But the feminists in the Clinton administration opened up more "career opportunities" for women in 1994 by getting the Pentagon to eliminate the "Risk Rule," a regulation that had exempted women in noncombatant positions from assignment with the "inherent risk of capture."
Who are the female officers who allow this feminist, socially engineered political correctness to prevail? Ask the captured women who make it back if this is “gaining ground”.
These military women are a long way from the Air Force Academy students who are also being socially engineered but for a different reason – sort of – the feminists want to stop all tradition of all male bastions even down to Augusta National; they want to stop all things traditional though they never wanted to attend the academies or play golf themselves. They had a hissy fit when one of their all female schools was about to be made co-ed. Some of the the AF co-eds were involved in illegal drinking parties, remember Tail Hook? They not only broke the Academy rules about alcohol, both male and females were partying when they weren’t supposed to be. The ladies in the latter case weren’t so innocent, if you want to go to an all male establishment, then you have to be above board at all times and that means acting and behaving like a lady and obeying the rules. Being captured by known terrorists is a whole different story. No woman should be on the front lines in a country that deplores the western woman. Political correctness? Ask your congressman and Senator why he or she approved the feminists agenda, don’t blame the Military, they are doing as told!
If so, then we had better also exempt young Jewish male soldiers from duty in or around Arab countries, lest their possible treatment as POWs resemble that of Daniel Pearl.
But you likely are not so personally familiar with some of the other young men and women volunteering for military service, not as cooks or maintenance techs, but for combat arms positions, or, in the case of the women, as close to it as they can get, to include the half-dozen or so now flying as A-10 warthawg pilots.
Unlike those joining the military services for the supposed benefits, most of those I've run across are more interested in the service they can render to their country, feeling that they owe a debt of service that needs to be repaid as fully as possible. Sometimes I can convince some of them that they can best do so by offering their existing skills in jobs less interesting or personally fulfilling, but critically necessary, and demanding in their own right. And sometimes I cannot, and they go on to serve as they choose; it is their decision and their enlistment; I'm only advising and counseling.
But I have seen some durned good ones, male and female both, and for the most part their expectations are both realistic and pragmatic, and if it ever happens that I have to serve again with them- unlikely, but not at all impossible- I'd be glad to have most either slaving away under me or bossing and administratoring me to the worst of their abilities. It would not be pretty, but one way or another, we WOULD accomplish our assigned mission and tasks together.
Guess what: the role of the military is to get the job done despite enormous pressures and methods used to prevent that from happening, including having someone try their best to kill you. Just because the job is a little harder because some social experiment is ongoing in the middle of your parade ground does not mean the parade will not take place. Granted, a lot of things could be rearranged to make the personnel aspects of military recruiting and retention MUCH simpler and more efficient; I'm real glad my own job is as an S3 and not in S1 [Administration/Personnel]
But the quality of the people coming in is excellent, and certainly better than when I was their age. Perfect? Certainly not, if they were, we wouldn't even have to train them in everything from how to wear a hat to how to tie their boots. But they're not bad, not bad at all, and too often really impress me sufficiently, as recently in Iraq, that I'm really convinced this country may well do better in their hands tyhan it has in those of my own generation- as per the last decade.
Well, we will see. Though terribly poisoned by half-thought out ideas and propagandization from television overdosing, they're a sharp bunch and their bull$hit detectors work just fine, having been well-tested through most of their young lives. They'll do to ride the river with, if it comes to that.
And I'd much certainly rather soldier with or for most of the female troops I've seen pass my way since 1992 than about half of the draftees I served with on my own first enlisted tour, 1966-1970. They'll do.
-archy-/- -archy-/-