Soldier Dies in Kirkuk

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   John Morales

   October 3, 2011 at 03:29 (UTC -4) Link to this comment

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   [Out of Topic]

   Sorry, Assassin Actual, but I can’t find an email address to which to privately post, so:

   I think you might find this media piece (via Australia’s national broadcaster) of interest:
   Gender wars: cultural barriers and Western taboos.

   [fair-use pullquotes]

   My experiences in Afghanistan have been solely with the Americans. They engage in the same debates. And US servicewomen face similar restrictions and contradictions on what defines combat. During that embed, the commanding pilot of the US helicopter medivac team – which engages in some of the most dangerous flying in Afghanistan – was a woman.

   Perhaps the only difference, the large steady stream of US casualties barely rates a mention these days in the US media, and rarely features in public debate.

   In Australia, every casualty is met by a sense of communal loss. How would the public react if confronted with the imagery of a distressed, wounded female digger? Or worse, a ramping ceremony for a female soldier killed in action? I wonder if fear of such a scenario influenced the reluctance of Government to open up higher risk military jobs to women.

   Opponents of women in combat would argue that my raw, instinctive response in the surgical tent is precisely why women shouldn’t be allowed on the frontlines. That women break unit cohesion in battle, that due to cultural conditioning, men would instinctively seek to protect their female comrades.

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      Assassin Actual

      October 3, 2011 at 04:21 (UTC -4) Link to this comment

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      I have heard of several historical trials where male soldiers would do things to protect female soldiers that were useless or placed them at unneeded risk, but that is usually the dumb male instincts kicking in during high stress. Women do great as combat pilots (they have better reaction control), two of our warrior pilots are female. Perhaps it is a cultural and generational thing, since there are historic accounts of women fighting in battle with great success in history and the same shock effect it has on our boys works on the other team as well. It’s a slow change to get women into the front lines but the army is trying, for example they are creating a gender neutral PT test, but it will require a generation or two to make the transition if it can happen at all. Some of it is sexist, some of it is practical. Armor is heavy, guns are heavy, and gear is heavy but, that’s a body type issue.

      Until then, for every 1 trigger puller there are 11 support soldiers. And women have entered those jobs and thrived. But make no mistake, women roll out on combat patrols daily and women get shot at daily. Some leaders make them stay in the truck when shit goes down but some put them on the line as another gun hand is never a bad thing.

      During college we had two girls that proved to me that I would follow them to hell and back. They knew the world was stacked against them and did inhuman feats of Soldiering to rub their superiority into our faces. Now one rides a desk as an Intel officer and one flies cover in an F-16.

      Indirect fire (mortars and rockets) that killed the soldier above, don’t decimate on gender.

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   dressesforbest.com

   February 22, 2013 at 21:41 (UTC -4) Link to this comment

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   Interesting post. Were did you¡¯ve got every piece of information from?