Pentagon Okays Women in Combat: Shot Across the Bra

Wow, I had no idea when I wrote in Tuesday's post that it was only a matter of time before the Pentagon would open all combat positions to women that such a directive would be announced less than 48 hours later (okay, not every position is open, as it appears SEAL and other Spec-Op billets remain male-only for the foreseeable future).

I never bought into the "women are as strong as men" argument for keeping females from combat. In my 25 years in the military I saw plenty of bulky women that were just as strong as their wiry male counterparts. Sure, women lack upper body strength, but how often is a soldier limited to just upper body when completing an obstacle course, performing a mission or rescuing a comrade? Strength is as much about full-body leverage, flexibility and balance as it is a discrete body part. Even the most pedestrian Crossfit student has figured out this fact. Several "experts" have reached similar conclusions that women are fit to fight.

Demi Moore in "GI Jane"

Personally, I think the bigger issue is how young women and men (think 18-20 year-olds who make up over 74% of today's enlisted military force) handle living and working together 24/7 under the harshest and most stressful conditions imaginable while 10,000 miles from home. Sure, it's the man's responsibility to keep it in his pants and the woman's responsibility to stay emotionally and physically detached, but both genders are fighting basic biology and evolution if they think they can remain 100% unaffected and aphysical during the rigors, stress, fear and exhilaration of combat and its related training . Moreover, adding women to the mix of elite combat units (remember, the sole mission of combat units is to kill people and break things--general military units are used for humanitarian and other non-combat assistance) will substantially and indelibly alter the culture of these units both on and off the battlefield.

There are sound, rationale arguments on both sides of the controversy. The Last Top Gun delves directly into the heart of these issues and debate with CDR Erik "Troll" Green carrying the banner for women in the military--but not in elite combat units--and LTJG Grace “Ariel” Miller stridently arguing for fully integrated combat forces of every type. The characters clash throughout the novel, with the winner to be determined by the DoD, military branches and US society as a whole. Hang on for a rough ride! More posts, debate and information on this highly charged issue to follow in the coming months and probably years.

First Female Submariners Excelling

The first three female officers to join the U.S. Navy's elite submariner force appear to be doing exceptionally well.  The Florida Times-Union reported last month that  LTJG Marquette Leveque became one of the first Navy female officers in history to be deemed qualified to operate a submarine.

Two other Navy women, LTJG Amber Cowan and LTJG Jennifer Noonan, also qualified in December 2012 at Kitsap-Bangor Naval Base in Washington.

 

All three women are unrestricted line officers, which means they could one day command a submarine, and are the Navy's first officers to be assigned to the subsurface community since the origins of the Silent Force back in 1888.

Now that the glass ceiling, uh, er, titanium hull of submarines has been shattered by the integration of women into the ranks, it should just be a matter of time before spec-ops units and all combat units are integrated, as well.

[Disclaimer: This is the first and likely will be the last post about submarines or submariners ever to appear on this blog.]

 

 

 

Air Force Porn Sweep

The Air Force announced Friday it had found hundreds of examples of pornography and tens of thousands of other inappropriate items in a recent sweep of bases and facilities worldwide.

Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. Mark Welsh III in late November ordered wing commanders to scour work areas for pornographic or offensive materials that sexually objectify men or women, and for other "unprofessional" items.

Welsh's order came on the heels of media reports of sexual harassment and hostile working conditions for female airmen, and in the midst of a growing scandal centered on Joint Base San Antonio-Lackland, Texas, over sexual misconduct by Air Force instructors toward trainees.

The most wide-ranging category covered 27,598 "inappropriate/offensive" items. It included sexually suggestive posters in public areas, obscene cartoons and more than 200 images of aircraft nose art, some dating to World War II. Air Force Special Operations command removed several examples found in the interior of its aircraft.

"We don't want to paint over the Memphis Belle," said Air Force spokesman Maj. Joel Harper. But, he added, commanders had broad discretion to decide what crosses the line.  A complete article on the report from military.com can be found here.

Apparently, the following aircraft would have been seized if this raid were conducted in 1945 to today's standards:

Fort Bragg Club Bans Lesbian Spouse

MSNBC reported yesterday that the Pentagon is endorsing a move by leaders at Fort Bragg to stay out of a decision made by its on-base spouses club to refuse membership to the lesbian spouse of a female Army officer.

The newlywed wife of a female lieutenant colonel was reportedly blocked from joining the spouses club at Fort Bragg, sparking accusations that she was blackballed only because she is a lesbian.

In what only can be described as outlandish irony, the blackballed spouse has been nominated for the Fort Bragg Military Spouse of the Year Award.  Equally ironic is the fact the Marine Corps issued a directive last week that same-sex spouses be allowed to participate in spouses clubs at all Marine bases.  Yep, that's right, the Gyrenes are leading from the front on establishing rights for gay and lesbian spouses for military servicemen and women.

How can one service branch ban gay and lesbian spouses from base activities while another branch permit such access?  A DoD spokesman explained that the Pentagon's position on the Army matter is legally viable despite the repeal of “Don’t Ask Don’t Tell” because the Defense Department still follows the 1996 Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA). That law defines marriage as the legal union of one man and one woman. Under DOMA, the federal government doesn’t recognize same-sex marriages and doesn’t offer same-sex military spouses some benefits given to heterosexual spouses.

Hmm, sounds like federal court intervention may be on the horizon.

Top Gun in IMAX 3D in February

If you feel the need for speed in 60-foot tall, 3D sensurround IMAX, look for the remastered Topgun movie set for a limited release on February 8th.

Before director Tony Scott's suicide last August, he and Tom Cruise had reportedly met in Nevada to scout locations for a sequel to the 1986 blockbuster. The status of that project is unknown.  In the meantime, keep Maverick, Ice Man and Viper alive by seeing the 3D movie at an IMAX theater near you.

Topgun Days--A Great Read

I cruised with Dave "Bio" Baranek on USS RANGER back in the day when he was a department head in VF-2 and I was an FNG in VF-1. Bio had a solid reputation in Airwing-2 as an expert RIO (former Top Gun instructor) and he was quite likeable (not a bad combination). We lost touch over the years, and I was pleasantly surprised to hear he wrote a book.

I highly recommend "Topgun Days:Dogfighting, Cheating Death, and Hollywood Glory as One of America's Best Fighter Jocks." [I'm sure his publisher insisted on the sub-title, as Bio is as modest as a F-14 RIO and former Top Gun instructor can be.] Even having done many of the same things as Bio (though a few years behind him), I found his book insightful and highly engaging--detailed, but far from dry.  Plus, the behind-the-scenes anecdotes from filming of the blockbuster movie were entertaining--even 25 years after the fact (damn, are we that old!). As one reviewer exclaimed: "RIOs finally get there due!" Yee haw!

For more info on Topgun Days or Bio, click here.

[Disclaimer:  Bio did give me permission to use his gorgeous photo of the Tomcat in burner at sunset which heads this blog, but no, it wasn't in exchange for me promoting his book. In fact, he had no idea I was posting this blog entry.  Really!]