Panetta removes military ban on women in combat

[wfgodot]

Breaking story:

The Associated Press ‏@AP
BREAKING: Panetta removes military ban on women in combat, opening thousands of front line positions.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Panetta removes military ban on women in combat, opening thousands of front line positions.

http://bigstory.ap.org/article/pane...combat-opening-thousands-front-line-positions

Leon Panetta is the U.S. Secretary of Defense.

 

[wfgodot]

Citing "senior defense officials," the AP adds:

"The groundbreaking move recommended by the Joint Chiefs of Staff overturns a 1994 rule banning women from being assigned to smaller ground combat units. Panetta's decision gives the military services until January 2016 to seek special exceptions if they believe any positions must remain closed to women."

http://www.npr.org/blogs/thetwo-way/2013/01/23/170093351/panetta-lifts-ban-on-women-in-combat-roles

 

[tlcya]

O M G

More power to them.

I wouldn't want to do it but I guess I am glad the "opportunity" is there now for those who do.

 

[Pandora]

I am very pleased to see this. For years women HAVE been in combat; however, the "law" was being used to deny them combat pay and promotions that men get for serving "in theatre." Now the military will have to pay, promote and award medals EQUALLY to women who serve. It's about time!

 

[tlcya]

I am very pleased to see this. For years women HAVE been in combat; however, the "law" was being used to deny them combat pay and promotions that men get for serving "in theatre." Now the military will have to pay, promote and award medals EQUALLY to women who serve. It's about time!

Exactly. Cowoker of mine is female and ex military and that is the exact conversation we had about this situation.

War of today is not the war of our grandfathers. "front lines" are much more fluid and change moment to moment. Women have been on the front lines for this reason for a number of years now. This will simply allow them the promotions and hazard pay and other benefits that are extended to men on those same front lines.

 

[STANDREID]

I don't have a problem with it as long as they're held to the same standards as their male counterparts. To do less endangers both them and their unit.

The Soviets used them as combat pilots and snipers during WWII.

 

[FrayedKnot]

I don't have a problem with it as long as they're held to the same standards as their male counterparts. To do less endangers both them and their unit.

The Soviets used them as combat pilots and snipers during WWII.

That is exactly what women have been asking for. There are already women fighting just like their male counterparts in combat only without the pay or classification.

Glad you don't have a problem with it!

 

[wfgodot]

The role of women front-line volunteers in the defense of Stalingrad proved pivotal in the defeat of fascism, e.g.,

The 1077th Anti-aircraft Regiment under Colonel Raiynin, was a unit of the Stalingrad Corps Region of the Soviet Air Defence Forces which fought during the Battle of Stalingrad in 1942.
---
The regiment, like many of the anti-aircraft units, was made up almost entirely of young women volunteers, barely out of high school. They are mostly known for their bravery in the defense of Stalingrad, when they engaged an advancing Panzer division by setting their guns to the lowest elevation and firing them horizontally.
---
Wiki

 

[Kat]

Happy Day!

It only took 48 years for women to obtain full integration into the army after it was ordered. (another historical day---I am actually being sarcastic. I'm never sarcastic hah )

This really is a happy day though, not being sarcastic about that!

 

[Nova]

Exactly. Cowoker of mine is female and ex military and that is the exact conversation we had about this situation.

War of today is not the war of our grandfathers. "front lines" are much more fluid and change moment to moment. Women have been on the front lines for this reason for a number of years now. This will simply allow them the promotions and hazard pay and other benefits that are extended to men on those same front lines.

Well said! Even 20 years ago in the first Gulf War, my female cousin, a lieutenant and tank commander, ended up ahead of the official "front line". Fortunately, the Iraqis were busy surrendering by the hundreds and she ended up with a crowd of Iraqi POWs instead of a fire fight.

But your point about shifting lines of combat is spot on!

 

[Reader]

American women have served and died from the first

http://www.centurylink.net/news/rea...ass&action=3&lang=en&_LT=UNLC_USNWU00L3_UNEWS

WASHINGTON (AP) — American women have served and died on the nation's battlefields from the first. They were nurses and cooks, spies and couriers in the Revolutionary War. Some disguised themselves as men to fight for the Union or the Confederacy. Yet the U.S. military's official acceptance of women in combat took more than two centuries.

New roles for females have been doled out fitfully, whenever commanders have gotten in binds and realized they needed women's help.

"The main driver is that it's been militarily necessary," says retired Capt. Lory Manning, a 25-year Navy veteran who leads military studies for the Women's Research & Education Institute. She points, for example, to creation of the Army Nurse Corps in response to the struggle against disease in the Spanish-American War.

Some milestones on the way to this week's lifting of the ban on women in ground combat jobs:

More at link on history of women's service.....

 

[Nova]

BTW, I did not mean to minimize my cousin's contribution to the Gulf War above. She had to decide whether the Iraqis were really surrendering or merely creating a diversion (despite the language barrier: she speaks German, Dutch and now Czech, but not Arabic). She and her small tank crew were left with hundreds of Iraqi men in the middle of nowhere. And any crowd in wartime is potentially dangerous.

Yes, I'm glad they were laying down their rifles instead of shooting at her; but I didn't mean to imply she had it easy. IIRC, she received a commendation for her leadership in an unexpected situation.

 

[Reader]

1st woman to lead in combat 'thrilled' with change

http://www.centurylink.net/news/read.php?id=19278243&ps=931&cat=&cps=0&lang=en

RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — Former U.S. Army Capt. Linda L. Bray says her male superiors were incredulous upon hearing she had ably led a platoon of military police officers through a firefight during the 1989 invasion of Panama.

Instead of being lauded for her actions, the first woman in U.S. history to lead male troops in combat said higher-ranking officers accused her of embellishing accounts of what happened when her platoon bested an elite unit of the Panamanian Defense Force. After her story became public, Congress fiercely debated whether she and other women had any business being on the battlefield............

"I'm so thrilled, excited. I think it's absolutely wonderful that our nation's military is taking steps to help women break the glass ceiling," said Bray, 53, of Clemmons, N.C. "It's nothing new now in the military for a woman to be right beside a man in operations."...........

Citing Bray's performance under fire as an example, Rep. Patricia Schroeder, D-Colo., introduced a bill to repeal the law that barred female U.S. military personnel from serving in combat roles.

But the response from the Pentagon brass was less enthusiastic............

The Army refused to grant her and other female soldiers who fought on the ground in Panama the Combat Infantryman Badge. She was awarded the Army Commendation Medal for Valor, an award for meritorious achievement in a non-combat role.............

More at link.....