new rules for women GI's

briannell · Post by **briannell** » Thu May 19, 2005 11:48 am

BAC-

20 % soldiers in Iraq are women, and now will be barred from ground combat. Curious about opinions. I agree 100%, women should be in medical/supply detachments in Iraq or based at a military installation. Gloria Steinham would have me flogged, don't think women should be side by side with men in combat. feel women can contribute to the armed forces, but are not equal to men in certain capacities such as combat. Did I open a can of worms? oops.

this was on MSNBC, don't have a site address, but check out msn you should see it listed.

- rebecca

GOKATS · Post by **GOKATS** » Thu May 19, 2005 12:02 pm

I believe this is what you are referring to.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/7909442/

Bleedinbluengold · Post by **Bleedinbluengold** » Thu May 19, 2005 3:28 pm

I don't know - that lady marine in Alien 2 was pretty badass!

And have you seen Starship Troopers? Those gals can fight, I tell ya!

In all seriousness, if I were in command, it wouldn't matter to me what sex a soldier was, as long as they did their job. There are probably a lot of women who are more than capable at the front.

briannell · Post by **briannell** » Thu May 19, 2005 4:33 pm

since i've been told I don't always "fess up" to how i truly feel with regards to certain things, I just gave my opinion. Although i admit to being sexist. have many a female friends (and my mom) that proudly wear military uniforms, I do not believe the front line is where they belong. happily support them in rules as pilots, medical staff and ground support back at a base, but not in camps with the men.

In case you haven't seen the pics of female enlisted soldiers in their underwear mud wrestling for male troops, or heard about those getting themselves knocked up by fellow "married" soldiers. or the ones yelling "rape" because they want to go home early. I just feel they are distractions for the troops.

on a side note, there have been so many affairs in the field with the mixed deployments, you're about to see a bunch of spouses unleashing cans of whoop ass, and not on the Iraqi's. I don't really pay too much attention to DC, because it is not always relevant to me personally, but I support this 100%. All the feminist can hunt me down now.

still think you need to let men be men, and support them without doing their jobs for them.

-rebecca

Post by **SonomaCat** » Mon May 23, 2005 2:46 pm

Hey Rebecca -- I'm on the fence on this one. I gladly defer judgment on this type of question to those people out in the field who have to deal with the real life situations. I do see and understand how some problems could arise and have talked to a lot of current and former military people who all have pretty strong opinions on the topic. I just don't know enough about it personally to have a strong opinion.

I do know that not a lot of military folks were impressed with the woman who got captured (due to her own mistake, according to a military guy I talked to) and "rescued" (although the facility wasn't guarded according to the same guy) and who then proceeded to write a book and have a TV movie made about her heroism (as opposed to every guy who got wounded or killed and didn't have such attention heaped on them). That incident probably didn't help much with the morale of a lot of the guys as it just made the woman/man differences seem way greater than they probably are or should be.

briannell · Post by **briannell** » Mon May 23, 2005 9:35 pm

brad - darn it, just looking for a good debate. can't argue with your answer

enjoy the week.

- rebecca

Post by **SonomaCat** » Tue May 24, 2005 4:04 pm

Interesting piece on the topic:

http://www.reason.com/links/links052405.shtml

briannell · Post by **briannell** » Tue May 24, 2005 6:03 pm

brad - thanks for article. Agree with McHugh on limiting what MOS slots females can join, and Lloyd with the point that although we have different sexual issues, women can make good soldiers. I disagree with the areas where female soldiers are being utilized, not that females can't make good soldiers. Believe women make excellent soldiers in positions in which decorum still exists. knowing female soldiers are overseas revealing their breast, participating in wet tee shirt contests, flaunting their sexuality, getting pregnant, and reporting false rapes in order to come home sickens me to no end. embaresses me too just to be female. women have so much more to offer than sexuality, but these women do not know how to rise above and be more than simply sex objects. it is a distraction and feel individuals that participate in this behavior should not wear our nations uniform at all. simply my opinion.

not that I don't enjoy a pair of nice buns myself when they walk by (especially in wranglers), but a lady should behave like one. and female soldiers should all behave in a respectable manner not like bar sluts.

-rebecca

Post by **SonomaCat** » Tue May 24, 2005 6:09 pm

Rebecca -- Do you hold all guys in the military to those same standards?

briannell · Post by **briannell** » Tue May 24, 2005 7:12 pm

brad- to fess up, I don't know if I hold any man to those standards. I do feel men should act appropriately in any and all situations, but do believe men are men. you can't hold it against them, and although you hope they all behave like gentlemen, if the dog gets released from time to time, you can forgive that. I don't think you'd find men behaving in such manner for the ogling female soldiers. Feel men are less likely to fall back on their sexuality to get noticed. men are competative and may fall back on their physical ablities and financial status, but in a war zone, i don't think bank accounts matter much if any.

i admit i'm sexist, and old fashioned and do think men and women should be held to different standards.

-rebecca

GOKATS · Post by **GOKATS** » Tue May 24, 2005 7:14 pm

My baby sis- youngest of 6 Helena kids & the only girl (48) is back in Germany as an RN in Germany until July, 2006 (she already spent 15 months there). She's in a medical reserve unit from Helena.

We correspond regularly, and I can tell you that she reports that they have an exceptional survival rate from incidents in Iraq and the vast majority of them just want to get back to their unit.

I'm not going to get into the combat debate, thankfully 'Sis" is an officer doing her duty, but I certainly , and truly, appreciate the dedication of all military personnel in the the protection of our nation.

"Nuf said"

briannell · Post by **briannell** » Wed May 25, 2005 4:21 pm

I never said women don't make fine soldiers, even my mom wore combat boots. She was a PT during Vietnam. I simply disagree with the behavior of the enlisted women were seeing in Iraq. Decorum is not being up held, and still do not agree with women being in combat zones, or attached to combat units.

-rebecca

ps brad - can you get people to use their names, it odd emailing nicknames.

Post by **SonomaCat** » Wed May 25, 2005 4:33 pm

briannell wrote:I never said women don't make fine soldiers, even my mom wore combat boots. She was a PT during Vietnam. I simply disagree with the behavior of the enlisted women were seeing in Iraq. Decorum is not being up held, and still do not agree with women being in combat zones, or attached to combat units.

-rebecca

ps brad - can you get people to use their names, it odd emailing nicknames.

It is a little odd, isn't it? After a couple years, though, you eventually get used to it.

I don't mind if you use my real name, but I do know that many people are uncomfortable using their real names on boards like this. Sometimes the motive is devious (they can be much more obnoxious undercover), but sometimes there is a good reason (scary people can read these messages, and sometimes you don't want them knowing too much about you).

It's kind of a sad reality, but I don't think we will be able to get people to abandon the handles.

briannell · Post by **briannell** » Wed May 25, 2005 5:15 pm

sorry should have asked before using your name. it's just weird to me that adults have "secret" identities, especially since we're all alumni. guess they worry about that cyber stalking thing. guess i'm an open book anyway, don't feel the need to hide anything about myself. guess women are "better", or more intriguing if mysterious, i don't buy into that. If i'm going to post my opinion I'll back it with my name. at least you know whom your debating.

hope you did get to unwind in cabo. i have a house full of boxes, picking up tomorrow and going to my new house. wont have pc for awhile, but look forward to reading new posts shortly.

- take care
rebecca