Female Marine drops out of infantry course

I've only known one person who served in the Marines in terms of a close friendship and we have talked of it much. He was a squad leader in the Marines in the Helman District of Afghanistan and was in fire fights and combat missions without air or Army support.

Initially he was vehemently against women being in any combat role as being inherently inferior. After service his opinion was exactly opposite.

After his combat experience, this summarized his view. That the Marines do not teach combat skills. The physical training and testing does not equate to combat skills. In his opinion at least half of those in basic should be booted out and half of those in his squad were combat incompetent making them a liability rather than asset.

He also said he would have no problem with women in combat in the Marines in his squad. He had gotten to know women service members in activities such as shooting, rock climbing, and other physical and dangerous activities convincing him that woman can be every bit as courageous, determined and combat capable in REAL terms as men. He said he would have gladly traded some male squad leaders for those women.

He said the Marines are far too bureaucratic on policies and far too little combat oriented in REAL terms. He also said that when they went out as soon as on their own he would instruct his squad to "lose all crap" - meaning much of the weight they were to carry. They weren't pack mules, they were hunter-killers in his opinion.

In his opinion, the measure of a Marine should be courage under fire, combat smarts and combat skills, the instinctive personality to hunt and kill, the ability to survive and the nature of being willing to die in the quest to kill the enemy. Qualifying as hotel bag boys who can carry heavy luggage fast isn't a combat skill or necessity.

He also said the Marines have gone too far in trying to avoid any casualties, putting in so many restrictions and having them carry so much crap, wear so much crap and so many other rules and restrictions that engaging the enemy is almost impossible - and in a back assward way creates more danger. For example, wearing kelvar gloves in 100+ degree heat as a rifleman? What sniper wears heavy gloves?

Said they hid about half the weight when out of sight picking it up on the way back. Made it possible to run down and/or out flank the enemy (something they weren't supposed to do - they were to keep a straight line back to safety as an example of killing the enemy not the priority). He saw making the priority tactic being the ability to retreat as absurd. In his view a Marine who will not take any risks for the goal of killing the enemy shouldn't be a Marine and any Marine officer with that view shouldn't be an officer.

They killed many enemy, zero casualties in his squad.

After his combat experience he 100% reversed his view and supports women in combat roles based upon that experience.

 

He said they tried to convince him to re-enlist to put him into the MARSOC program (Marine special forces) and he was offered a lucrative contractor job as well. Declined both. He has joined for the experience of hunting and killing humans who could fight back as a hunting experience. That goal had been met so it was time to get back to college for his career goal. He does not have a high opinion of the Marine Corp in its current form.

 

Yeah, women will make it better.

 

No they haven't. It has never actually been tested in the American military in combat whatsoever. Ever.

The ONLY modern war example of women in combat in both female units and mixed units was the USSR in WWII. Generally they were more effective, more determined and more deadly that male units and mixed units fought with more determination than all male units.

Men declaring men are superior and women totally incompetent on measures outside of combat that are set and measured by men is absurd on its face.

I have no doubt there are identical studies pre-WWII that proved absolutely that blacks are inferior and mixed racial units under perform too.

 

The fighting in the ME increasingly is a Navy air and Air Force war. The AF does not want to rely on other branches and/or contractors for the security of their bases outside the USA. Since she now also is often one of the aircrew, there is the prospect of going down in hostile territory. The AF both wants aircrews to have combat ability and its own rescue forces, not just relying on contacting other branches of the military for an extraction mission.

The AF has different views of combat, but that would take some words to explain.

 

Prove your claims about women in the Soviet army in WW2.

And if the women were so great, why did the Soviets remove them from combat units? The only reason the Soviets used women in WW2 was because they were desperate, they were losing huge numbers of troops, and they needed every able bodied person. Most of the women were not in combat units. Once they were past the crisis, the women were gone.

The same for the Israelis, they are shorthanded and outnumbered, they have no geographic depth, if invaded the war will quickly move into cities and towns. Every Israeli will be fighting because they have no choice, so its better to prepare as much as possible. But even in Israel, women are not in standard front line units.

 

Can you prove the statements you just made? All we want are the facts.

 

How could that be so ? Females do not fight in front line units so whats he basing this in ?

Are you claiming he had women in a front line infantry squad ?

 

But you clearly don't understand the reason for the different units of the military.

No. I work for a living.

No, but I'm considering running for an office next term and I have a Masters in Political Science.

Yes.

Yes.

No.

Yes.

No.

No, I have a soul.

Federal Reserve? No. Federal government. Yes.

Yes.

Men can drop out, but it is considered a fail as it will for her.

I know many fine women soldiers who enhanced their unit.

 

A while ago when the Air Force Academy took stats about its drop out rate, it found that proportionately more men dropped out than did women.



Meanwhile, here is news regarding Norway's enlightened approach to female conscription:


http://www.straitstimes.com/world/e...service-for-women-bunking-them-in-mixed-dorms


SETERMOEN MILITARY BASE, NORWAY (AFP) - They sweat together, they sleep together: In the name of gender equality, Norway has introduced compulsory military service for women, even bunking them in mixed dorms with their brothers-in-arms.

The military's gender balance is not entirely equal yet, but almost a third of the Norwegian army conscripts born in 1997 were women this summer.

At the Setermoen army base just above the Arctic Circle, new recruits in an armoured battalion are learning to handle assault rifles for use on combat missions. Here and there, long ponytails stick out behind the recruits' caps.

"It gives me a bigger recruitment pool to choose from," the battalion's chief, Lieutenant Colonel Pal Berglund, says of the new gender equal draft.

"I'm still looking for the same competence I always have. And for me it's obvious that this competence is also present within a large part of the female population of Norway."

Norwegian women have been able to volunteer for military service for almost 40 years now, helping to gradually feminise the armed forces. The military welcomed its first female helicopter pilot, female jet fighter pilot and female submarine commander already in the early 1990s.

But in 2013, at a time when the prime minister was none other than current Nato Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg, a virtually unanimous parliament passed a law applying military conscription to both sexes.

The Scandinavian country - where four of the last five defence ministers have been women - has thus become the first Nato member and European country to draft both men and women, joining a tiny group of countries around the world, including Israel.

"In operations, it's an advantage having females. They have access to parts of the population that men don't have, for instance for intelligence gathering," says Lt-Col Berglund.

The army needs less than 10,000 new recruits each year, far fewer than the 60,000 who are liable to be called up. That means that only the most motivated will actually be asked to serve, in a country where military service is often seen as a personal accomplishment highly valued on the job market.

"It enables you to cut the umbilical cord. It's good that girls and boys get the same opportunities," says new conscript Marianne Westum.

"I'm aiming to become much more independent, to learn to work as a team member, to make friends from other walks of life. Basically to become more grown-up."

The 18-year-old shares living quarters with another woman and four men. Camouflage gear and a military-issued flask are neatly organised in a metal cupboard, only a bra and handbag indicating the presence of a woman.

Is it not tempting fate to throw young men and women together in unisex bunks?

"We see that exposure to each other increases tolerance, acceptance and understanding toward each other," insists Ms Nina Hellum, a researcher at the Norwegian Research Defence Establishment.

"You don't (*)(*)(*)(*) in your own nest. You don't want to have sex and fraternise with anyone in your room for example or in your small unit because that makes it quite awkward."

A 2014 study showed that unisex dormitories helped combat sexual harassment thanks to a phenomenom of "de-genderisation". Sharing living quarters makes both the men and women pay more attention to their behaviour, and thus they're able to develop a camaraderie, an almost sibling-like relationship, the study's authors claimed.

"In the beginning we were a little shy. We didn't really know how to behave around the girls. But once the initial awkwardness had passed, we relaxed and the girls were soon just like us," says young male recruit Kasper Sjavag.

Being mixed together with the guys "means that when it comes to performance, I really push my limits and can get used to working harder to keep up", says Kasper's female roommate Gine Grimsbu.

"From a social aspect, the guys treat us well and they're respectful. There are a few who aren't used to being with girls but I think it'll be fine."

A recent survey conducted by the Norwegian army showed that an overwhelming majority of female soldiers are in favour of unisex dorms. But 18 per cent still said they had been subjected to inappropriate comments or behaviour.








That is the proper approach to take.

 

I can't imagine female POW's in the middle east. They perform cliterectomies on their own women.

 

Yes lets have Norway defend us . You have got to be joking

 

Nobody attacks them because they mind their own business and do not engage in foreign wars like the idiots in Washington DC do.

 

Guess you forgot about WWII..!

 

That was 70 years ago. If we need to go back in history, we might mention how they were invaded by Swedes.

 

Putin`still has his eyes on them.....and is waiting for NATO to fall apart as the EU falls apart

Putin Strikes Fear Into Norwegians

Almost half of all Norwegians believe Russia and President Vladimir Putin pose a “real security threat” to their country, according to Norwegian daily

http://www.newsweek.com/putin-splits-norway-norwegians-fear-russia-threat-486354

 

Trump is Putin's pal and is likely to endorse such a move across Norway's northern border.

 

Nah..too many Muslim refugees there..

 

I had females in my security company and we saw combat nearly every day...

They were terrible except for one who was a firefighter... one chick froze and had to be (literally) pulled from the driver seats, but the reality is we were driving trucks and not humping our (*)(*)(*)(*) everywhere. If we had been, I don't think she'd have made it either; she was too small.