Women in combat?

[Dave Flint]

What he said was that the services will now have to explain why the restriction against women in this or that combat position exists. If the services can show that the cons outweigh the pros for any one "job", then the restriction will still be in place. ."

Given that the U.S. Military is widely considered to be the greatest in the history of the world, shouldn’t the burden of proof rest on those who are proposing adding smaller, slower & weaker soldiers to make the case for why we should make the change?

I left the Army in 1990 but even then I knew it was political suicide to notice that women were held to a much lower standard. Putting the Military on the defensive in this matter is a cynical, political ploy.

[FOM]

As a woman who served and entered at a time when they were forcing women into combat service support roles to test the waters, I will tell you women do not need to be in combat roles...it's not just a physical ability issue, there are more issues than some politician sitting in Washington can even imagine. I'm all for women being given opportunities to excel and I'm sure there are women who can meet the physical requirements, but like I said before that's only a small piece of the puzzle...there is nothing wrong with limiting a women's role in combat....there are a million other things women can do to support our fighting men and I'm not referring to cooking and cleaning...and there are a very few combat roles that would be suitable for women and they should be harshly reviewed prior to letting the woman applicant fulfill that role...it should also not be a "just because you are a woman" you should be allowed, serious care needs to be taken. I do not agree with this decision, especially given my experience of the Army forcing women into roles they did not want just to check the block....it's a can of worms that should of never been open.

Thanks to all those who are serving and have served....freedom is not free.

[BonMallari]

As a woman who served and entered at a time when they were forcing women into combat service support roles to test the waters, I will tell you women do not need to be in combat roles...it's not just a physical ability issue, there are more issues than some politician sitting in Washington can even imagine. I'm all for women being given opportunities to excel and I'm sure there are women who can meet the physical requirements, but like I said before that's only a small piece of the puzzle...there is nothing wrong with limiting a women's role in combat....there are a million other things women can do to support our fighting men and I'm not referring to cooking and cleaning...and there are a very few combat roles that would be suitable for women and they should be harshly reviewed prior to letting the woman applicant fulfill that role...it should also not be a "just because you are a woman" you should be allowed, serious care needs to be taken. I do not agree with this decision, especially given my experience of the Army forcing women into roles they did not want just to check the block....it's a can of worms that should of never been open.

Thanks to all those who are serving and have served....freedom is not free.

Finally someone with some common sense and experience.....now can you go to the Pentagon and tell your former bosses to get their collective heads out of their rear ends and think about what they are about to do

[Eric Johnson]

Given that the U.S. Military is widely considered to be the greatest in the history of the world, shouldn’t the burden of proof rest on those who are proposing adding smaller, slower & weaker soldiers to make the case for why we should make the change?

I guess I'm viewing this "women in combat" similar to the decisions on many physical attributes such as color blindness. Many serve who are color blind but not every position is open to such a person. Now the services have to support why women can't fill a particular position on a position by position basis rather than as a blanket rule.

[FOM]

I guess I'm viewing this "women in combat" similar to the decisions on many physical attributes such as color blindness. Many serve who are color blind but not every position is open to such a person. Now the services have to support why women can't fill a particular position on a position by position basis rather than as a blanket rule.

I think I get what you are saying - now that the can of worms has been opened (i.e. women can be put in combat roles) we need to make sure the qualifications for being allowed to fill that position are equal regardless of gender...if a male has to do pull-ups, then the woman should have to...if the male has to do 12 miles with 50lbs in less than 4 hours, so should the female....right? Don't ease up the requirements just to say "look women in combat"....if that is what your are trying to say, then I totally agree with you.

[Eric Johnson]

I think I get what you are saying - now that the can of worms has been opened (i.e. women can be put in combat roles) we need to make sure the qualifications for being allowed to fill that position are equal regardless of gender..

In a word, yes.

[Tom. P.]

According to the news this morning it was a Woman Tammy Duckworth a US Rep.that swayed and influenced Leon Panetta.Im sure She knows what combat is all about having lost i believe one leg while serving.

[Dave Flint]

According to the news this morning it was a Woman Tammy Duckworth a US Rep.that swayed and influenced Leon Panetta.Im sure She knows what combat is all about having lost i believe one leg while serving.

Ahh, the old "human shield" tactic. When you can't make your point using logic or facts, trot out an unnasailable sympathetic figure & force the opposition to appear to be attacking the wounded war hero.

Unfortunately, the left keeps over playing this tactic just as they have "the race card".

How about you just make an unteligent argument for why we should try this experiment in the face of thousands of years of history?

[BonMallari]

According to the news this morning it was a Woman Tammy Duckworth a US Rep.that swayed and influenced Leon Panetta.Im sure She knows what combat is all about having lost i believe one leg while serving.

Rep Duckworth is a bonafide war hero but she was also a helicopter pilot, not an infantry soldier...its comparing apples to oranges...as Lainee alluded to there are many areas that women may serve and probably excel in the forward areas....IMO the infantry is not one of those areas

[road kill]

According to the news this morning it was a Woman Tammy Duckworth a US Rep.that swayed and influenced Leon Panetta.Im sure She knows what combat is all about having lost i believe one leg while serving.

Rep Duckworth is a bonafide war hero but she was also a helicopter pilot, not an infantry soldier...its comparing apples to oranges...as Lainee alluded to there are many areas that women may serve and probably excel in the forward areas....IMO the infantry is not one of those areas

Is there even a remote chance that this one woman was WRONG????