of possible British attack.

Sybil Ludington, 16 years old, volunteered to warn the countryside of the attack and to alert the militia troops to muster at Ludington's. The glow of the flames would have been visible for miles.

She traveled some 40 miles through the towns of Carmel, Mahopac, and Stormville, in the middle of the night, in a rainstorm, on muddy roads, shouting that the British were burning Danbury and calling out the militia to assemble at Ludington's. When Sybil Ludington returned home, most of the militia troops were ready to march to confront the British.
The 400-some troops were not able to save the supplies and the town at Danbury -- the British seized or destroyed food and munitions and burned the town -- but they were able to stop the British advance and push them back to their boats, in the Battle of Ridgefield.

More About Sybil Ludington:
Sybil Ludington's contribution to the war was to help stop the advance of the British, and thus give the American militia more time to organize and resist. She was recognized for her midnight ride by those in the neighborhood, and was also recognized by General George Washington.

Sybil Ludington continued to help as she could with the Revolutionary War effort, in one of the typical roles that women were able to play in that war: as a messenger.

In October, 1784, Sybil Ludington married lawyer Edward Ogden and lived the rest of her life in Unadilla, New York.

Her hometown was renamed Ludingtonville in honor of her heroic ride. There is a statue of Sybil Ludington, by sculptor Anna Wyatt Huntington, outside the Danbury Library.

[Kathy in Alaska]

Monday is almost over for me....not a bad day. Tomorrow will be interesting, but I'm ready for it.

[AZamericonnie]

Commercial break.

Truth is...when this season comes out on dvd...I'll rent them all & go on a marathon without commercials & interuption.

The best way to watch!:)

[MountainFlower]

MM-MM-MM.
thank you for the BLUES, acad!!

[Kathy in Alaska]

You better be backing things up.....they happen in 3s. LOL!!

[Kathy in Alaska]

And wind gusts to 35mph on occasion. BRRRR!!

[The Mayor]

I agree... That must have hurt losing the tip of the finger..

[mylife]

My buddy (chopper pilot in desert storm and currently in afghanistan) Told me of a female pilot that was shot down in desert storm. she was badly hurt, I dont recall the exact injuries, but I believe her jaw was broken and a leg, some ribs and an arm.

The Iraqis found her and captured her. The creepy little jerks started to molesting here as they transported her away in a truck. They where fondling her an while she was appaled, she had the strength to see the sitiuation. She was stunned that these poor buggers looked at her bloodied form and were excited. This made her laugh in her mind and helped her from doing something stupid that could have gotten her killed.

She was eventually released and is fine today

At anyrate, I only tell the story because we have some strong women serving.

[SandRat]

Military Women "Firsts" and their History

[AZamericonnie]

Not bad enough!!!!

Was that bad of me?:)

[Cheapskate]

hi! how ya doin tonight?

[SandRat]

Women in the Military:
Combat Roles Considered

---

There are approximately 32,000 women in the U.S. military, comprising about 13 percent of the total U.S. Armed Forces (Defense Almanac 1995). In 1970, only 1.4 percent of the total military was comprised of women, a number that more than tripled to 4.6 percent in 1975, nearly doubled to 8.3 in 1980, rose to 10 in 1985, 11 in 1990, to the current 13 percent (Government Executive March 1994).

When discussing the history of women in combat, one might think of Joan of Arc who in 1429, at age 17, successfully led French troops into battle against the English. Hundreds of women disguised themselves as men to fight in the Revolutionary and Civil Wars. Beginning in 1942, separate military services for women were established, but women did not gain professional military status until 1948 when President Truman signed the Women's Armed Services Integration Act which limited their number to 2 percent of the total military. In 1991, the restriction of women from flying combat aircraft was repealed, but the 1948 law still bans women from serving on naval combat vessels (Minerva Spring 1994).

Some argue that, should combat slots be open to women, women may be subjected to the draft. The male only draft was considered to be constitutional in 1981 in the Rockster V Goldberg case, largely because the draft was viewed as a way to fill combat slots -- slots from which women were barred.

In the National Defense Authorization Act for the Fiscal Years 1992-1993, Congress rescinded female combat exemption laws and then the Clinton Administration opened a quarter million previously closed combat positions to women (GAO Report, July 1996).

On October 1, 1994, the Defense Department issued a policy that rescinded the so-called "risk rule" that gauges the specialties to which women can be assigned. The policy was backed strongly by Secretary of Defense Les Aspin and was the extension of the changes made in April 1993 that opened most aviation specialties, including attack helicopters, to women (Army, March 1994). The policy emphasized that no job will be closed to women just because it is dangerous, but fails to open direct offensive ground combat jobs to women (Army, March 1994). Even today, though, the official policy of the Army and Marine Corps excludes women from combat which precludes 12 percent of skilled positions and 39 percent of the total positions (GAO Report, July 1996).

Proponents of opening all positions in the military to women argue that military readiness is enhanced when there is a larger pool of applicants, whereas opponents insist that due to politics, quotas would be undeniable, thus allowing unqualified women into key military positions. Opponents of allowing women to compete for combat billets argue that it is too dangerous to put women in the position of becoming prisoners of war. Without a doubt, there is a much greater probability for acts of sexual molestation and rape with the addition of women to the front lines. The "front lines" in modern combat, however, are fluid. Although they were technically in support roles, two female U.S. soldiers were taken captive and one was sexually abused by the Iqaqis in the Gulf War. This situation made those who were already skeptical about putting women in such a compromising position further question whether women should be subjected to the horrors of combat. Many, however, argue that adult women who make the decision to join the military are aware of the consequences (Minerva, Spring 1994).

Another argument against women in combat is that they simply do not have the physical strength and endurance needed. Without a doubt, being in the military is a physically demanding job that not everyone is fit to handle. Despite this, all experts agree that there are some women, although perhaps small in number, who have the physical strength and endurance to be soldiers (Army Times, July 29, 1996). Concerning combat aviation some question whether women can handle the gravitational forces of an aircraft, but there is absolutely no evidence that says they cannot. It is interesting to note that everyone, including women, believe the physical standards for military occupational specialties (MOS) should be identical for both men and women.

Currently, all members of the armed services must pass fitness tests, which are scaled according to age and gender. There are no current tests that specifically measure the physical skills required for each military occupational specialty (MOS) -- the only way to test this is have the soldiers simply go out and perform their task. The goal is to create these gender-blind specific tests that more accurately predict a soldier's success in combat.

Another argument used to keep women out of combat billets is that they would disrupt the cohesive unit and undermine the espirit de corps. The effectiveness of the military hinges on a cohesion -- every member must completely trust and respect one another. Many argue men would not be able to trust women to be capable of accomplishing the physical demands of combat, which could lead to serious problems. In order to maintain cohesion, experts agree that all members of the military must be treated equally. A standard must be maintained to make every member feel as if he/she is part of one single unit, not separated by gender.

Romantic relationships and pregnancies also concern many experts. The argument is that romance may undermine espirit de corps and that pregnancies will hurt readiness. Although pregnancy is a major concern of many, statistics show it has little bearing on military readiness. In fact, women on the average spend a mere one fewer hour per month at work than their male counterparts. When one excludes pregnancy leave, women have a lower rate of lost time at work than their male counterparts (Minerva Spring 1994).

More than 40,000 American women served in the war against Iraq. The Marine Corps awarded twenty-three women the Combat Action Ribbon for service in the Persian Gulf War because they were engaged by Iraqi troops. Desert Storm was a huge turning point for women, much like Vietnam was for African-Americans, and it showed that modern war boundaries between combat and non-combat zones are being blurred. It makes no sense to cling to semantics (combat vs combat support) given the reality of war. Furthermore, allowing both men and women to compete for all military occupational specialties is not an equal rights issue, but one of military effectiveness. If the United States is to remain the world's most capable and most powerful military power, we need to have the best person in each job, regardless of their gender.

---

Authored by Jake Willens, 7 August 1996.

Reviewed by Daniel Smith, 29 January 1998.

[mylife]

Im alright for a monday.

Good episode of 24 tonight and all that.

You doin alright?

[MS.BEHAVIN]

Thanks for tonites thread, Ms Feather!
Good evening Ma!
Good evening Canteeners and Troops!
Hows' everybody tonite?
BRR!!!!
Wind is whipping and temps are sub zero!
I'm in for abit!
Hugs alla round!
Ms.B

[Cheapskate]

oh alright I guess! I'm just jonesin and need to do some fishin.

[Kathy in Alaska]

TAPS

RIP SSGT Eric Ross

Amazing Grace

[Kathy in Alaska]

Welcome home, ms b....it's BRRRRR cold outside with the wind. ((HUGS))