Study Shows Female Marines Less Combat Ready

The US Marine Corps reported this week results of a lengthy experiment studying women during combat skills tests found . The study that all-male units performed better than mixed-gender ones in most tactical areas and that women suffered more injuries than men.

One measure showed that the musculoskeletal injury rate for women was 40.5%, compared with 18.8% for men.

The report, however, drew swift criticism from leaders who support opening military combat roles to women. On Friday, Navy Secretary Ray Mabus, the civilian head of the Navy and Marine Corps, told National Public Radio that the Marines had used flawed methodology in designing the study and exhibited prejudicial thinking about certain results from the testing.

Check out an LA Times article here describing the study and comments in greater detail.

The DoD has mandated that on January 1, 2016 all military jobs will be open to females. The Air Force already has opened all billets to women, with the remaining services required to follow suit by 01 Jan 16.

First Female Submariners Taped in Showers

Navy criminal investigators are looking into who secretly filmed female officers of a submarine crew while they were showering and changing clothes aboard the USS Wyoming's unisex heads.

Petty officers recording female shipmates in showers, really? Really guys?!  It's noteworthy that this is the first submarine to have women serving onboard, and these are the first female submariners. 

According to a Navy Times article, up to a dozen sailors are suspected of viewing secretly recorded videos of their female shipmates undressing in a submarine shower over a period of 10 months.

Navy Vice Adm. M.J. Connor wrote that "an investigation is in progress." He also noted the women affected were provided assistance and the alleged perpetrators were removed from the ship pending the investigation's results.  "The Navy has successfully integrated women into our aviation, surface warfare and expeditionary warfare communities," Connor wrote in the letter. "It would be inaccurate to say that we achieved this without incident, but I can say unequivocally that we are a better force because of that integration."

At least official Navy acknowledges the service has had its share of "incidents" in transitioning into a seamless, fully integrated force.

Female U.A.E. Pilot Bombed ISIS

Maj. Mariam al-Mansouri, the first female fighter pilot in the history of the United Arab Emirates, led the Gulf state's bombing raids over Syria last week.

From a Washington Post article:

It's not clear how vital her and her compatriots' efforts were in the air campaign against the Islamic State, which is entrenched over a vast swath of territory in Syria and Iraq. More important was the sheer fact of her presence. "While Arab participation in the strikes is of more symbolic than military value," writes the Wall Street Journal's Ahmed Al Omran, "analysts described it as a bold move for a group of countries that for long preferred to act via proxies instead of any direct involvement."

Gotta love the irony of ISIS fighters being bombed by a woman. Good for MAJ al-Mansouri and good for the U.A.E.; though, as the Post article points out:

The U.A.E. is no paragon of women's rights either. Female migrant workers in the country face harrowing conditions and abuse, while Emirati laws still don't provide legal recourse for marital rape. 

 And what about Saudi Arabia, where women are not permitted to drive cars or vote?

As played out in the contentious relationship between "Spyder" and "Drone" in The Last Top Gun, integration of women into combat forces is almost as complex as finding peace in the Middle East.

 

AFA Cadets Rape, Smoke Pot and Cheat

Even in today's highly scrutinized and controlled environment, despicable action by young men continues.  For the latest Air Force Academy scandal as reported on military.com, click here.

Also, in January, the Defense Department released a report stating that more than two-thirds of the sexual assaults reported at the military academies in academic year 2012-13 occurred at the Air Force Academy.

The annual report on Sexual Harassment and Violence at the Service Academies showed that the total number of sexual assaults reported was 70 at the Air Force Academy, the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, N.Y., and the Naval Academy in academic year 2012-13. That was a decrease from 80 reported at the academies in the previous year.  The Air Force Academy had 45 reports, the Naval Academy had 15, and West Point had 10 reports of sexual assault.

Changing the culture in the military, even for cadets and midshipmen who are just commencing their careers, is proving highly problematic many years after women were fully integrated into the armed forces.

Book Launch!!

Twelve years in the making!  Hard to believe it's finally out in the public domain.  As stated in the forefront:

This book is dedicated to Eddie, Dinger, Furball, TC, Tuna, Tommy, and too many other warriors who died in the prime of their lives. You are not forgotten.

Fifty percent of the profits from the sale of this book are donated to charity organizations that support US active duty and veterans organizations.

Yoga and Breast Feeding...Pleease!

Having grown up with so many brothers, Ariel is very uncomfortable around women, especially the sorority-like wives of her fellow squadronmates. Making friends with other women has never been easy for her and she is much more comfortable with straight talking men that show so much less emotion. All her friends are male and she has never had a close female friend. She doesn't see herself as better than them (well she doesn't think she does), it's more that she imagines herself doing something so much more important than pushing a baby stroller.

LTJG Grace "Ariel" Miller champions helping women stand out as equals to men so that she and her peers are seen and treated with equal respect and yes, she secretly enjoys the intimidation factor. But...at the end of the day, when she takes off her uniform and strips down to her Jockey underwear and climbs into bed, she wonders if she'll ever get married. She wonders what kind of guy would put up with her way of life or live up to the man that she is? He would have to be very strong minded or incredibly weak and neither sounds like a good option. She wonders if the fight to get a foothold in the male-dominated world she lives in is worth it, but at the same time, what else would she do? Yoga and breast feeding? Pleease!

Website is Live!

The Last Top Gun website is online.  Click here to check it out.

Many thanks to the folks at MoPro for creating a terrific site. 

The novel project is "whells in the well", picking up speed and altitude. Stay tuned for more info as we continue moving forward.

Women in Combat: Two Men's Reactions

Hundreds (thousands?) of articles, editorials, videos and blog posts have been published since last week's announcement by SECDEF that the Pentagon is lifting its ban on women serving in combat. Wherever you stand on the issue, you can find dozens of commentaries supporting your view. Personally, former Marine grunt Thomas James Brennan's Op-Ed in the New York Times hit the bulls eye for me.

Here are two quotes from the editorial that I found particularly poignant:

Being an infantryman isn’t just about uncomfortable living situations. It’s kill or be killed, blood, entrails and fear. We are a brotherhood; a collection of ragtag men who hunt and kill the enemy and travel to undesirable places to do even more undesirable things. Maybe women can join the infantry and succeed, but many of us are not sure. There’s more at stake here than equal opportunity and political correctness.

* * * 

Integrating women into the infantry is asking to shift a cultural norm. It is not something that is impossible but it will take much effort and training to be successful. I, for one, am torn.
 

I, too am torn. I enthusiastically and emphatically endorse women in the military and even in some combat roles, but question the efficacy of having women integrate into certain elite, specialized combat units. But I also realize the decision has been made and will not be rescinded.  We as a society have turned a corner from which we'll never go back.

I can only hope the generals and admirals take their time to implement this historic decision prudently without undue influence from political groups, civilian members of DoD or even Congress. It's the war fighters (and not bureaucrats or civilian appointees) who should set the timetable and boundaries for allowing women into combat units. My fear is this won't happen and, instead, the military will succumb to political correct pressures which inevitably will result in a less effective and lethal fighting force. For the sake of every Marine, Sailor, Airman, Soldier and Coastie--and our nation as a whole--Service chiefs and DoD, please prove me wrong!

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.

Women in Combat: an Objective Snapshot in Time

Since women in the military is an important component of The Last Top Gun, from time to time I'll be posting news or information relevant to the topic. David Burrelli from the Congressional Research Center wrote a highly informative and objective report entitled "Women in Combat: Issues for Congress.  Here is an excerpt from the December 12, 2012 report:

Over the years, more than 283,000 female service members have been deployed worldwide. In approximately 10 years of combat operations in Iraq and Afghanistan, over 800 women have been wounded and over 130 have died. According to the Department of Defense (DOD), as of February 29, 2012, over 20,000 female members have served or are serving Afghanistan and Iraq. (U.S. forces were out of Iraq as of Dec. 2011.) On numerous occasions women have been recognized for their heroism, two earning Silver Star medals. This has resulted in a renewed interest in Congress, the Administration, and beyond in reviewing and possibly refining or redefining the role of women in the military. The expansion of roles for women in the armed forces has evolved over decades. Women are not precluded from serving in any military unit by

law today. (Past laws that precluded women from serving on board military aircraft and ships assigned combat missions were repealed in the early 1990s.) DOD policy restricting women from serving in ground combat units was most recently modified in 1994. Under this policy, women may not be assigned to units, below the brigade level, whose primary mission is to engage in direct combat on the ground. Primarily, this means that women are barred from infantry, artillery, armor, combat engineers, and special operations units of battalion size or smaller. Since there are

no laws precluding such service, changes made in assigning women are only controlled under current policies which may be modified by the Administration and DOD. 

In the summary section, the report states:

Supporters of opening more areas to women note that they are already serving, fighting, and in some cases, dying in combat. Critics contend that it is the military that is ignoring its own policy and thereby creating a fait accompli that puts women and the military mission at risk.

Those opposed to women in combat note that the progress of women is not the most important issue at hand. They contend that national security has been and would further be jeopardized because of the presence of women in the ranks. They note the Canadian experience in which women were recruited for the 16-week infantry training course which was identical to the men’s course. The outcome was described as the ‘high cost of recruiting women that yielded poor results.These critics note disruptions to cohesion and high rates of attrition for females in labor intensive specialties due to lower average upper body strength and higher rates of stress fractures. Those opposed note that close combat situations have and continue to exist, especially in Afghanistan, and that there is a distinction between ‘returning fire’ and ‘offensive close combat.’

The Marine Corps opened its Infantry Officers Course to women, planning to admit up to 100 women in a one-year experiment. Two female Marines have so far signed up and begun training; neither completed the grueling 13-week program. Since women themselves are divided on the issue, one option is to permit women who meet the service standards (physical, training, etc.) to be assigned to combat positions, but that they should be sent into combat only if they volunteer for such missions. Critics contend that it would be unfair to permit women a choice that is not available to men, and that to make the choice available to both men and women would make if difficult for the services to function, especially in the event of war or national emergency.

Any changes proposed by the Services will likely be subjected to congressional scrutiny. Congress may accept any proposed changes or seek to subject such changes to certain limitations. Conversely, Congress may consider that any proposed changes remain too restrictive concerning the availability of combat roles for women.

The entire report can be found here.

Hmm, there's ample ammuniton in the report for both Troll and Ariel to volley at one another.