Women and ‘Appropriate’ Combat Standards

[Wehrwolfen]

Women and ‘Appropriate’ Combat Standards​

January 26, 2013

The makeover is already underway. The armed services are “now developing gender-neutral standards for all of their jobs,” reports the New York Times, replacing the less demanding physical standards for women that each branch has been using heretofore (oh, you mean you didn’t know about those lowered standards?) with a single standard for men and women. The Pentagon “has vowed” that the new gender-neutral standard will not be crafted in order to make it easier for women to join combat units. If you believe that, you probably also believe that colleges hire professors on a race- and gender-blind basis.

Here’s how you create a single gender-neutral standard: You universally apply the existing one that was developed based on a sole criterion — combat readiness. What was wrong with the standard that men had to meet? Nothing, other than the fact that an insufficient number of women can pass it.

Apart from the obvious problems of sexual attraction and rivalries while on a fast-moving mission, it is absurd to think that putting women into a group of men doesn’t radically change the dynamics of that group We obsessively celebrate “the sisterhood.” Strong women together create a special vibe and special power, we are told; thus the ongoing existence of all-female schools and clubs at a time when any remaining all-male organizations are in the crosshairs. The concept of male bonding, however, once glorified in epics and drama, is now viewed as simply exclusionary, of no value to society whatsoever.

Even before the integration order, other gender-sensitive changes are already underway.



[Excerpt]

Read more:
Women and ?Appropriate? Combat Standards - By Heather Mac Donald - The Corner - National Review Online

 

[waltky]

Don't worry `bout it - we'll sort it out later...

Joint Chiefs Chairman: ‘We Can Figure Out Privacy’ for Young Ladies in Frontline Combat, Including in Navy SEALS and Delta Force
January 26, 2013 - Gen. Martin Dempsey, President Obama’s chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said on Thursday that the U.S. military could figure out ways to preserve the privacy of young ladies serving in frontline combat units, including special forces combat units such as the Navy Seals and the U.S. Army’s Delta Force.

At the Pentagon press briefing on Thursday at which Dempsey and Defense Secretary Leon Panetta signed a directive lifting the military’s ban on putting women in frontline ground combat units, a reporter asked Dempsey: “What about privacy?” “We can figure out privacy. We've figured out privacy right from the start,” said Dempsey. “By the way, Desert Shield, or Desert Storm/Desert Shield, 1991, we did live in that kind of environment where we were essentially somewhat nomadic in the deserts of Saudi Arabia and eventually Iraq. And we figured out privacy. We can figure out privacy.”

Secretary Panetta then pointed out: “The fact is that women are now in submarines. And that was one of the concerns at the time. But the fact is that they have re-jiggered the submarines to be able to adapt to that kind of situation. Women are fighter pilots now. So Air Force, Navy have moved in that direction. The Marines and the Army, obviously, are going to move in the same direction. They're going to be, you know, there will have to be some adjustments in some situations. But, again, based on the experience that we already have, I think we can meet those challenges. A short while later, a reporter asked Gen. Dempsey: “What is your personal opinion as to whether women may be able to serve in special operations forces, especially those such as Navy SEALs or Delta Force?”

Gen. Dempsey indicated he believed that women would be able to meet the standards to serve in the SEALs and Delta Force and that privacy would not be an issue there. “Yeah, when you look back at what I've said since I was the chief staff of the Army, what General Odierno has said, General Amos has said, I think we all believe that there will be women who can meet those standards,” said Gen. Dempsey about the SEALs and Delta Force.

“The other part of the equation, of course, is in order to account for their safety and their success in those kinds of units, we got to have enough of them so that they have mentors and leaders above them,” said Gen. Dempsey. “You know, you wouldn't want to take one woman who can meet a standard and put her in a particular unit. You know, the issue there wouldn't be privacy. It would be, you know, where's her ability to have upward mobility and compete for command if she's one of one? So we have to, we do have to work both the standards and the kind of the critical mass, if you will, to make this work. But that's what, that's our commitment.”

Source

See also:

Combat roles for women will strengthen the military, leaders say
January 25, 2013 WASHINGTON – As some soldiers and Marines question whether women can meet gender-neutral physical standards and perform alongside men in combat roles, service leaders stress that women have already proven themselves on the battlefield and say removing the combat exclusion policy will strengthen, not weaken, the military. “This is a great opportunity to make our Army better,” said Lt. Gen. Howard Bromberg, the Army’s deputy chief of staff.

Last year, the Army opened six military occupational specialties to women and allowed women to be assigned to battalion-level units in nine brigade combat teams. So far, 113 women have been selected for the new specialties and will begin training this year. Bromberg and Gen. Robert Cone, commander of the Army’s Training and Doctrine Command, said they have heard positive feedback from male and female soldiers about the changes. “The concern I get when I talk to soldiers is really about lowering standards, saying we have people on our team who can’t carry their share of the weight,” Cone said, adding that he believes the Army can overcome those concerns with rigorous but fair gender-neutral standards. “This is a values-based organization that is in support of the American people, so the idea that someone says, ‘I don’t want them here, I don’t like them,’ is not going to carry a lot of weight as we look at reasons,” Cone said.

Sergeant Major of the Marine Corps Michael Barrett is also reassuring Marines that the Corps will not lower its standards, in a video posted on the Marine Corps’ YouTube page. Rescinding the combat exclusion policy “will not impair readiness, degrade combat effectiveness or cohesion,” Barrett said. “You are responsible for looking out for the Marine on your left and on your right, regardless of gender.” The Marine Corps has the lowest percentage of women of the armed forces – about 13,800 women, or about 7 percent. Last year, the service opened thousands of new assignments to women, and began allowing women to volunteer to attend its challenging Infantry Officer Course in order to gather data about their performance. The first two women to enter the course both washed out. So far, two more women have volunteered for the 10-week course that begins in March.

The Navy also has made moves toward including more women in roles that were previously closed to them, including jobs on submarines. Three years ago, the Navy announced it would allow women to serve on guided-missile attack and ballistic missile submarines, and now women will be able to serve on Virginia class, or fast-attack, submarines, according to Secretary of the Navy Ray Mabus. Rear Admiral Anthony Kurta, director of military personnel, plans and policy, said the Navy sees the removal of the combat exclusion policy of a continuation of the service’s efforts over the last 20 years to integrate women into more roles. About 88 percent of the Navy’s positions are open to both genders, Kurta said. The closed positions include about 19,000 on various classes of ships and submarines, 5,000 that are attached to Marine Corps ground combat units, 3,000 in special operations, 400 in the coastal riverine force and about 1,000 officer positions on nuclear submarines. “We know that our sailors today understand and see their counterparts as equal members of the team because they’ve been serving side by side just about everywhere in the Navy,” Kurta said.

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[gallantwarrior]

I was a 1SG in the Army. I can tell you that men and women are NOT created equal. Each has their strengths and their weaknesses. I will tell you this, if men were required to perform the same as women, i.e. 120 lb individual carrying 80 lbs of equipment, men would drop like frigging flies. (A 220 lb guy would have to carry about 150 lbs.) That does not take into account the differences in lean body mass of men vs. women. I have carried more than 150 lbs (moose quarter) and can attest to the fact that it is tough.
Personally, if women want to be in combat, they should be assigned to all-women combat units. Equal but separate is not unreasonable. They would have the same opportunity to die as the guys. But hey, women are just gay guys with tits, right?

 

[theDoctorisIn]

I can't bring myself to care about this very much.

It's no skin off my back whether or not women get the right to be shot at in battle.

 

[gallantwarrior]

It's one way of reducing unemployment stats.

 

[Wehrwolfen]

Wow just imagine GI Jane is now expected to be in a foxhole near you. She'll fight along side you, suffer in the mud and grime, shower with you when the opportunity is offered, and utilize the same slit trench to relieve herself as you. Don't forget that 75lb rucksack that has to be carried for miles. In the Stan that's 2 miles above sea level. There you go Jane do t.

 

[waltky]

Women not applying for Navy Seals or Green Berets...

A Year In, No Female SEAL Applicants, Few for SpecOps
Feb 15, 2017 | It has been more than 12 months since training pipelines for previously closed elite special operator jobs opened to women.

A little more than 12 months after training pipelines for previously closed elite special operator jobs opened to women, the U.S. military has yet to see its first female Navy SEAL or Green Beret. The component commanders for each of the service special operations commands say they're ready to integrate female operators into their units, but it's not yet clear when they'll have the opportunity to do so. The Navy is closely monitoring the interest of female applicants. In fact, Naval Special Warfare Command is eyeing one Reserve Officer Training Corps member who's interested in the SEALs, and another woman who has yet to enter the service but has expressed interest in becoming a special warfare combatant craft crewman, a community even smaller than the SEALs with a training pipeline nearly as rigorous.

But it will likely be years until the Navy has a woman in one of these elite units. Rear Adm. Tim Szymanski, head of Naval Special Warfare Command, which includes the elite SEALs and other Navy special operations units, noted that the enlisted training pipeline for SEALs is two-and-a-half years from start to end, meaning a female applicant who began the process now wouldn't join a team until nearly 2020. And that assumes that she makes it through the infamously grueling Basic Underwater Demolition/SEAL training. "Just last week, we secured Hell Week ... [we started with] 165 folks. We finished with 29. It's a tough pipeline and that is not uncommon," Szymanski told an audience at the National Defense Industrial Association's Special Operations/Low Intensity Conflict conference near Washington, D.C., on Tuesday. "Five classes a year, and that's what you have, demographically."

Soldiers negotiate obstacles during the Cultural Support Assessment and Selection program.​

While the Army Rangers famously had three female officers earn their tabs in 2015 in a special program ahead of the December 2015 Defense Department mandate that actually gave women the right to serve in the Rangers, the elite regiment remains male-only, at least for now. To date, one female officer in a support military occupational specialty has completed the training process and will likely join the unit by the end of March, said Lt. Gen. Kenneth Tovo, commander of Army Special Operations Command. In other previously closed Army special operations elements, he said, two enlisted women have attempted special operations assessment and selection but haven't made it through. One, who was dropped due to injury and not to failure to meet standards, is likely to reattempt the process, Tovo said.

Two female officers are also expected to begin assessment and selection in the "near future," he said. "So we're going slow," Tovo said. "The day we got the word that SF and rangers were available to women, our recruiting battalion that actually works for recruit command sent an email to every eligible woman, notifying them of the opportunity and soliciting their volunteerism. We are working things across the force through special ops recruiting battalion to talk to women and get them interested." Marine Corps Forces Special Operations Command was the first service to report publicly that it had women in its training pipeline. But in a year, MARSOC has had just three applicants, and none who made it through the first phase of assessment and selection, commander Maj. Gen. Carl Mundy III said at the conference. Currently, he added, there are no women in training, and none on deck to enter the pipeline.

MORE

 

[waltky]

Born in a Siberian prison. Orphaned at age 2. Adopted by Americans at age 4...

Female Marine Trailblazer Graduates From Infantry School
March 23, 2017 — Marine Pfc. Maria Daume's life story reads as if she came straight from the pages of a superhero comic.

Born in a Siberian prison. Orphaned at age 2. Adopted by Americans at age 4 and raised in New York. And now, she's just done what many naysayers believed a woman would never do: She's the first female Marine to join the infantry through the traditional entry-level training process, a process made available to women just a half-year earlier. “I like to prove people wrong,” Daume told VOA in her first interview since completing her training at the Marine Corps School of Infantry at Camp Lejuene, North Carolina. “No matter what your belief is, you can't argue that I didn't do it, because I did.”

Top of the pack

Not only did she graduate from the School of Infantry on Thursday, she completed what Infantry Marines argue is one of the most difficult military operational specialties the school has to offer, at a time when instructors say the standards have become “even harder.” As a Mortar Marine, she and her peers represent the most rapid response to indirect fire for an infantry unit. And to pass the training required to become one, she and her peers scaled a 142-cm-high (56 inches) wall in full gear within 30 seconds, lifted a 36-kg (about 80 pounds) MK19 heavy machine gun above their heads, evacuated a 97-kg (214 pounds) casualty within 54 seconds while wearing a fighting load, and passed various knowledge skill tests and gun drills.

Maria Daume watches her mother, Maureen Daume, become emotional after Maria's graduation from the Marine Corps School of Infantry, March 23, 2017, in Camp Lejeune, N.C.​

She also had to hike 20 km (over 12 miles) while carrying a 60 mm mortar system with four simulated rounds.That cold night was the moment she knew that she had made the cut to be a Mortar Marine. “I went to sleep that night and I'm lying in my rack, and I'm just like, ‘I did the 20k,' " she said, smiling. “It felt good.” Daume didn't just pass the training. She often crushed it, according to one of her trainers. “She was right at the top of the pack,” Marine Sergeant Matthew Schneider, a mortar instructor at the school, told VOA. Tears of joy welled up in Daume's mother's eyes as people gathered around to congratulate her on graduating from the School of Infantry. A retired Marine walked up to Daume Thursday and asked if he could just shake her hand. “You know, you're part of history, you know that, right? And that's amazing,” he told her.

History made, hardship ahead

However, not everyone is as positive about military females and their abilities. Daume's major milestone for the Marine Corps comes amid a massive photo scandal inside the service branch. A private Facebook group called “Marines United,” which included tens of thousands of Marines and retired Marines, posted links to explicit images of military women, often with sexist, derogatory comments. Some even referenced rape and molestation.

The Naval Criminal Investigative Service has launched an investigation, which has reportedly spread to other military branches. Marine Corps Commandant Robert Neller told lawmakers last week that he was disgusted, shocked and angry when he heard about the scandal. He said some members appeared to “have forgotten that every member of our team is an equal and valued member of our Corps.”“How much more do the females of the Corps have to do to be accepted?” Neller said. “We all have to get rid of this perversion to our culture. Enough is enough.”

‘Just Daume’

 

[yiostheoy]

Herodotus talks about the Amazons of the Black Sea region, as does Homer in the Iliad. So the issue of females in combat roles goes back to ancient antiquity. Israeli, N.Vietmanese, and Russian women have served in their combat military over the century as well. So this issue is current as well.

I know the USMC personnel are somewhat upset about it, although the brass has been directed by the Pentagon to proceed with it.

When I was in, decades ago, there were female RTO's broadcasting over the tactical net and their voices were quite pleasant on a radio check in the middle of the night. That was an HQ job in a tent farm though, with vehicles and support facilities.

Carrying a heavy pack with the grunts is not an easy job however. And the periodic illness that females undergo interferes with combat readiness during deployment.

So it does not seem like a good idea to me. But the generals seem to have decided to go with this anyway. Probably a big political issue.

 

[playtime]

Herodotus talks about the Amazons of the Black Sea region, as does Homer in the Iliad. So the issue of females in combat roles goes back to ancient antiquity. Israeli, N.Vietmanese, and Russian women have served in their combat military over the century as well. So this issue is current as well.

I know the USMC personnel are somewhat upset about it, although the brass has been directed by the Pentagon to proceed with it.

When I was in, decades ago, there were female RTO's broadcasting over the tactical net and their voices were quite pleasant on a radio check in the middle of the night. That was an HQ job in a tent farm though, with vehicles and support facilities.

Carrying a heavy pack with the grunts is not an easy job however. And the periodic illness that females undergo interferes with combat readiness during deployment.

So it does not seem like a good idea to me. But the generals seem to have decided to go with this anyway. Probably a big political issue.

just an FYI... that 'periodic illness' as you described it... can be medically controlled to the point of virtual non existence. it is not an issue.

 

[Norman]

Read: The standards are lowered so much that a 5-year old could pass.

Why is it so difficult to feminists to accept that women are the weaker and unfortunately, dumber gender? They should stick with what they are good at rather than destroying the institutions vital to the country's existence. No one is asking men to produce 50% of the babies, either.

 

[playtime]

Read: The standards are lowered so much that a 5-year old could pass.

Why is it so difficult to feminists to accept that women are the weaker and unfortunately, dumber gender? They should stick with what they are good at rather than destroying the institutions vital to the country's existence. No one is asking 50% of men to produce 50% of the babies, either.

lol...

 

[waltky]

Uncle Ferd thinks dat lady drone pilot is kinda cute...

Female Marine Nears Halfway Point In Infantry Officers Course
11 Aug 2017 | A female Marine Corps lieutenant has completed roughly five weeks of the grueling 13-week Marine Corps infantry officers' course.

A Marine Corps lieutenant is well on her way to becoming the first woman to secure the military occupational specialty of infantry officer, having completed roughly five weeks of the grueling 13-week Marine Corps infantry officers' course. The officer, whose name has not been released, began the course in early July, said Maj. Amy Punzel, a spokeswoman for Marine Corps Training and Education Command. There are approximately eight weeks left in the course, Punzel said. To date, more than 30 female Marine officers have attempted IOC, most of them as volunteers on an experimental basis before the course formally opened to women in late 2014. Very few made it past the combat endurance test, a notoriously difficult ordeal at the start of the course with a high washout rate.

Cpl. Valerie Gavaldon helps Cpl. Roxanne Cox adjust the front site post on her M16A2 service rifle, during the live-fire portion of their training at Camp Korean Village, Iraq​

The most recent previous attempt was earlier this spring. In a brief with reporters this week, Assistant Commandant of the Marine Corps Gen. Glenn Walters mentioned the officer currently in the course, suggesting Marine Corps leadership is watching her achievements closely. "We have a female officer right now in Infantry Officers Course, and she's part of the way through, doing very well," he said. "These are successes that never seem to get out in the press."

Meanwhile, female enlisted infantrymen are already being assigned to operational infantry units in keeping with a Defense Department mandate that opened all previously closed fields to women at the start of 2016. Walters said this week that 278 women are now serving in jobs from which they'd previously been excluded, and another 40 female recruits had enlisted with contracts for these jobs. "Do we have hordes [of female Marines entering combat jobs]? No," Walters said. "But we have a pretty good nexus that are attempting to make these choices in life. And I'm very proud of them."

Female Marine Nears Halfway Point In Infantry Officers Course | Military.com

See also:

This Enlisted Woman Is the 1st to Fly Air Force Drones
7 Aug 2017 | The Air Force has its first female enlisted Global Hawk drone pilot.

The service said Tech. Sgt. Courtney completed its undergraduate remotely piloted aircraft training program known as the Enlisted Pilot Initial Class program, on Aug. 4. at Joint Base San Antonio-Randolph, Texas. She graduated alongside three other pilots. "Tech. Sgt. Courtney doesn't do this because she's a girl. She just gets up every day and puts her uniform on and comes to work and kicks butt because that's what she does," said Maj. Natalie, an instructor pilot with Air Education and Training Command's 558th Flying Training Squadron. "That's who she is. She's not a woman pilot; she's a pilot," Natalie said in a service release. The pilots and instructors' last names were withheld given the sensitivity of their mission, the release said.

Tech. Sgt. Courtney has her remotely piloted aircraft wings pinned on by sons David and Riley during an RPA Training Course graduation Aug. 4, 2017, at Joint Base San Antonio-Randolph​

The Air Force has expanded its RPA reach by training enlisted airmen on the RQ-4 Global Hawk. The service announced in 2015 it would begin training enlisted airmen to operate the unarmed high-altitude reconnaissance RQ-4 drone. It is currently training pilots through the EPIC program, as well as the Initial Flight Training program. "It's great to fill that role as the first female," Courtney said. "It's awesome and humbling, but our units don't care if you're male or female, they just want you to be a good pilot."

Courtney began her intelligence career as an imagery analyst and a sensor operator for the MQ-1 Predator. Sensor operators often sit "right seat" during RPA training and also in a live, ground station scenario. "I've been sitting in the right seat for a long time, so now I'm ready to sit in the left seat," Courtney said in the release. The first three EPIC students graduated from training May 5, 2017, the release said.

This Enlisted Woman Is the 1st to Fly Air Force Drones | Military.com

 

[waltky]

Marine womens workin' on dey's pull-ups...

Nearly 10,000 Female Marines Opt for Pull Ups in New Fitness Test
7 Sep 2017 | Just three years after the Marine Corps acknowledged fewer than half of female recruits in boot camp couldn't complete three pull ups, some 65 percent of all female Marines voluntarily performed pull ups in their annual physical fitness test this year, officials said.

Last year, the Corps rolled out the biggest overhaul to its PFT in 40 years, with major changes to upper-body strength requirements designed to make equal demands on female and male troops. The changes did away with the timed flexed-arm hang, which had been the standard option for female Marines, and gave all Marines the option to perform push-ups, or the more challenging pull ups. The test was, however, clearly weighted toward pull ups, with rules that made it impossible to get a perfect score without choosing that option. For women, depending on which of eight age groups they fall into, they can max their score with between three and 10 pull ups; male Marines can max out with between 18 and 23. According to new data provided to Military.com, 9,500 female Marines did pull ups in their most recent test, with Marines age in the four age groups up to age 40 averaging 7 to 8 reps.

In the three previous years, in which female Marines had an option to do pull ups instead of the flexed-arm hang but no performance incentive to do them, the percentage of female Marines choosing the option has risen steadily, said Brian McGuire, deputy force fitness branch head for the standards division of Marine Corps Training and Education Command. In 2013, just over 1,000 of all female Marines chose pull ups; in 2014, more than 1,700 chose the option; in 2015, more than 1,900 opted for pullups; and last year it was just under 2,000, or roughly 14 percent of all female Marines, McGuire said. The massive increase this year "is a marker for how this change has incentivized female Marines on the PFT," he said. "What's happening is that behaviors are changing and the benefits of upper body strength training are being realized, so this will enhance physical performance in combat-related demands as well as garrison duties."

Major Misty Posey demonstrates proper form for pull-ups to Marines at Marine Corps Base Quantico, Virginia​

McGuire said female Marines who opted for pull ups but found they could not complete the minimum single repetition, or men who could not complete the minimum average of five, were not given the chance to do pushups instead. "That was an early consideration, but as the policy is now, a Marine, male or female, declares on that event which event they want to execute," he said. In spite of that, McGuire said overall failure rates in a test that also incorporated more stringent running times for most age group were only marginally increased this year, less than 1 percent. In addition, he said, there was negligible impact on promotions as Marines rolled out the new standards.

But while the overall PFT failure rate for all Marines was 2.9 percent, some female age groups saw a significantly higher rate. According to data reviewed by Military.com, female Marines ages 21 to 25 had a 5.6 percent failure rate, the highest of any age group. Male Marines in the same age group had the second-highest failure rate, 4.9 percent. The updated upper body strength standards come shortly after all previously closed combat jobs opened to women throughout the Department of Defense in keeping with a Pentagon mandate from late 2015. The Marine Corps crafted job-specific fitness requirements for both genders that emphasized upper body strength and other key combat requirements. While a 2014 boot camp test found that half of female recruits were unable to do pull ups, the Marine Corps has since leaned in to efforts to develop the skill set, promoting a pull up training plan designed by a female officer and more recently developing a program to make professional fitness instructors available to the force.

Nearly 10,000 Female Marines Opt for Pull Ups in New Fitness Test | Military.com

 

[waltky]

1 Woman Still in Air Force SpecOps Training...

1 Woman Still in Air Force SpecOps Training: General
19 Sep 2017 | One woman is in training to become a battlefield Tactical Air Control Party specialist, Gen. Darryl Roberson said Tuesday.

One woman remains in training to become a battlefield Tactical Air Control Party (TACP) specialist, one of several special operations jobs in the Air Force, the head of Air Education and Training Command said Tuesday. "We have one female that's in the course right now," AETC commander Gen. Darryl Roberson said during a Facebook Live interview Tuesday with Military.com. Roberson didn't identify the airman, who joined the program Aug. 14 after Basic Military Training at Joint Base San Antonio-Lackland, Texas, according to Air Force Times.

Roberson said four other women have entered Air Force special operations training since then-Defense Secretary Ashton Carter reversed long-standing U.S. military traditions in late 2015, when he announced that all military occupational specialties would open to women. Those other trainees have left the program for various reasons, the general said. One woman who began SpecOps training in August dropped out that same month. One TACP retrainee ended up removing herself from training due to a leg injury last year; a combat rescue officer candidate passed the physical test but never completed the selection program application; and another non-prior service TACP candidate couldn't meet entry standards following BMT.

Roberson said he is hopeful more women will seek out some of the toughest jobs the service has to offer. "Come and join us!" he said during Tuesday's interview. "We can help you get through it." The general this spring introduced a new initiative, the Continuum of Learning, which aims to streamline training for airmen just beginning their Air Force careers. "We're working really hard for battlefield airmen. It's our hardest specialty area; it's our biggest attrition rate area," Roberson said. "We have to figure out better ways to train and get these airmen through the program. Several of the ways we're doing this is through the Continuum of Learning [initiative]." "We just instituted a brand-new course -- the Battlefield Airmen Prep Course, a preparatory course that once you finish BMT ... we're going to put you in this training program that is six weeks long. And it's going to prepare you to start the original course of initial entry," he said.

Airmen salute the American flag as it is lowered during the women’s retreat ceremony at Ellsworth Air Force Base, S.D.​

Following the prep course, airmen head to the indoctrination course, both of which are under the Battlefield Airman Training Group, also at JBSA-Lackland, Marilyn Holliday, a spokeswoman for AETC, said last month. "Both of these groups are part of the 37th Training Wing" at Lackland. Roberson said airmen must trust the process. "It's to get you ready better than we've ever done before, so when you start the [special operations training] course, your chances of success are much higher," he said. Lt. Gen. Marshall "Brad" Webb, head of Air Force Special Operations Command, said he is confident women will soon count themselves among the service's commandos. "It's going to happen, and we are ready in this command for it to happen," he said during a briefing with reporters. "It's going to be a huge non-event when it does happen."

Webb said he isn't sure when, exactly, or whether some special operations fields may see more female recruits than others. But he drew a comparison to the 1990s, when female pilots started flying service aircraft and many advanced into leadership positions. "It's maturing at a pace that you'd expect," he said. So far, six women have expressed interest in applying for special operations positions, including three for TAC-P, two for combat control officer and one for pararescue jumper (PJ), according to Command Master Sgt. Greg Smith.

Of those, two followed through, but one suffered a foot injury during initial training and another wasn't ultimately selected, Smith said. "For recruitment, it is open, it is there," he said. "Assessment, that is always our hardest part. We graduate less than 1 percent of males that go through, so you can expect probably 1 percent of females that go through will do that. We will get there. We are enthusiatsically waiting and wanting this to happen. "If you watch 'American Ninja Warrior' today, I'll tell you right now we need to go hang out there with recruitment because half of them could kick the crap out of half of us," he added, referring to the NBC series on obstacle course competitions. "Those are the ones we want in special tactics today."

1 Woman Still in Air Force SpecOps Training: General | Military.com

 

[waltky]

First Female Marine AAV Officer Set to Graduate Training Oct. 3...

First Female Marine AAV Officer Set to Graduate Training
29 Sep 2017 | Days after the Marine Corps welcomed its first female infantry officer, the service is set to mark another milestone.

A female officer enrolled in the Corps' assault amphibian officer course aboard Camp Pendleton, California is set to graduate Oct. 3, Capt. Joshua Pena, a spokesman for Marine Corps Training and Education Command, told Military.com. When she does, she'll be the first woman to earn the military occupational specialty of 1803, assault amphibian officer, qualified to be a platoon commander for Marine Corps amphibious assault vehicles, better known as AAVs or Amtracks.

Pena did not release the officer's rank or name ahead of her planned graduation. Like ground infantry jobs, jobs within armored vehicle specialties including AAVs and Light Armored Vehicles were closed to women until 2016, when all jobs across the military were declared open to both genders. To date, two female enlisted Marines have graduated AAV training, Pena said.

Marines with the 2nd Assault Amphibian Battalion await orders while conducting beach operations at Camp Lejeune. The Corps will graduate its first female assault amphibian officer on Oct. 3.​

The officer preparing to graduate has completed an intensive 12-week course including land water survival skills, vehicle maintenance and management, gunnery skills, amphibious operations, and offensive and defensive operations. The last four-and-and-a-half weeks of the course are spent at Marine Corps Air-Ground Combat Center 29 Palms, California and emphasize maneuver and operations in combat. "The purpose of this course is to provide the training necessary to serve as platoon commanders of an Assault Amphibian unit," a course description posted to the Marines' official website, which still contains exclusively masculine pronouns, reads. "The course ensures the AAV platoon commander is trained to prepare his crews and AAVs for the tactical employment of troops and equipment during ship-to-shore movement and subsequent operations ashore."

The soon-to-graduate assault amphibian officer will represent the latest in a series of firsts for the Marine Corps. On Monday, the Marine Corps announced the graduation of the service's first female infantry officer following her graduation from the service's infantry officer course. In April, the service welcomed its first tank officer, 2nd Lt. Lillian Polatchek. And two female artillery officers, 2nd Lts. Katherine Boy and Virginia Brodie, have already joined the fleet after completing required job training at Fort Sill, Oklahoma in June 2016.

First Female Marine AAV Officer Set to Graduate Training | Military.com

 

[waltky]

Army Takes a Steady, Cautious Approach to Women in Infantry...

Army Takes a Steady, Cautious Approach to Women in Infantry
27 Nov 2017 | The young Army infantry recruits lined up in full combat gear, guns at the ready. At the signal, a soldier in front kicked in the door and they burst into the room, swiveling to check around the walls for threats. "You're dead!" one would-be enemy yelled out from a dark corner, the voice slightly higher than the others echoing through the building.

It was 18-year-old Kirsten, training to become one of the Army's first women serving as infantry soldiers. "I want to be one of the females to prove to everybody else that just because you're a female, doesn't mean you can't do the same things as a male," she said, describing her brother — an infantry soldier — as motivation. "I also wanted to one-up him." Kirsten is among more than 80 women who have gone to recruit training at Fort Benning, Georgia, since a ban on them serving in combat jobs was lifted. Twenty-two have graduated. More than 30 were still in training late last month, working toward graduation. The recruits' last names are being withheld by The Associated Press because some women have faced bullying on social media. Somewhat smaller in stature than some of her male comrades, Kirsten gave up a Division I soccer scholarship to become an infantry soldier. In body armor, helmet and rucksack, she looks like just any other grunt.

A bunkmate, Gabriella, says the women push each other. "Today during our ruck march we were, like, directly across from each other and I would constantly look over at her," Gabriella said of Kirsten. "We kinda just kept looking at each other and we're, like, all right, we're both doing it, we're passing these guys and stuff. We definitely have goals to be better than the guys." The Army's introduction of women into the infantry has moved steadily but cautiously this year. As home to the previously all-male infantry and armor schools, Fort Benning had to make $35 million in renovations, including female dorm rooms, security cameras, and monitoring stations. Laundry was an early challenge. For years, the men washed clothes any time at night. Now, there are alarms and schedules. A "female" sign goes on the door when needed.

U.S. Army recruit Kirsten practices building clearing tactics with male recruits at Ft. Benning, Ga. She is one of a handful of women training to become infantry soldiers​

The women also balked at the early plan to put their living quarters on a separate floor from their squadmates. So base leaders now use one of four main sleeping bays to house the women. Cameras keep constant watch on the bay door and the stairs, and there's always a woman at the monitoring station. "There's nothing they dislike more than to be separated," said Col. Kelly Kendrick, the brigade commander. He said the women just want to "fit in and do the same as everybody else." This is the third class of recruits at Benning to include women. When they're not sleeping or washing clothes, they're completely integrated into their units. As sun peeked over the horizon on an October morning, dozens of infantry recruits spread across the Fort Benning field going through their morning PT drills. In the dark mist, it was difficult to tell one from another as they powered through situps and pushups.

On that day, only two of five battalions training were integrated. There still aren't enough women to spread across all the units. The shortcoming has created challenges. In the last class, only four women graduated, so filling rotations for guard duty all night was a problem. There weren't enough women to cover every hour, so others had to fill in. As women drop out, those remaining are moved to new companies to maintain balance within units, said Lt. Col Sam Edwards, commander of 1st Battalion, 19th Infantry regiment. More than 36 percent of Benning's women have left — about twice the rate of men. Injuries have sidelined other women who plan to restart the training. Army leaders are closely watching the integration to track injury and performance trends and ensure there are no problems. "It was a boys club for a long time," Kendrick said. "You have to be professional." Recruits seem unfazed.

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[Crixus]

I can't bring myself to care about this very much.

It's no skin off my back whether or not women get the right to be shot at in battle.

It only matters during the political funny time anyway.

 

[waltky]

Uncle Ferd likes to watch womens train fer combat...

Third Female Marine Now in Selection to Become MARSOC Raider
30 Jan 2018 - Another female candidate has quietly made it through most of the first phase of the assessment and selection process of Marine Corps Special Operations Command in a quest to become the first female MARSOC Raider.

A 25-year-old female sergeant has almost completed the 21-day first phase of A&S after beginning the course Jan. 16, MARSOC spokesman Maj. Nicholas Mannweiler confirmed to Military.com. The sergeant, who comes from the food specialist military occupational specialty, is on her first attempt through the phase. If she makes it to the end of the course, which wraps up the week of Feb. 5, with a high enough aggregate academic and physical training score, she will be the first woman to enter the challenging and secretive second phase of MARSOC assessment and selection. But that is not a given. Mannweiler said it's expected that a number of candidates will leave the selection pipeline at the phase’s conclusion with insufficient scores. If she does make it through, the second phase of A&S is set to begin Feb. 10.

To date, one other woman has made it to the end of the first phase of A&S: a corporal from an administrative MOS, whose identity has not been made public to protect her privacy. While she reached the end of the course in August 2016, her scores were not high enough to continue. Military.com reported last year that she planned to repeat the course; Mannweiler confirmed this week that she is still pursuing a second attempt in the summer timeframe. "A female candidate who previously attempted A&S has communicated interest in attempting Phase 1 again to our recruiting teams," he said. "Her next opportunity, if she meets time in grade and time in service ceilings, would be the next A&S later this year."

Candidates perform pull-ups during Phase I of the U.S. Marine Corps Forces Special Operations Command's Assessment and Selection course aboard Camp Lejeune, N.C.​

A third female candidate, a staff sergeant from an administrative background, also attempted A&S in August 2016 but exited the course after a day after failing to complete the time requirement on a ruck march. During the first phase of A&S, Marines, who must meet specific physical and aptitude prerequisites, must demonstrate that they can complete a 12-mile march carrying a pack weighing more than 45 pounds within three hours; swim 300 meters while in combat uniform; and pass a variety of classroom exercises. After a woman graduated the Marines' legendarily difficult Infantry Officer Course in September, elite roles within special operations became the final hurdle for gender integration in the military.

While a number of women have graduated the Army's Ranger school, the Army has yet to graduate the first female Green Beret, the Navy the first SEAL, or the Air Force the first Tactical Air Control Party airman. MARSOC officials have said the command has taken an aggressive approach to recruiting women, with recruiters reaching out directly to eligible female candidates to inform them of the opportunity.

Third Female Marine Now in Selection to Become MARSOC Raider

 

[waltky]

Re-ups for Female Submariners on Par with Men...

Retention of Female Submariners on Par with Men
8 Mar 2018 — When the U.S. Navy sought the first female sailors to serve on submarines, Suraya Mattocks raised her hand because she had always thought it would be a cool job, not because she wanted to blaze a trail. She did anyway.

It has been eight years since the Navy lifted its ban on women in submarines. The chaos and disruption some predicted largely haven't materialized. Women like Mattocks are focused on doing their jobs well. Their retention rates are, to some surprise to the Navy, on par with those of men, according to records obtained by The Associated Press. And they want to be seen simply as "submariners," not "female submariners." "That'll be a great day when it's not so new that everyone wants to talk about it," Mattocks told the AP in a rare interview. "Females on my crew, they really and truly just want to be seen as submariners. That's it." The Navy began bringing female officers on board submarines in 2010; enlisted female sailors followed five years later. By now, the first 19 female officers have decided whether to sign a contract to go back to sea as a department head, which keeps them on the career path for a submarine officer, or have chosen a different path. Five women signed. Fourteen women have either left the military, will soon leave or are serving elsewhere in the Navy, according to records requested by the AP.

That's a retention rate of 26 percent for the first female officers, just shy of the roughly 27 percent of male officers selected for submarine service in 2010 who signed a department head contract. The Navy had been looking for at least 15 percent for women. Nine more female officers were picked for submarine service in 2010, but with the intention they would return to jobs in the supply departments on surface ships or ashore — a normal career path. "You always want higher" numbers, said Adm. John Richardson, the chief of naval operations, but he is encouraged by the initial results and the growing number of female officer candidates who want to be submariners. "I think if there was a sense it was not doing well, we wouldn't have those types of numbers," he said. Richardson led the submarine force at the beginning of the integration, from late 2010 to 2012. At that time, some submarine veterans, wives of submariners and active-duty members were calling the change a mistake. The living quarters were too tight, there was little privacy and romantic relationships could develop, they feared.

U.S. Navy YN1 Suraya Mattocks, one of the first female enlisted sailors to be selected to serve on submarines, poses for a portrait at the U.S. Naval Undersea Museum near her base in Keyport, Wash. The Navy began bringing female officers on board submarines in 2010, followed by enlisted female sailors five years later. Their retention rates are on par with those of men, according to records obtained by The Associated Press.​

Many now say that the transition went smoothly, with one major exception. Male sailors were prosecuted in 2015 for secretly videotaping female officers and trainees as they undressed on the USS Wyoming. "They did court-martial the perpetrators. It wasn't laughed off, and that's a good thing," said retired Navy Capt. Lory Manning, director of government relations for the Service Women's Action Network. "I don't think, in general, it dampens the effort." To address privacy, the Navy is retrofitting subs with extra doors and designated washrooms. Future subs will be built with the height, reach and strength of women in mind. Mattocks is on the USS Michigan, a sub that splits its time between Washington state and Guam. Sailors have in some cases organically changed their behavior to accommodate changing times. Some accustomed to sleeping in their underwear now don a robe or sweats to go to the bathroom, for instance, in case they encounter another gender in the hall. "That goes for both sides. It's not that all females have to wear this and males can do whatever they want," Mattocks said. "It's just little things like that, having both genders in a small space. You figure out things you never would've thought of before."

One-fifth of submarine crews are integrated. It will take until about 2026 before a woman could be in command of a U.S. Navy submarine. Lt. Marquette Leveque, 29, is finishing her assignment this summer as the women in submarines coordinator, in which she manages the integration, advises Navy leaders and helps mentor future applicants. She is proud of her service as one of the first female officers on the USS Wyoming, she told the AP. Among her peers, one was selected by NASA as an astronaut candidate, others joined the corporate world or moved to different Navy jobs. Some are new mothers. Mattocks, a 34-year-old yeoman first class from Dover, New Hampshire, will soon retire from the Navy. She said she probably would have chosen to stay in the submarine force if it weren't so late in her naval career. She joined the Navy after graduating from high school and plans to retire when she hits 20 years of service. "I found something I love, something new in the Navy that I love," she said. "I wouldn't have gotten bored with it." Megan Stevenson, 25, trained at the Naval Submarine School in Groton, Connecticut, this spring before heading to the USS Louisiana in Bangor, Washington. Stevenson said she would sometimes get double takes. "The way I look at submarines is kind of like an astronaut," said Stevenson, of Raymond, Maine. "It's a unique experience that so few people have done; I want to experience that."

Retention of Female Submariners on Par with Men

See also:

No Plans to Open West Coast Boot Camp to Women, Top Marine Says
8 Mar 2018 - The Marine Corps marked a major change earlier this week when it opened its combat training course on the West Coast to women for the first time.

But the commandant said Thursday that the service's West Coast recruit depot will stay all-male, adding the Corps doesn't currently need another boot camp that trains women. Gen. Robert Neller told Military.com that cost and efficiencies were major drivers of the decision to open Marine Combat Training-West at Camp Pendleton, California, to women. MCT is the first stop after boot camp for enlisted Marines who are not training in an infantry specialty. "We recruit women from all across the country, from both east and west of the Mississippi," Neller said, following remarks at a National Defense Industrial Association event near Washington, D.C. "And we thought it would be more cost-effective if they went to MCT after they went home on recruit leave, to go to SOI on the West Coast," he said. "Maybe their families would be closer and they could see them graduate from MCT if they couldn't get up to Parris Island."

Neller added that one of the biggest West Coast training schools for Marines is the communications-electronics school at Marine Corps Air-Ground Combat Center 29 Palms, California. For women entering one of these fields, it's more convenient to move from MCT at Pendleton to 29 Palms than it is to travel back from MCT-East at Camp Geiger, North Carolina. The commandant acknowledged that "cohesion reasons" also prompted the Corps to start training men and women together at MCT. But as to opening Marine Recruit Depot San Diego to women, Neller said the need is not there. The Marine Corps is the only service that still keeps separate entry-level training units for men and women. All female recruits pass through 4th Recruit Training Battalion at Parris Island, South Carolina.

A drill instructor at Parris Island disciplines her Marine recruits with some unscheduled physical training outside their barracks​

San Diego does have a "cadre" of female staff, including drill instructors and skills instructors, Neller noted. But he said demand for more training capacity for female recruits hasn't yet materialized. "So we've got women, we're still trying to get to 10 percent," he said. "And until we do, Parris Island has enough capacity. Right now, for us to move a comparable operation out to the West Coast, we don't have enough depth yet." Neller said in 2016 that he wanted to grow the proportion of female troops in the Marine Corps to 1 in 10; currently, around 8 percent of the force is female.

Not everyone buys the argument, though, that demand doesn't justify another integrated boot camp. Marine Corps Times reported this week that the Corps recruited 3,355 women last fiscal year. With just one recruit training battalion available to train female recruits, the outlet reported that annual capacity for recruit training maxes out at just 3,500. Kate Germano, a retired lieutenant colonel who formerly commanded 4th Recruit Training Battalion and has vigorously advocated for fully integrating entry level training, told the San Diego Union-Tribune that the Marine Corps could raise recruiting caps if there were more spots available to train women. "It hasn't happened already because they don't want it to happen," she told the outlet.

No Plans to Open West Coast Boot Camp to Women, Top Marine Says