Women in Combat? Why?

How do you know this? You have no experience in combat and/or infantry. You do not like to hear this, but you have no authority to determine who is fit for infantry or other ground combat units. Nothing chaps my arse more than when people say things like "I know I would make a good xxxx" because they generally have no idea what that position entails. I am sure the infantry guys here do not appreciate that.

There is no "misplaced masculinity." I am not even sure what you mean by that...

 

Generally if a man places his masculinity in a woman, he is doing the right thing. Unless you believe his masculinity belongs in other men. To each his own...

 

I served in Afghanistan and was assigned to an infantry unit (though officially my MOS was not infantry, it was combat arms and I was used as an infantryman in Afghanistan). There was some of my fellow soldiers who I met, who were women, who were very professional and I think would have done a fine job in the infantry or any combat arms MOS. You shouldn't count them out and I am certain those ladies have earned a fair shake. Heck, some of these ladies would do a better job than some of the guys!

Just relax. You're ass is getting chapped for no reason and you have no reason to be pissed. Don't be so high strung. I'm offerring my view and there was no logical reason for you to be upset by it. You're being irrational. Ultimately, any authority rests with Congress and the President and you (as well as me when I was serving) follow the orders of the Commander in Chief who does have the ultimate authority.

 

When you say assigned to an Infantry unit, exactly what did your job entail? I highly doubt, and by highly I mean 99% sure you did NOT take women on patrols through the Hindu Kush for weeks at a time doing full blown kinetic ops...

They will take Infantry units and use them for other missions. Base security, hearts and minds missions, doing HA stuff....

So, what did your unit do? PSD?

 

All I will say is I did a combination of patrol and guard duties (as from what I have seen, most infantry do). As far as what my unit did, I think it's smart not to get too particular as there is a war still going on (even though I am discharged, it's best to err on the side of caution and follow OPSEC because operations are still ongoing today). On my patrols we did not have women, though some of the other patrols did (and very few women and these women were the tomboy type). There is no front lines in Afghanistan, anybody can find themselves in combat, man or woman and both need to be prepared to fight and win.

 

Unless you're part of USASOC, then I seriously doubt saying WHAT your unit did is violating opsec....you don't have to get into details, SOPs and unit affiliations to say what you did....

And getting caught in a fight and LOOKING for a fight are two ENTIRELY different animals.

 

Well, some soldiers are anxious to earn their CIBs, me personally, my goal was simply to do as I was told, be a team player, take care of my buddies and help them get home alive to their famlies as well as do my best to help myself get home alive as well. It's all about carrying your fair share of the weight, being a team player, executing your duties in a professional manner and doing your best to get yourself and your buddies home alive.

 

Do you know what kinetic ops are? Doesn't sound like you do by what you just said.

 

Yes I do, you have kinetic ops and non kinetic ops. You can do non-kinetic ops and still end up in a firefight. Happens quite a bit (enemy ambush) and generally when the enemy strikes, they are well prepared and you need to have good infantry tactics and training to back you up to survive. However, I am not sure what I can and can't say and it was a probably a long time ago that you served in the Army, so, I prefer to err on the side of caution given that we are still at war. The Army and rules could have changed since you were in and OPSEC is a big deal today in the Army. It's generally better to err on the side of caution. Soldiers get in trouble all the time for what they think is OK to talk about when the Army might deem not OK to talk about. So, it's better to err on the side of caution. I am sure, you being a veteran, respect that (and I am assuming you are a combat veteran in which case, especially you, out of anybody, should respect that).

 

Sometimes the "non-kinetic" operations can turn kinetic real quick. "Non-Kinetic operation" sounds like some kind of double speak Orwellian term.

 

Ok well your previous post made it sound like there were random guys trying to play Rambo who are just gung ho and want their CIBs. When I said there is a difference between getting caught up in a fight and looking for a fight, I was talking about the difference between kinetic ops and non.

And again, saying what you did is not violating opsec. Example; If you did mainly PSD, patrols, base security, KP duty etc. If you went on patrols with no women and did kinetic ops, that's not violating opsec. If you did PSD and had females with you, that's not violating opsec. You can still say WHAT you did without violating opsec, giving away SOPs, unit affiliation etc. But maybe you're super top secret squirrel, I dunno.

We did a some kinetic ops from small COPs, mostly PSD, some QRF, and occasionally tasked out with ODA.

See, I didn't violate opsec.

I served in Afghanistan 08-09.

 

Those guys live the life. They used to let us spend the night at their compound and it was first class everything in the middle of nowhere.

I also agree.....talking about what TYPE of mission you did doesn't violate OPSEC. You'd have to be SF or some serious intel type to be in that type of position.

 

I never said Infantry was "vastly more important." I simply said that in warfare at the end of the day it takes boots on the ground to win against a determined enemy; That in the end everyone in the military supports those boots on the ground (be it fighting from a tank or plane or fixing something).

I also don't see what importance has to do with ASVAB score. A policemen has a more important job than a astro-physicist in terms of society.....I don't think anyone would argue what the difference in their ASVAB scores. Some of the most important jobs in the world don't require extreme intelligence.

I also never said "all that matters" is infantry. Herk please read through my posts. You're putting a lot of words in my mouth that I didn't say. If you're talking about someone else I apologize....but you cited me in your post so I assume you are.

 

I served in Afghanistan from 09-10. The duties I performed were a combination of gate guard and patrols. We did what most units over there did, which was counter-insurgency operations. We had some females (but not many), as some of their jobs were important for counter-insurgency operations (and some of these females, in my view, would do well in the infantry, I also remembered one female who was feminine and yet, I think would have done well in the infantry). We did non-kinetic ops, but some of our guys were hit. We lost some guys. It's a sensitive matter for many, so I prefer to show respect (plus again, I prefer not to go into specific numbers as I am unsure if this is a violation of OPSEC). I am a bit paranoid if you hadn't noticed. Better to stay paranoid, anxious and alive and out of trouble than to relax. Anyway, I am definitely not a gung ho kinda guy. My goal was to serve honorably, professionally and be a team player, help my buddies and myself get home alive. Honestly, the CIBs or medals didn't mean much to me, getting home alive and seeing my family and knowing that I served my country honorably was most important and is what mattered to me. It makes you appreciate life so much more and I appreciate a lot of things a lot more now than I did before.

 

One of the major cancers in today's society are those that use the term Politically Correct as a catch phrase for their bigotry, hatred and prejudice. In general when someone says that is politically correct, what they mean is I am a prejudiced bigot against that.

 

There is only one reason why women should be allowed in ANY branch of the military and that is ---anyone should be allowed in any branch of the military if they can do the job----period, end of story. That is not an argument, that is a simple fact.

 

Yep and it was just as wrong then, as now.

 

Funny how infantry men think they are so special that lowly women cannot do their job, even though they can do anything else in the military, hmmm?????????????

 

Ahhhhhhh, women are not masculine so they have to be second rate--roflololol. sorry, but I served in the Army with men that were much less masculine than my wife was. She could play baseball better than most men her age, consistently beat me at tennis, could out-swim me. Ran faster and on and on. I could out shoot her with shotgun and pistol, but she beat me hands-down with the rifle. She was beautiful, sensual, and more intelligent than 90 percent of men.

When I hear people used the term masculine and feminine in reference to a persons ability I know that I am listening to bigotry, hatred, fear and stupidity.

 

More accurately, it's a point of dogma in which you have an emotional investment, and which has no basis whatsoever in reason.

 

...have you READ anything?

THIS, the part in bold, is the issue.

Another example that you apparently missed.

 

I'm a man and I would have struggled, even in my prime, to make it as an 11Bravo.
(Infantryman), definitely wouldn't have passed muster in any special operations unit.

I spent 10 years on active duty, and 9 years in the reserves, all in the Air Force.

I'm not particularly fond of running for miles while carrying a heavy load on my back,
eating snakes and sleeping in a hole in the ground.

I had doses of that in 17 days of SERE trainng, and wouldn't want it as a full time occupation...
at least not voluntarily.

I prefer 3 hots and a cot, and to me roughing it was using plastic utensils.

There's no shame in any of this, as I doubt many 11Bravos could do what I did in the service.
It's just a different job, but no matter what one's job...it's best to have the most qualified
doing it...and athletic young, able bodied men, are better qualified for infantry, armor and artillery.

There might be a few women out there, capable of doing the physical part of an infantryman's job, but not enough to make it worth the transition to a mixed sex unit with separated living quarters while serving in the field, in a combat zone.

It's easier just to keep that part of the combat arms, as male only.

 

SERE....never got to go, but would of loved the training. Heard some good stories...haha

 

It's mandatory in the Air Force for all air crews.

Preparation for getting shot down and encountering hostiles.
Avoiding capture, and what to do if captured.

"Return with Honor" is the motto.

 

Yeah I remember hearing that it's mandatory for ya'll, which is great. It's a tough course I know that.