Women in the military

[ChickensAreSweet]

I am so old-fashioned.

I believe that women should not be in the military at all- should be protected!

I want men to be our protectors.

(I LOVE repeat LOVE our military.)

Thank you all who have served (the women too)! I realize that a lot of women have worked very hard to get where they are today in the military. I am just stating my personal preference, which is what the OP asked for.

 

[Mac in Wisco]

Quote:
My wife would disagree with you as she served on active duty for 21 years. She was a supply troop...

I think when the average non-military person thinks of "the military" they picture the young, male infantryman. There are many, many more careers that generally don't involve combat. Everything from electricians, plumbers, and carpenters, to weather forecasters, nuclear technicians, dental hygienists, paralegals, what have you... the list is almost endless. Almost any of these jobs can put you into a combat theater where there is a possibility of something happening to you, but they generally don't involve carrying a gun or engaging the enemy in a firefight.

 

[PineappleMama]

Yeah, I'd rather it be DH that took on any bad guys just because I've got more faith in his strength... but... DH isn't always home. Actually his mom was talking about a recent burglary (well the crooks THOUGHT the house was empty) and called me to tell me over and over to lock the doors and such and BIL happened to hear her ranting about it all scared and said "No crook would be stupid enough to break into their house...." which made me think of DH's weapon collection... but evidently he continued with "...PineappleMama would kill them"...

Which I found quite flattering... though their mom was rather horrified I think.

 

[Dunkopf]

Quote:
My wife would disagree with you as she served on active duty for 21 years. She was a supply troop...

I think when the average non-military person thinks of "the military" they picture the young, male infantryman. There are many, many more careers that generally don't involve combat. Everything from electricians, plumbers, and carpenters, to weather forecasters, nuclear technicians, dental hygienists, paralegals, what have you... the list is almost endless. Almost any of these jobs can put you into a combat theater where there is a possibility of something happening to you, but they generally don't involve carrying a gun or engaging the enemy in a firefight.

So true. Kind of like an iceberg. My BIL was a radar tech in the AF during Desert Storm. He was based in Saudi Arabia if I remember correctly. They had a scud come down about 3 miles from where they were. Closest he ever got to harms way. However that scud killed some other AF people and it could have just as easily been him.

If they open up Combat Arms to women, I don't think you'll see very many women doing it. There will be some though. They'll do it just because they can and that's a good thing IMO. They just want to "Be All That They Can Be". Women have come a long way since the barefoot and pregnant days.

 

[mom'sfolly]

I just want to repeat what I said earlier, since it keeps coming up. Any man who can't handle himself around women doesn't belong out in public, much less in the military. This is not about male/female relations; it is about being adult and professional. If a guy can't work with a woman in a military situation, there is a very good chance that the same guy would have problems in a civilian population.

One of the major issues with sexual assault and harassment in the US military is its tolerance at the command levels. The history of sexual assaults and harassment at the academies, where officers are trained, and its handling by the higher command have trained the officers, both male and female, that sexual assault and harassment are to be tolerated, and are not a command priority. So, after a series of scandals, where no one in charge was ever punished, we have a military culture where officers know that women are not to be protected from their male comrades. The Secretary of the Air Force actually asked that no former commanders of the Air Force Academy be reprimanded. The reporting of sexual assault and harassment in the military is more often punitive to the reporter, rather than the reportee. This is not a failure of women in the military; it is a failure of command that tolerates a culture of abuse.

Again, I think universal conscription would help this situation. If everyone's sons and daughters were in this pressure cooker, there would be changes. There would be changes in the way the military is deployed, the way the military is paid, the way the equipment is made and issued and the way the whole military is run. If everyone's kids, rich and poor, were in the military; no family would have to buy body armor for their children, no family would have to alter clothing so it didn't interfere with the other equipment needed, no military family would be on food stamps, no big budget planes would get priority over equipping troops on the ground. And best of all, the military wouldn't be sent willy nilly to any presidents favorite conflict.

 

[Wifezilla]

Any man who can't handle himself around women doesn't belong out in public, much less in the military. This is not about male/female relations; it is about being adult and professional. If a guy can't work with a woman in a military situation, there is a very good chance that the same guy would have problems in a civilian population.

 

[schellie69]

Quote:
Don't forget a mama wolf, I have 4 kids my youngest is 15 and I have 2 grand daughters, I am just as good as shot as my DH would I shoot to protect my family in a heart beat. About women in WWII woman who where spies slept with enemy officers to find out secrets, they did this for their country. Women also ran under ground stations for people escaping. I think if a woman wants and can do any job then she has as much right as a man to that job. I think if you look at America during WWII the woman did all the jobs that men did but where not here to do we kept this country running while the men fought in the war. When the men came home women were supposed to just go back to cooking cleaning and having babies.

 

[chickened]

The sleeptalk thing defined; During WW2 ATTRACTIVE women were put in the resistance posing as French farm girls to sleep with German officers to collect information. So yes I suppose one could say they were professional women. Attractive women do not get the dirty jobs in the military they for the most part are secretaries and such as most are petite that is just a fact unless of course they choose otherwise. I do remember a female freind that was in the first gulf war told me her sargeant said "you hit like a boy you get beat up like a boy".
Quote:
Ohhhhh Pleeeeeeeease!

Like a woman has to do 'research' to understand the risk. Want some numbers? 1 out of 4 women in the USA is the victim of this kind of violence at some point in her lifetime. This violence does not have anything to do with a persons looks, it's about power. Thus men are also susceptible to this. Look at our prisons. However.. I doubt it is ever admitted to in a male post-pow situation since military type fellows have such a stigma about the whole thing.
PLUS.. the numbers are much improved for women hauling weapons about

Quote:
What on EARTH? You can't possibly be insinuating that your comment has anything to do with professional women in our military?

 

[chickened]

I would like to see any woman work setting chokers on a highlead logging operation if they could handle that job I would be impressed. If anyone does not know what that is watch Axmen. I have been in that industry for 30 years and have never seen or heard of a woman do it, some have tried.

 

[KristyHall]

mom'sfolly :

I just want to repeat what I said earlier, since it keeps coming up. Any man who can't handle himself around women doesn't belong out in public, much less in the military. This is not about male/female relations; it is about being adult and professional. If a guy can't work with a woman in a military situation, there is a very good chance that the same guy would have problems in a civilian population.

One of the major issues with sexual assault and harassment in the US military is its tolerance at the command levels. The history of sexual assaults and harassment at the academies, where officers are trained, and its handling by the higher command have trained the officers, both male and female, that sexual assault and harassment are to be tolerated, and are not a command priority. So, after a series of scandals, where no one in charge was ever punished, we have a military culture where officers know that women are not to be protected from their male comrades. The Secretary of the Air Force actually asked that no former commanders of the Air Force Academy be reprimanded. The reporting of sexual assault and harassment in the military is more often punitive to the reporter, rather than the reportee. This is not a failure of women in the military; it is a failure of command that tolerates a culture of abuse.

Again, I think universal conscription would help this situation. If everyone's sons and daughters were in this pressure cooker, there would be changes. There would be changes in the way the military is deployed, the way the military is paid, the way the equipment is made and issued and the way the whole military is run. If everyone's kids, rich and poor, were in the military; no family would have to buy body armor for their children, no family would have to alter clothing so it didn't interfere with the other equipment needed, no military family would be on food stamps, no big budget planes would get priority over equipping troops on the ground. And best of all, the military wouldn't be sent willy nilly to any presidents favorite conflict.

very well said​