Thursday, January 13, 2011

Restrictions on Women in Combat Roles May Be Lifted - Take Poll & Comment


Many brave women serve our country in the military and many have lost their lives or have been seriously injured while performing their duties.  It seems almost inevitable that after revoking Don't Ask Don't Tell , the question of women in combat would be revisited by the Pentagon.

According to the Daily Caller:

A draft report by the Military Leadership Diversity Commission recommends that the military take action to lift the longstanding restriction on women serving in combat roles in the military.
The draft report is being discussed by members of the 24-member commission on Thursday and Friday. The change can be implemented without congressional approval.
The Department of Defense, the draft report recommends, should remove the “combat exclusion policies” for women to “create a level playing field for all qualified servicemembers”
More information is reported in an NPR article:

A high-level military commission is set to recommend that the Pentagon reverse its long-standing policy that bars women from being in combat.
Hundreds of thousands of women are currently serving in the U.S. military, and many of them are in Iraq and Afghanistan. According to the Pentagon's policy, women are, and always have been, barred from taking part in any ground combat operations.
But in reality, women are already in the thick of the fight — and an upcoming report will recommend that the Pentagon acknowledge the reality on the ground and allow women to be assigned to combat units.
The Military Leadership Diversity Commission was established by Congress in 2009 to look at ways to diversify the force and boost recruiting. The commission includes high-ranking retired and active-duty military officers who, for the past year, have been debating whether to overturn the current combat exclusion policy. This policy bans women from being assigned to artillery, infantry and other combat units; it says women can be attached to these units in support roles but that they are not explicitly allowed to be part of combat groups.
  Read more... 

For the purpose of inspiring a conversation, I hope you'll take the poll and comment.


22 comments:

  1. sorry, as a former military police soldier, i can not in good faith agree to send women into direct combat units such as armor, infantry and artillery.

    these are VERY strenuous fields, and the chances of sexual contact by consent or force, which could negatively impact the mission can't be allowed to happen.

    i am also not in favor of the repeal of don't ask don't tell.

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  2. j summ:
    Thank you for your service and for your comments. No need to apologize for your opinion. As a former military police soldier, your thoughts on this are appreciated and respected.
    I've never served, so I am looking forward to reading comments from active and former military personnel.

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  3. Bad idea. Libs love this line of thinking because they know that if we imagine our daughters coming home in body bags by the dozens, Americans will not defend herself and her allies as willingly as we have in the past.

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  4. Question, why would a woman want to take part in the ugliest task a man has to partake.

    It is man's nature to protect women. Like it or not, it is a distraction. The men in the field would loose some of that edginess of self preservation ... my answer is HELL NO!

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  5. RK:
    You have something there. I believe that Libs think that way. The title of the group looking into this is "Military Leadership DIVERSITY Commission", that should give us the first clue.

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  6. Odie:
    Personally, I would not want to be in that position. But there are women who think they are strong enough and qualified enough to do the job. Just because they think so, doesn't make it true. I hope that if this commission decides to allow women to join combat units, they put the women through as rigorous training as they do a man. This is a life or death decision that over-rules political correctness. My fear is that the deciders are what RK said, Libs with an agenda.

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  7. Except for those times when the guys in DC screw things up, our military does an exceptional job. Don't mess with what works. That goes for this topic and DADT.

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  8. innominatus:
    When I worked for the Navy (as a civilian), they used to say "If it ain't broke, don't fix it."

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  9. I keep thinking of that gal that got taken prisoner by the Iraqis. Remember her? Pretty blonde from Texas. The enemy were anally raping her as she lay on a hospital gurney with broken bones.

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  10. Hi Opie:
    I'm afraid I don't remember that story, but rape is definitely a worry for women in the military.

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  11. I voted NO! who were the 45% that voted YES?

    This is awful but not surprising given recent events.
    Also, this bunch has no respect for life, women, goodness or anything else.

    Also I think their evil reasoning might be that since most people who enlist in the Military are more patriotic and probably conservative, what a good way to get rid of more of them.

    The brave women in the Military already face such hardship and danger. To put them right up into it is horrible, but all part of the agenda to weaken America.

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  12. Jessica Lynch was eventually rescued by U.S. Special Forces after being tipped off to her whereabouts by an Iraqi lawyer.

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  13. No.
    Not aboard a Man of War.
    Tactical and Strategic Squadrons of the Air Force.
    Not in The Infantry and Armor of The Line. Period.
    No place for a lady. Period.
    Even my liberal school teacher Mother is against this. Married to a Korean War Vet.
    She said the line has to be drawn somewhere.
    Me? Tailhook and the girl bomber pilot in Minot are enough.

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  14. Hi Conservative Lady,

    I am a liberal. Pick a liberal issue and I am probably for it. However, this idea of letting women into combat units is completely nutty. Liberals are simply wrong on this issue, and I hope the right fights it tooth and nail.

    I spent four years in the Marine Corps in a combat arms MOS and during that time I never met any female that I would have wanted in my unit.

    I read the report from the "Military Leadership Diversity Commission" and it is in my opinion complete garbage. The report only cites studies that supports its conclusion, while claiming there is no evidence that contradicts its conclusions. For instance, it essentially claims that there is little empirical evidence regarding the differences in strength between the sexes. That claim is not true. There are studies out there that have concluded that there are great difference in strength between the sexes and that,to the extent there is any overlap,it is between the physically strongest women and the physically weakest men. In other words, the physically strongest women will usually be weaker than the average man.

    Finally, I would like to comment about the argument that women should be allowed into combat units if they can meet the same physical standards as men. While it seems to be an eminently reasonable argument on its face, it is in fact a trojan horse. Once women are permitted into combat units, the proponents of women in combat will start complaining when there are not enough women, in their view, in the combat arms. They will claim that the current physical standards are "unfairly" keeping women out of combat units, and accordingly will insist that the military change physical standards until it meets their approval. The upshot of it will be that physical standards will be no longer decided by the military to meet its war fighting mission, but by a panel of radical feminist who believe that "equal opportunity" is more important than military's mission of fighting and winning this nation's wars.

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  15. Hi Bunni:
    I purposely did not vote in the poll, and since everyone who commented (if they had voted) would have voted NO, I have no idea who voted YES.
    I would hate to think that there are ulterior motives to allowing women to fight in combat, but anything is possible.

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  16. ORPO1:
    Thank you for stopping by and commenting (and voting in the poll, I hope) on this controversial subject.
    I tend to agree with your "liberal" Mother. My reasons are based a lot on strength and physical abilities of women compared to men.

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  17. Hi oj:
    Welcome to The Conservative Lady blog and I am happy you decided to chime in on the subject. Thank you for your service to our country.
    Being a former marine who was in combat circumstances, your opinion is coming from first hand experience. I was hoping veterans would participate in this post and between you and the other guys who have commented, I am not disappointed.
    Thanks and I hope you'll stop back again.

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  18. Like it or not, women and men are different. I don't understand why people want to behave like that isn't true.

    Men are stronger then women for one thing. We are just made that way. It would be a major distraction that doesn't need to be there. While I am sure that some women would fine, there is no reason to play around with what is already working.

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  19. JACG:
    I agree. I think political correctness will drive the decision...not common sense.

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Respectful comments are always welcomed and appreciated. Trolls will not be tolerated.