First Tennessee Female Combat Engineer Goes AWOL

Army looking to make service more amenable to womens...

Army Looks to Recruit More Women, Adapt Physical Testing
Feb 13, 2016 | Beginning this summer, a visit to a local Army recruiting office will include a new set of gymnastic tests to help determine what military jobs a recruit is physically capable of performing.
Prospective soldiers will be asked to run, jump, lift a weight and throw a heavy ball -- all to help the Army figure out if the recruit can handle a job with high physical demands or should be directed to a more sedentary assignment. The new tests come as the Pentagon is opening all combat posts to women, a process that involves setting physical standards for every job that both men and women will have to meet. As part of the effort, the Army will increase the number of female recruiters to better target women. The goal will be to add 1 percent each year for the next three years in order to get at least one woman at each of the Army's more than 780 larger recruiting centers across the country. Right now, only about 750 of the 8,800 Army and Army Reserve recruiters are women.

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Army recruits take the oath of enlistment. More female recruits and a new set of gymnastic tests are two measures the Army is taking to bring in more women soldiers.​

The head of US Army Recruiting Command, Maj. Gen. Jeff Snow, told The Associated Press that adding more women as recruiters will give female recruits someone more credible to talk to about options for women in the military and how an Army career could affect married or family life. But he said that getting that increase will be tough because other commands across the Army are also competing to get more women in their units. As women move into combat roles, Army commanders want to have women in leadership positions across the force to serve as mentors and role models. In particular, Army leaders want more women as drill sergeants and platoon sergeants as recruits go through basic and advanced training.

Defense Secretary Ash Carter in December ordered the military services to allow women to compete for all combat jobs. But he and other military leaders have been adamant that the physical standards for the jobs will not be lowered in order to allow more women to qualify. Brig. Gen. Donna Martin, deputy commander of Army Recruiting Command, said that despite the added recruiting efforts, there may not be a flood of women rushing to compete for combat jobs. But she said the Army may see an eventual increase in women enlistments as they see the array of options. "I think it's all about awareness -- about a choice," Martin said. "It's not forcing any women to go into combat arms. It's about making them aware that this is a choice. "It's the whole question of can you have it all," said Martin, who has been in the Army for 29 years, has been married for 21 years, and has a 19-year-old son. "You can have as much as you want."

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Pelosi Wants to Discuss Requiring All Young Women to Register for Draft
February 11, 2016 – House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) told CNSNews.com at her press briefing on Thursday that requiring young women to register for the draft is “an issue that we should discuss."
At the U.S. Capitol on Thursday, CNSNews.com asked Pelosi, “The commandant of the Marine Corps and chief of staff of the Army testified in the Senate Armed Services Committee last week that young women should be required to register for the draft. Do you support requiring all young women to register for the draft?

Pelosi said, “I think it’s an issue that we should discuss. I think we should discuss it. Every time we use the word draft people get a misunderstanding about what you’re talking about but I have supported women in every role in the military including Commander in Chief.” “I think it’s an important issue for us to discuss,” she said. “It is, the public opinion on it is really I think thirsty for more information as to what that would mean.”

Earlier this month, Gen. Robert Neller, the Commandant of the Marine Corps, told the Senate Armed Services Committee, "t’s my personal view that based on this lifting of restrictions for assignment to unit MOS, that every American who’s physically qualified should register for the draft.”

Also, Army Chief of Staff Gen. Mark Milley testified, "I think that all eligible and qualified men and women should register for the draft." As CNSNews.com previously reported, Defense Secretary Ash Carter announced in December that all U.S. military positions--including combat positions--will be open to women. When asked if that means women must register for Selective Service like men are required to do, Carter said, “It may.”

Pelosi Wants to Discuss Requiring All Young Women to Register for Draft

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Cruz, Rubio Back Bill to Keep Obama From Opening Draft to Women
Feb 12, 2016 | WASHINGTON -- Ted Cruz and Marco Rubio are supporting legislation that could put the brakes on women in the military draft, adding momentum to growing opposition on Capitol Hill.
The Republican presidential candidates confirmed Thursday that they will back Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah, and his upcoming bill barring the White House or the courts from changing the law, which requires only men to register with Selective Service in case they need to be drafted into combat. A bipartisan bill was introduced in the House on Thursday that would completely abolish the draft.

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Marine Sgts. Emma A. Bringas, left, and Amaya Marin Garnica take cover while maneuvering to conduct an enemy counterattack during an exercise at Marine Corps Air Ground Combat Center Twentynine Palms, Calif.​

The sudden groundswell of opposition comes after military brass and Sen. John McCain, R-Arizona, came out in favor of drafting women. The question of fairness in the all-male draft is pressing because the Pentagon decided in December to open all positions -- from boot camp to special operations -- to female troops. "We simply can't trust this president or the courts to honor the law and protect our daughters," Lee said in a statement released to Stars and Stripes. "We need new legislation making clear that if the United States is going to change this policy, Congress must be the one to do it."

Staff for Sen. Cruz, of Texas, confirmed he will be a co-sponsor of the bill. Sen. Rubio, of Florida, supports keeping any decision on the future of the draft in lawmakers' hands. "Sen. Rubio agrees with Sen. Lee that Congress needs to determine the future of the Selective Service system and is working on legislation to codify that role and plans to support it‎," Rubio spokesman Alex Burgos wrote in an email to Stars and Stripes. The Supreme Court upheld the all-male draft in 1981, finding that women could be excluded because they would not be called to fill critical combat positions during a war. But since the Pentagon began full integration of women, that rationale might no longer be valid. Marine Commandant Gen. Robert Neller and Army Chief of Staff Gen. Mark Milley testified to the Senate this month that they believe the exemption should be ended.

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http://www.local8now.com/content/news/First-woman-in-Tennessee-to-enlist-as-combat-engineer-goes-AWOL-367601961.html

"Women can do anything they set their mind to just as well as men I don't really see any difference at all."


Good job, dumbass. How's that equality thing working out for ya?
Hey dumb-ass, when I was in the Army several guys went AWOL also..More than female soldiers....They would also beat their arms on a tank to break their arms to get out of duty...
 
Uncle Ferd would like to snuggle with dis snow bunny...

Female Soldier Completes NATO Winter Training Course
Feb 16, 2016 — U.S. Army Capt. Kate Alfin, a UH-60 Black Hawk helicopter pilot with the 12th Combat Aviation Brigade based at Ansbach, Germany, graduated from the Allied Winter Course at the Norwegian School of Winter Warfare here, Jan. 28.
Alfin is the first female soldier from an allied NATO military to complete the course, which took place Jan. 4-30 at the Terningmoen infantry training camp 140 kilometers northeast of Oslo, Norway.

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U.S. Army Capt. Kate Alfin, a UH-60 Black Hawk helicopter pilot, practices Nordic cross-country skiing under a full combat load at the Allied Winter Course at the Norwegian School of Winter Warfare in Elverum, Norway.​

Cold Weather Training Course

The Allied Winter Course is 26 days long and provides students with the basic knowledge and practical experience to operate in cold weather environments, to include survival, mobility and leadership under winter conditions. "At the Norwegian School for Winter Warfare we run courses for officers and noncommissioned officers," said Norwegian Army Capt. Hans Olaf Kalsveen, course officer. "We also have avalanche warning courses and sere courses in the autumn available to all our NATO allies." "The course was extremely challenging," Alfin said. "I learned a lot of important techniques for winter operations that I will take back to my unit and apply toward future training and exercises across Europe."

The Allied Winter Course is held annually at the Norwegian School of Winter Warfare.

Female Soldier Completes NATO Winter Training Course | Military.com

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Combat Jobs for Women Stir Questions about the Draft
Feb 16, 2016 | WASHINGTON -- The decision by the Pentagon to allow women to serve in all combat jobs has put new focus on an often-forgotten U.S. institution: the Selective Service.
While America has not had a military draft since 1973, all men must register with the Selective Service within 30 days of turning 18. U.S. leaders repeatedly insist that the all-volunteer force is working and the nation is not returning to the draft. But there are increasing rumblings about whether women should now be required to register if they can indeed serve in all areas of the military. Some questions and answers about the Selective Service and any moves toward requiring women to register:

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Army 1st Lt. Shaye Haver, center, and Capt. Kristen Griest, right, pose for photos with other female West Point alumni after an Army Ranger school graduation ceremony at Fort Benning, Ga.​

Q: Is the Selective Service part of the Defense Department?

A: No. It is an independent agency that exists to ensure that the nation would be able to force men into military service in a fair and equitable way if directed by the president and Congress in a national crisis.

Q: Are women subject to the draft?

A: No. Under the current law, women can volunteer to serve in the U.S. military, but they are not required to register and they would not be subject to any draft.

Q: Has the law been challenged?

A: Yes. In 1981, the Supreme Court heard a case brought by several men challenging the law for gender discrimination. The court upheld the constitutionality of the male-only draft registration law. The court accepted Congress' decision to exclude women from registration because they were excluded from direct combat by statute and by military policy.

Q: Who would decide if women need to register?
 
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When Granny was inna Army, she wanted to get a bulldog tattooed on her butt but the base commander wouldn't approve it - said her butt was fine just the way it was...

Maine Congresswoman: Marine Tattoo Policy Unfair to Women
Feb 23, 2016 -- A congresswoman from Maine says the U.S. Marine Corps should change tattoo rules she says unintentionally discriminate against female recruits.
Democratic U.S. Rep. Chellie Pingree wants the rule changed so the Marine Corps can accept 20-year-old Kate Pimental. The Kennebunk woman has a tattoo just below her collarbone.

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Pingree says if a man had a tattoo in the same place, the Marines would accept him because he could cover it with a Marine-issued crew T-shirt. But the only T-shirt available to women in the Marines is a V-neck, which would expose the tattoo.

Pingree on Friday sent a letter to Marine Corps Commandant Robert Neller asking for a waiver and a policy review. Pimental's tattoo reads, "Let your smile change the world but never let the world change you."

Maine Congresswoman: Marine Tattoo Policy Unfair to Women | Military.com
 
Female Sailor Recognized for Bravery During Iranian Detention...
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Female Sailor Recognized for Bravery During Iranian Detention Incident
Aug 10, 2016 | In the fallout from an embarrassing international incident in which two Navy riverine boats strayed into Iranian waters during a transit to Bahrain and were briefly captured, some half-dozen sailors have faced punishments, but one was recognized with a prestigious award for quick actions in the face of danger, Military.com has learned.
A Navy petty officer second class, the only female sailor among the 10 who were detained, received the Navy Commendation Medal on Aug. 3 in recognition of her efforts to summon help under the noses of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard members who captured the crews. The number two gunner aboard the second riverine boat, she managed to activate an emergency position-indicating radio beacon, used to signal distress at sea, while in a position of surrender and at gunpoint. A Navy spokesman, Lt. Loren Terry, said the sailor had asked not to be identified and had declined interviews. Service commendation medals are presented for heroic service or meritorious achievement.

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In a recommendation within the riverine command investigation released to reporters at the end of June, investigating officers found the riverine gunner should be recognized for "her extraordinary courage in activating an emergency beacon while kneeling, bound, and guarded at Iranian gunpoint, at risk to her own safety." While one of the guards ultimately noticed the beacon and turned it off, help was not far off. The Coast Guard Cutter Monomoy, which had been monitoring the journey of the riverine boats, notified Task Force 56.7, the parent unit in Bahrain, when the boats appeared to enter Iranian waters. The investigation found the crews of the Monomoy and the guided-missile cruiser USS Anzio should also receive recognition for their efforts to track the captured boat crews and provide assistance for their safe return.

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None of the riverine crew members involved in the incident has spoken publicly about the experience. They were returned to U.S. custody following a 15-hour period of detention, during which their captors filmed them and took photographs later used for propaganda purposes by the Iranian media. Photos indicate the female gunner was made to wear a headscarf while detained. A military source with knowledge of planning said the Navy's administrative personnel actions regarding the Jan. 12 riverine incident were nearing completion. In all, three officers were removed from their posts and four officers were sent to admiral's mast, with two receiving letters of reprimand for disobeying a superior officer and dereliction of duty, according to a statement this week from Navy Expeditionary Combat Command and first reported by Navy Times.

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One of the officers was found not guilty of dereliction of duty, and a fourth officer still awaits completion of "accountability actions." Two enlisted sailors received letters of reprimand for dereliction of duty, according to the statement. Chief of Naval Operations Adm. John Richardson said in June the Navy plans to implement better predeployment training and training on rules of engagement for sailors, as well as enhanced equipment checks and unit oversight.

Female Sailor Recognized for Bravery During Iranian Detention Incident | Military.com

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First Female Marine Officer Attempting Infantry Stymied on Final Try
Aug 12, 2016 | The first female Marine to try to become an infantry officer has been reclassified to a different military occupational specialty after failing her second attempt at the grueling Infantry Officer's Course, Military.com has learned.
The officer, who has not been publicly identified, began the 84-day course July 6 and was dropped July 18 after failing to complete two conditioning hikes, Capt. Joshua Pena said. "IOC students may not fall out of more than one hike during a course," Pena said. In all, 34 of the 97 officers who began the course have been dropped. Nine, including the female officer, were recommended for MOS redesignation, meaning they will be placed in a non-infantry job within the Marine Corps.

The female officer first attempted the course in April, just months after Defense Secretary Ashton Carter declared all previously closed ground combat jobs open to women and ordered the services to design plans for integration. She was dropped on the 11th day of that attempt, after failing to complete a second hike. Notably, the officer passed the notoriously challenging first day's combat endurance test both times she attempted the course.

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While 29 female officers had attempted the IOC on a test basis in a three-year period before the integration mandate was handed down, none would have had the chance to enter infantry jobs upon passing the course. And because all but one of the female officers were volunteers attempting the course for personal improvement and Marine Corps research purposes, they were not guaranteed a second shot at the course the way male officers were. (The other female Marine was attempting to become a ground intelligence officer, a job that opened before other infantry jobs.) For that reason, female officers now have their fairest shot at passing the course as the Corps looks to integrate previously male-only units.

But it remains to be seen how many women will attempt to enter these formerly closed positions. Pena said there are now no female officers enrolled or slated to participate in future IOC classes. The current class will conclude Sept. 20. In April, Navy Secretary Ray Mabus said the Marine Corps would not change its physical standards in an attempt to help its first female infantry officers enter the fleet. "One of the questions I got at IOC was, 'OK, five years from now, no woman had made it through IOC. What happens?' " Mabus said at Camp Pendleton on April 12. "My response was, 'No woman made it through IOC. Standards aren't going to change.' "

First Female Marine Officer Attempting Infantry Stymied on Final Try | Military.com
 
All Granny did when she was a Warrant Officer is serve warrants...

Mississippi's 1st Female Apache Pilot Fulfills Dream
Nov 18, 2016 — When Jessi McCormick was a child, if you would have told her what she would be doing in 2016, she would have never believed it. "I never, ever as a kid would have ever thought I'd be an Apache pilot," she said. "It's the greatest feeling."
The Boeing AH-64 Apache is the most advanced multi-role combat helicopter for the U.S. Army and a growing number of international defense forces. The 31-year-old Olive Branch resident, now a warrant officer, is the first female Apache helicopter pilot in the Mississippi National Guard. She started out as a Marine, joining in 2003 as a military police officer. After four years and two deployments, she left the Marines, but joined the National Guard a year later.

McCormick was an MP with the Clinton unit for a while, deploying again in 2009-2010, and moved to the public affairs unit out of Jackson. While she was deployed to Afghanistan in 2013, the urge to fly hit her. "When I was in Afghanistan, I was flying around a lot, and one day I was flying in a Blackhawk looking out the side of it and I thought, 'I kinda want to fly,'" she said. "That was one of those things I hadn't tried and I figured it would keep me interested. So I decided to inquire about the path to flight school."

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Warrant Officer Jessica McCormick is the first female Mississippi Army National Guard Apache pilot​

There were a lot of steps to get there, McCormick found out, including corrective eye surgery. There was also an interview with a flight board, made up of the pilots she would be flying with were she to pass. "They do an interview to see what kind of person you are," she said. "For the National Guard, since we're all local, we're all family, they want to make sure you're good for the unit."

While there's a lot of emphasis put on McCormick's benchmark as the first female Apache pilot, she said her gender didn't even cross her mind as a possible obstacle. Being a woman in a man's profession was nothing new to her. "I had heard they'd never had a female in this unit, but coming from the Marine Corps and doing jobs there weren't a lot of females in, I knew they wouldn't discriminate against me because they'd never had one," she said. "They'd just never had anyone want to be here and fight to be here. I just happened to be the first one."

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All Granny did when she was a Warrant Officer is serve warrants...

Mississippi's 1st Female Apache Pilot Fulfills Dream
Nov 18, 2016 — When Jessi McCormick was a child, if you would have told her what she would be doing in 2016, she would have never believed it. "I never, ever as a kid would have ever thought I'd be an Apache pilot," she said. "It's the greatest feeling."
The Boeing AH-64 Apache is the most advanced multi-role combat helicopter for the U.S. Army and a growing number of international defense forces. The 31-year-old Olive Branch resident, now a warrant officer, is the first female Apache helicopter pilot in the Mississippi National Guard. She started out as a Marine, joining in 2003 as a military police officer. After four years and two deployments, she left the Marines, but joined the National Guard a year later.

McCormick was an MP with the Clinton unit for a while, deploying again in 2009-2010, and moved to the public affairs unit out of Jackson. While she was deployed to Afghanistan in 2013, the urge to fly hit her. "When I was in Afghanistan, I was flying around a lot, and one day I was flying in a Blackhawk looking out the side of it and I thought, 'I kinda want to fly,'" she said. "That was one of those things I hadn't tried and I figured it would keep me interested. So I decided to inquire about the path to flight school."

jessica-mccormick-ts600.jpg

Warrant Officer Jessica McCormick is the first female Mississippi Army National Guard Apache pilot​

There were a lot of steps to get there, McCormick found out, including corrective eye surgery. There was also an interview with a flight board, made up of the pilots she would be flying with were she to pass. "They do an interview to see what kind of person you are," she said. "For the National Guard, since we're all local, we're all family, they want to make sure you're good for the unit."

While there's a lot of emphasis put on McCormick's benchmark as the first female Apache pilot, she said her gender didn't even cross her mind as a possible obstacle. Being a woman in a man's profession was nothing new to her. "I had heard they'd never had a female in this unit, but coming from the Marine Corps and doing jobs there weren't a lot of females in, I knew they wouldn't discriminate against me because they'd never had one," she said. "They'd just never had anyone want to be here and fight to be here. I just happened to be the first one."

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Warrants for chow, some of the cooks were so bad, troops were forced to eat their slop..
 

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