Women in modern combat
I would like to hear your comments of women in combat. Both good and bad. But please only respond if you actually conducted operations where female solders were present. No I heards or second hand stories please.
While in Iraq we often had a lower enlisted female attached to us. Her primary duty was to search Iraqi women. She also was assigned as my driver. She performed both duties very well. But she was only used on missions of short duration. No overnites out in the sand, we didnt need her skills laying in counter IED ambushes or duing security patrol at nite. She was very professional and understood that when we used vulgar language it was not directed at her nor was it personal. The bigest negative was that her presance created a sexual tension among some of the men. But once they figured out that she would not sleep with any of them that tension rapidly deminished and she was treated like one of the guys. She even became a fairly proficent gunner (at the range never on missions).
While in Iraq we often had a lower enlisted female attached to us. Her primary duty was to search Iraqi women. She also was assigned as my driver. She performed both duties very well. But she was only used on missions of short duration. No overnites out in the sand, we didnt need her skills laying in counter IED ambushes or duing security patrol at nite. She was very professional and understood that when we used vulgar language it was not directed at her nor was it personal. The bigest negative was that her presance created a sexual tension among some of the men. But once they figured out that she would not sleep with any of them that tension rapidly deminished and she was treated like one of the guys. She even became a fairly proficent gunner (at the range never on missions).
0
-
27 years served. Seen all of the above and then some. Gay, straight, bi, male or female, it didn't matter to me as long as you got the mission accomplished. The only ones that I ever saw head to the short or long course in shoe repair were child molesters. Before anyone says I didn't do my due diligence, go talk to a lawyer. I did and was told that suspecting and proving are miles apart. Best advice I got was, if someone won't do a sworn statement or bring evidence (pictures, video, witnesses) you don't want to open that can of worms. 0 -
I think that when you bar any group of individuals from serving, combat or otherwise, all you do is lower the overall strength of your force. I would use blacks in WW2 as my example. Look at the accomplishments of groups like the Tuskegee airmen, all that talent was available for use, but was very controversial because of the social standards of the day. When it comes to women in the military, there are quite a few who I'd take on a patrol without reservation; the problem is that they are outnumbered by their opposite extreme, so all women have a stigma. My point of view was formed by my experience as an infantry squad leader in the Marines, so please keep that in mind. The military does a disservice to the strong, hard charging females I have encountered by having two sets of standards in boot camp. One Corps, one standard. Period. One PFT standard and course, one method of training. Come out with a standard of how strong a Marine has to be, both mentally and physically. If that means Paris Island only graduates 1 female a year, so be it. But that Marine should have all options open to her. Maybe then Marines like the female I encountered at Workhorse in 2003 would get the respect they deserve instead of the stigma that the terds they now commonly graduate to meet goal get her. Oh yea, and she should wear the same uniform as the men. 0 -
quote:Originally posted by Resa718
I am a woman, I am a veteran, and I deserve your respect for my contributions. I was a medic, I was an NCO, and believe it or not, I didnt like working with most woman either because of all the aforementioned bs most of them bring to the unit. Its not a woman thing, its a little kid thing. We are doing a grown up job and the kids are running around trying to screw each other. I was a Soldier first, and I took that seriously. I did not use cramps as an excuse, and those who tries to pull that poop with me got a good workout. I was dirty in the field for weeks, just like you; I got shot at, just like you; I pulled broken comrades out of bloody trucks; just like you.
A lot of women in the Army were useless; so were a lot of the men. It didnt matter what was between thier legs; its not what made them lazy or disrespectful. The hard work, the blood, the medals -> I did that because it was expected of me, and because people depended on me.
There are good Soldiers and bad ones. And btw I can lift your fat ass, gear and all....b/c if you were bleeding, my job was to stop it. And I always did my job.
I'm right there with ya lady.
The problem I have seen being a female is that the military as a whole is getting lax. They do not want to enforce standards, teach young members self respect...and honestly a LOT of males in the military have a stereotype of military females and associate that with them regardless if it is true or not. Nothing will change unless NCO's step up and do their jobs as mentors, if you allow your troops to act in these ways, they will continue. This goes for males and females alike.
Prime example, you see a female member hang out with the same male on a regular basis...what do you think first? Most people will assume something is going on between the two of them, but no one really knows.
To say that women aren't capable to do the job or should only be limited to certain jobs...well think about it. We're already limited. It's not our fault that the OPTEMPO has changed over the years, or that the powers that be decided that we can/should be out front with the infantry. BUT all NCO's (including myself) are guilty of not telling our joes to keep their mouths shut, if you wanna talk about it, you better have evidence...that's the talk I give every single one of my soldiers regardless of sex.
And as far as pulling a 350lb person to safety...I know a lot of guys bigger than me who wouldn't be able to do that, but can still call themselves Infantry...so where is that a justified statement? That's why you have buddy teams, you move and work together to get the job done if that's what it takes.0 -
quote:Originally posted by ECCI do not believe women should be in the military...period. Part of my reasoning for that is I believe they should be cherished and protected...not doing the protecting...among a few other reasons.
i completely agree.
my experiences with women in a combat environment is they act like a guy when it benefits them and they act like a girl when it suits them.
they tried to get the best of both worlds to get by as easy as they could. while we (sgts and below) were living in circus tents with no ac in 130 degree weather, the female Marines got their own tents AC'ed tiny tents right next to the chow halls and snco/officer hooches.
however we did have a few com chicks that would roll out with us all the time on convoys. they were just one of the guys. the com chief jumped through hoops to make sure our com was as good as it could be which in most cases was poopty. but it was better then nothing.0
Please sign in to leave a comment.
Comments
34 comments