Pentagon Opens 14,000 Jobs To Women [Government Jobs for Women!]

The Washington Times ^ | May 14, 2012 | Kristina Wong

[Steelfish]

Pentagon Opens 14,000 Jobs To Women By Kristina Wong May 14, 2012

Staff Sgt. Marie Martinson, one of two female bomb techs in the 88th Air Base Wing Explosive Ordnance Disposal unit at Wright Patterson Air Force Base in Ohio, is seen here in Afghanistan with a robot pack beside her. (U.S. Army)

Pentagon policies bar Staff Sgt. Marie Martinson from direct ground combat, but she nonetheless has taken on the No. 1 killer of troops in Afghanistan: improvised explosive devices, or IEDs.

What’s more, disabling and dismantling roadside bombs is a job she loves.

“Defeating enemy IEDs? There’s a rush you can’t get any other way,” says Sgt. Martinson, 29.

She is one of about 50 women who serve in the Air Force’s 1,050 explosive ordnance disposal technician positions — jobs that have taken female troops close to the front lines for years.

On Monday, the Pentagon opened for female troops about 14,000 support positions that previously had been withheld from them, allowing women to fill jobs below the brigade level.

Though still banned from ground combat roles, women have more opportunities to serve in units closer to battlefields.

A veteran of 4½ years, Sgt. Martinson is one of two female bomb techs in the 88th Air Base Wing Explosive Ordnance Disposal unit at Wright Patterson Air Force Base in Ohio, and has been deployed twice to Afghanistan.

Roadside bombs “are their No. 1 weapon against us,” Sgt. Martinson says of Taliban fighters and insurgents. “To be the one that’s able to go and defeat that and be able to take them out … it’s very rewarding.”

[RavenATB]

So they want “equal,” huh...?

I haven't heard them demanding to have to register for “selective service” when they turn 18...

I wonder why... (sarc)

[ansel12]

What General wouldn't want to replace his old-fashioned warriors with new ones that are 6 inches shorter, 50 pounds lighter, half as strong, little testosterone, unwilling to die by the thousands just to save face or prove a point, more prone to injury and infections, slower marching, and unable to get the combat materials to their needed place.

Think of all the money you will save repairing foreign bars, of course some will be spent on bodyguards to protect the new warriors from the tough guy locals while they sip white wine and daiquiris while discussing the tank treads they replaced that day, and how they dragged their injured Sergeant across the muddy flatlands sucking at their boots.

[BlueLandRed]

The draft ended in December 1972 and Lord help us if we ever need it again (talk about the S hitting the fan for that to happen).

So don’t wonder... it’s a pointless exercise these days that at best might screen out a few libural draft dodgets that try and run for office in the future.