Buried in the day….after the horrendous attack in California all eyes are on the story of the week…..but while we were trying to find the reason for the attack news came out that many have been waiting on…..
After decades of debate on whether women are capable of handling combat a decision has been made……afer women passed the rigorous training of the Rangers the debate got more intense….and a final decision has been announced….
Repealing a 21-year-old rule, defense secretary Ash Carter announced Thursday that all military combat positions will now be open to women, the New York Times reports. According to CNN, that includes about 220,000 jobs in reconnaissance, infantry, and more that had previously been open only to men. “Women will now be able to contribute to our mission in ways they could not before,” Carter says. “They’ll be able to drive tanks, give orders, lead infantry soldiers into combat.” While the previous restrictions kept women from moving up the ranks as quickly as male counterparts, they often found themselves in combat in Afghanistan and Iraq anyway, the Times reports. “It’s a thrilling day for women serving in the military—and for women across the country,” the co-president of the National Women’s Law Center says.
Politico reports the Marine Corps was against the move, pointing to an internal study that “suggested” combat units that included women weren’t as effective as entirely male units. But a Marine Corps study also found morale in integrated units was equal to all-male units, and sexual assault levels were no higher than in the Marines as a whole, according to the Times. Carter says a 50-50 gender split in combat roles is unlikely, as only a small number of women so far have met the “high physical standards” for certain units, CNN reports. He also says integration will not come at the “cost of combat effectiveness.” “The military has long prided itself on being a meritocracy,” Carter says.
There is an open question with the this decision…..all males when turning 18 must register with the draft board in case there becomes a need for the reinstatement of the draft…..the open question is…..now that women are not barred from combat….will they need to register also?
Any thoughts?
I spoke a few years ago to an army man……he said ‘When we recruit,we find that the majority are not up to the job in terms of attitude and physicality ……..new recruit do not pass muster …..And by the by the British army have a better reputation than you lot!
We don’t swagger quite as much!
Grin
swagger? I love it….
In the mean time the gender does not matter…..
First, I have to get this out of the way….
Bwahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha!
Sorry, that was simply my reaction to the title, because my first thought was, “But, they’ve been at war for millennia, with men’s attitudes!”
I don’t understand why it ever became a question at all, but, then, I was an Army brat, and had two sisters. I already KNEW, by the age of 3, women were more dangerous than men. Nothing I’ve learned since has ever altered that perception.
Lady P, you are correct, gender simply doesn’t matter in war. Never did. Who did the defending of the home when the men were out hunting? And, wasn’t there almost always a home to come back to?
Sometimes, men are really stupid…. but, I guess that is obvious, by virtue of the fact they’ve usurped control of society for thousands of years, and look at the mess we ended up with….
Makes me ashamed much of the time, ‘cept I never bought into most of the crap they try to brainwash into us men…. and, little by little, I’m rooting out whatever I missed & fell for.
Too bad most men never will know how stupid they are…..
gigoid, the dubious, for obvious reasons
😎
women have always been as capable as men in war….just take idiots a little longer to see it….chuq
They are MORE dangerous than men, always have been, for the simple reason we men cannot predict what they will do, even, or especially in the same situations we are in.
I’m hoping they let women have control of some bombers, and they decide, once they are in the air, to pick their OWN targets, right back at the bases from which they took off….
Serve the assholes right….
gigoid
Hey, women can drop bombs on anonymous Arabs via remote control from the safety of industrial parks in Arizona as good as any man can! I don’t see why having a vagina automatically means you don’t know how to handle a joystick.
Women have been wanting to be men ever since the birth of The National Organization of Women and the “Women’s Rights” movement and I have always said, “If they want to be men so bad then let them share in the consequences of what it means to be a man or let them go back to being women.” Yes, by all means let them go into harm’s way in uniform if they want. Let them be as macho as they want to be but let’s also make sure they don’t leave families of dependent children in the wake of their bravado. No more mothers in combat zones. That is the one restriction I would place.
If they want to serve their country then they should….
If they are that suicidal, then let them! But let them not become a distraction to our fighting men on the battle field.
If they have kids then let them take the kids with them when they go to give their all.
Should men do the same?
Whatever!
Well,they were always ‘camp followers’
Cleaning up the mess..men created…:)
And in 61 AD…..
Boudica was a Queen of the British Iceni tribe who led an uprising against the occupying forces of the Roman Empire.
So,what the hell…if ya gotta fight …fight!
In the front line much like the Kurdish women.
Other than that wear a burqa!
🙁
Keep distraction at bay…grin
One last thought…re:Boudica…
“Tacitus and Dio agree that Boudica was of royal descent. Dio describes her as “possessed of greater intelligence than often belongs to women.”
😉