Earn the Silver Star, get demoted

If women, as support staff/medics/etc., can handle everything they do now in the field ... they can certainly handle "combat duty," which has changed quite a bit from when that outdated policy was instituted. Very few blind infantry or cavalry charges these days.

I hope the shower comment was a fucking joke. I really hope that wasn't serious. But considering the source ... :

 

Nobody's saying the guy was a moron. Full of himself, and an overreacher of epic proportions, yes, but . . .

 

Don't misunderstand me. My military perspective comes from the Navy and shipboard life, with a smattering of Army base duty and time with Mar-Dets. TBF would have a much better understanding of field life vs. shipboard life. That being said, just as there are some women who couldn't do certain military tasks, there are some men who are unable to, as well.

I think it's an outdated policy and absolutely don't agree with the showers comment. But I don't think TBF was trying to be sexist.

 

The Russian Winter thing is exaggerated. A recent study indicates that a substantial percentage of the 600,000-man force died of a camp disease transferable by lice.

'I love power the way a musician loves his music.'

 

Although DNBI (Disease and Non-Battle Injury) are responsible for more evacuations during this war than all other battle injuries combined, sure, hygiene shouldn't be considered. Especially when I bring it up. :

The most important piece of the puzzle, however, is sexual harassment and the possibility for sexual assault and abuse. Pick up a book written by a woman about her experiences in combat and thumb through it. Oh, and since I'm such a sexist, I'll suggest one for you ... "Love My Rifle More Than You." Kayla Williams wrote it about her experiences as a specialist and sergeant in Iraq. She was an Arabic translator and put up with a ton of crap, just like any other female in the Army. She told one story of a guy in her unit, one that allows females, who just brought up the fact one day that his wife liked rough sex. "The rougher the better." And, since she's not here and you are, I'd just love to break the axle of a HMMWV (humvee) with you. That's roughly translated

She outlined how females in the Army have two choices, bitch or slut. To an extent, that's sort of how it is, although I don't think it's that severe. Truth is, women have it hard in the Army.

And I'm not even talking about units that have been filled only with men since time began. The culture in infantry, field artillery and armored (tanks and scouts) units isn't something that's going to be changed in 10, 20, 30, 50 years. It's wrong, I know, but it's going to take a lot to change it. Commanders worry about a ton of things, one of the most important is what we call the "good order and discipline" of units. That would be very hard to maintain with females in units with enough testosterone to kill a rhino.

I'm on the fence on the issue. I wouldn't mind seeing it happen, but I also understand the consequences it would bring. But what do I know?

 

TBF, I try to get your back on these issues because I think we both speak from some experience. What you say is absolutely true, if not more than a little sad.

Folks, for those of you who have never served or been a military brat, it's true. Think about blacks in the service. While the services were integrated for a long time, it's taken every single year since the rule was passed for the "old ways" to die out. Even in 1989, when I started boot, there were still PLENTY of vestiges of the old ways still around. It will take even longer for the negative attitudes and treatment of women in uniform to die out. Certainly not in our generation, and maybe not even in Little Man's generation. But eventually, it will be equal and much better.

Until then, this is just one very ugly and unfortunate side effect of an outdated policy.

 

Tell that to Hitler.

 

Some historical lessons are never learned. What's interesting is that Hitler absolutely knew about not only the Napoleonic failures in Russia, but all those failures throughout history. Hitler's ultimate failure, however, was in thinking he could beat the odds. At least from a military strategy standpoint.

 

What was your take on bathrooms for whites and bathrooms for coloreds?

"Thems the breaks"?

Seems like cavalier commentary.

 

Since you obviously failed to read any of my other posts, I'll treat this one like the mistake-filled comment that it is. Read my other comments, including the one about my in-the-military ex-wife, and you'll see that's not what I meant at all. Then I'll ask you to be an adult and apologize. Ok?

 

"Thems the breaks"?

What the hell DID you mean by that, then?

 

I refuse to answer your off-target question until you have taken the time to read my other posts on this topic. That's like picking out one line of an entire story and saying, "WTF?" when the rest of the story explains it.