Will Woman Be Drafted Into The U.S. Military?

Listen Up Ladies! Next Time There's A Draft, Uncle Sam Might Want You Too -- Stars And Stripes

WASHINGTON — Tennnnnn-hut, ladies! The next time Uncle Sam comes calling, he's probably going to want you, too.

The Obama administration's recent decision to lift the ban on women in combat has opened the door for a change in the law that currently compels only men between age 18 and 25 to register for a military draft, according to legal experts and military historians.

Never before has the country drafted women into military service, and neither the administration nor Congress is in a hurry to make them register for a future call-up. But, legally, they may have no other choice.

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My Comment: Since they are now permitted to go into combat .... the short is yes .... they can be drafted. As to the question .... will Washington want to draft them .... I doubt it .... even with the legal reasons that ,may be thrown in.

Female Soldiers See 'Great Opportunity' To Serve In Combat Roles

Female Soldiers See 'Great Opportunity' -- Stars and Stripes/The State (Columbia, S.C.)

COLUMBIA, S.C. -- Don't tell Sgt. 1st Class Marielena Witten, a U.S. Army soldier for 14 years, that women don't belong in combat. She's already been there.

Deployed to Iraq in 2003 in the opening days of Operation Iraqi Freedom, she came under the same machine gun and rocket-propelled grenade fire on her convoy as her male counterparts.

"I just rolled down the window of the Humvee and laid down suppressing fire," said the Philadelphia native, now a drill sergeant at Fort Jackson in Columbia, the Army's largest basic combat training base. "We got through it."

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My Comment: What's my take .... aside from the obvious fact that women are in combat everyday. The U.S. is a democracy and it's elected leaders have made the decision that women can now apply for combat roles. Has this been thought through .... probably not. But women will become a feature of U.S. military combat life and the U.S. military will now have to get use to this new fact of life. I just hope that in the end our elected leaders, the military, the public, and the women who sign up for combat are ready to accept the consequences that such a decision entails .... consequences that I suspect many are not prepared for.

A 'Band Of Brothers And Sisters'

Arielle Werner, 21, originally of Minnetonka, Minn., is a combat soldier with Israel's co-ed Caracal Battalion. "Women in combat can only bring good things," she said. "Two halves of a whole together can only be good." IDF

How The US Military Can Become A 'Band Of Brothers And Sisters' -- NBC

Even before she moved to Israel, Minnesota-born Cpl. Arrielle Werner was certain she possessed what it took to fight on the front lines.

"I realized that I couldn't be the passive Minnesotan," said the 21-year-old member of Israel's majority female Caracal Battalion, a combat unit which patrols the volatile border with Egypt's Sinai Peninsula. "I knew this was the place for me. My friends back in the States are shocked … now I’m the wild combat soldier."

The self-described "peace keeper of the family" said she is prepared to "give everything" on the battlefield.

That's the sort of gung-ho attitude that military brass appreciate in any soldier -- but it isn't an attitude many expect from a woman.

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My Comment: The times are certainly changing.

Women In Combat Cost Money

Government Report: Women In Combat To Cost Money -- Jeryl Bier, Weekly Standard

Ever since outgoing Defense Secretary Leon Panetta announced a week ago that the U.S. military would lift its ban on women in combat roles, the debate, which has been simmering for decades, boiled up again. Much of the argument has centered on cultural, social, and morale-related effects that such a change would bring about, though other practical issues have been raised as well. However, a Government Accountability Office (GAO) report released just this week may bring some other considerations to the fore, among them, the financial impact.

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My Comment: Why does this GAO report not surprise me.

SEAL Admiral: Women Could Be Great Navy SEALs

US Marine Corps Lance Cpl. Sienna De Santis and US Navy Petty Officer 3rd Class Heidi Dean, greet children during a patrol in Sangin Valley, Afghanistan, in this 2010 file photo. The head of Special Operations Forces (SOF) says he supports the integration of women into the Navy SEALs. Courtesy of David Hernandez/DOD photo/Reuters/File

Women Could Be Great Navy SEALs, Says Head Of Special Ops -- Christian Science Monitor

The head of Special Ops has indicated his support for integrating women into the elite force. The necessity, he adds, is ensuring that all special operators are in peak physical condition.

The head of Special Operations Forces (SOF) says he supports the integration of women into the elite force.

“It’s time to do this,” says the organization’s top officer, Adm. William McRaven.

“We’ve had women supporting direct Special Operations for quite some time,” he added in remarks Tuesday morning at the Special Operations/Low Intensity Conflict conference in Washington.

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More News On The U.S. Head of Special Ops Giving The 'Green Light' For Women In Special Operations

Officials to Study More Roles for Women in Special Ops -- US Department of Defense
SEAL admiral: Women will do 'phenomenal job' -- UT San Diego
Commander sees women in elite US special forces -- AFP
U.S. reviews elite women warfighters -- UPI
Officials to Study More Roles for Women in Special Ops -- Patch
Officials To Study More Roles For Women In Special Ops -- Albany Tribune
Movies to real life: Top SEAL says GI Jane may be coming soon -- Washington Times

My Comment: Even Retired Gen. Stanley McChrystal believes that this is a good idea .... but some positions are going to be closed.

Ret. General McChrystal: Women Will Serve In Special Operations Units

 

McChrystal: Women Will Serve In Special-Forces Units Including SEALs, Rangers -- The Hill 

Retired Gen. Stanley McChrystal predicted Sunday that women will eventually become part of special operations units like the Navy SEALs and Army Rangers, saying that including female servicemembers could improve the elite groups’ operations. McChrystal, the former U.S. commander in Afghanistan, said on CNN’s “State of the Union” that he supported the move from the Pentagon this week to lift the ban on women serving in combat.

“I think you’ll see them probably in all of those units,” said McChrystal, who once was an Army Ranger himself.  

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My Comment: His response makes a lot of sense.

Not Everyone Agrees That Having Women In Combat Positions Will Work

Reuters

Women in Combat? Some Marines React -- Thomas James Brennan, At War/New York Times

When my squad arrived at our outpost in Afghanistan in 2010, one of the first things we did was outfit our living quarters with trash bags, cardboard and salvaged wood to ease the vicious winds. Going to the bathroom proved equally challenging. We urinated into a metal pipe fed through a Hesco barricade filled with dirt and burned our feces in a metal drum. There were no showers or water for showers, so, after each day’s long and grueling foot patrols we pulled on new socks and used baby wipes and body powder. It was miserable but we endured the misery together.

Soon, women will share that misery.

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My Comment: A very blunt analysis coming from a Marine's practical experience .... and totally ignored by the main stream media when they covered this story last week. As to what's my take .... I can see this working in convoys, large bases, patrols that go back to the main base, etc. .... but having women deployed as infantry women to isolated FOBs with limited resources .... I have trouble seeing how that will work.

Update #1: Common sense, emotion and women in combat. A lack of front-line privacy would be humiliating. -- Lt. Gen. Jerry Boykin, Washington Times

Update #2: Coed Combat Units. A bad idea on all counts -- Mackubin Thomas Owens, Weekly Standard

A Single Mom's Story Of Being A Soldier Who Fought In Afghanistan

Kimberly Bratic, 39, served alongside the 37th Infantry Brigade Combat Team in Afghanistan. In six months she went on 70 missions.

Single Mom Fought Alongside Combat Troops In Afghanistan -- CNN

(CNN) -- Kimberly Bratic hauled her gear up Afghan mountains. She went into areas where Taliban lived. She grieved when fellow soldiers were blown up by a suicide bomber. She missed her family for a year, and heard the worry in her sons' voices when she got the rare chance to call home.

She lay awake, thinking, "What if I don't make it home?"

The only difference between the 39-year-old single mom and the men she went on 70 missions with was their job titles.

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My Comment: Her blog is an interesting read. The link to it is here.

Women In The U.S. Military (The Numbers)

 

By The Numbers: Women In The U.S. Military -- CNN 

(CNN) -- More than 200,000 women are in the active-duty military, including 69 generals and admirals. A quick look at women in the military, according to Pentagon figures:

Total numbers: 

 -- About 203,000 in 2011, or 14.5% of the active-duty force of nearly 1.4 million.

-- That number comprises about 74,000 in the Army, 53,000 in the Navy, 62,000 in the Air Force and 14,000 in the Marine Corps. Military to open combat jobs to women

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Some Female Soldiers Are Better Than Their Male Counterparts

On The Front Lines: Better a Good Woman Than This Guy -- Brandon Friedman, Time

My first thought was: “What is wrong with this kid?”

It was early 2002 and we were marching through the mountains of eastern Afghanistan, only a few hundred yards from the Pakistani border. One of my younger soldiers was failing to keep up. He was “falling out” as we’d say in the Army. The thing was, we’d only just begun the march and his load was relatively light.

This infuriated the platoon. Falling out at that stage of a march, with the load he carried, under those circumstances is never acceptable for an infantry platoon. At one point, when the soldier began to sway under the weight of his pack, his team leader straightened him up on his feet and then slapped him in the back of the helmet, adding something to the effect of, “What the hell is wrong with you?”

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My Comment: For more commentaries, opinions, and analysis on the Pentagon's decision to permit women to serve in combat ... go here.

Pentagon Ends Ban On Women In Combat -- News Roundup

Defense Secretary Leon E. Panetta and Army Gen. Martin E. Dempsey, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, shake hands after signing a memo to lift the ban on women from serving in military combat roles during a news conference at the Pentagon, Jan. 24, 2013. DOD photo by Glenn Fawcett

US Military Opens Battlefield Positions to Women -- Voice of America

U.S. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta has lifted the ban on women serving in military combat positions.

Panetta said woman have "proven their ability to serve in an expanding number of roles" in the military services, so the change will strengthen U.S. armed forces' ability to win wars.

Speaking at a Pentagon ceremony in remembrance of civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr., Panetta said the U.S. military is more capable and more powerful "when we use all of the great diverse strengths of the American people.''

The new policy could open more than 230,000 battlefront posts to women in the U.S. Army, Navy, Air Force and Marines.

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More News On The Pentagon's Decision To Lift The Ban On Women From Serving In Combat

Statement on Women in Service: As Delivered by Secretary of Defense Leon E. Panetta, Pentagon Press Briefing Room, Thursday, January 24, 2013 -- US Department of Defense
Defense Department Expands Women’s Combat Role -- US Department of Defense
Obama Praises DOD for Removing Women’s Combat Exclusion -- US Department of Defense
Dempsey: Allowing Women in Combat Strengthens Joint Force -- US Department of Defense
Military leaders lift ban on women in combat roles -- FOX News
Pentagon: All 237,000 combat-related jobs open to women -- Washington Times
Pentagon removes ban on women in combat -- Washington Post
Pentagon to move ‘expeditiously’ to lift ban on women in combat roles -- Washington Post
US military opens door to women in ground combat -- AFP
US military officially lifts ban on female soldiers serving in combat -- The Guardian
Defense chief Leon Panetta praises ‘courage’ of women soldiers as he lifts ban on them serving in combat -- New York Daily News
U.S. defense chief says women may serve in combat -- CNN
Panetta: 'Everyone Entitled To A Chance' At Combat -- NPR
'Valor knows no gender': Pentagon lifts ban on women in combat -- NBC
Women could serve in combat in Afghanistan -- Christian Science Monitor
Military Warned to Maintain Readiness as Women Move Toward Combat -- ABC News
Chairman Of Joint Chiefs: Lifting Combat Ban On Women Should Reduce Sex Attacks -- CBS
Panetta: Joint Chiefs unanimous on dropping ban on women in combat -- Stars and Stripes
Combat Ready: Photos of the women who've been moving closer and closer to the front lines for years. -- Foreign Policy

Commentaries, Opinions, And Analysis On The Pentagon Decision To Permit Women To Serve In Combat

Defense Secretary Leon E. Panetta, left, and Army Gen. Martin E. Dempsey, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, right, sign a document lifting the ban on women in combat roles during a news conference at the Pentagon, Jan. 24, 2013. Panetta and Dempsey discussed the new directive from the Pentagon to open all military occupations to females, removing the almost 20-year ban of women serving in combat on the front lines. DOD photo by Erin A. Kirk-Cuomo

Women in Combat: What Will it Mean? -- Paul D. Shinkman, US News & World Report

Officials, veterans describe the new era of the U.S. military.

The Pentagon's decision to overturn one of the biggest obstacles to equality in military service opens up a series of daunting questions, sure to challenge the military's ability to maintain readiness while simultaneously adding women to combat roles.

Defense Secretary Leon Panetta's Thursday announcement that he was lifting the ban on women serving in combat positions was met with enthusiasm among female troops and veterans across the country. Many of the 280,000 female veterans have already been thrust into combat situations by virtue of America's ongoing wars and are relieved by what they see is the military's final acknowledgment of current reality.

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More Commentaries, Opinions, And Analysis On The Pentagon's Decision To Permit Women To Serve In Combat Roles

Here’s How the Military Will Finally Accept (Most) Women in Combat -- Spencer Ackerman, Danger Room
Ban on women in combat lifted: readers and veterans debate on social media -- The Guardian
Women, men must meet same combat standards in military -- USA Today
'She'll kick your butt': Experts say women fit to fight -- NBC
How America's top general came to endorse women in combat -- CNN
Women in combat: ‘First the gays. Now the broads.’ -- Petula Dvorak, Washington Post
Women in combat: How much will change? -- Stephanie Gaskell and Kate Brannen, Politico
Women In Combat: Shattering the “Brass Ceiling” -- Mark Thompson, Time
Women allowed in combat: Will that mean it's less safe for men? (+video) -- Anna Mulrine, Christian Science Monitor
Not so fast: Women on frontlines 'distracting,' say critics -- Erin McClam, Staff Writer, NBC News
Women in combat: A change for the better? -- Major Judy Webb, CNN
Allowing Women in Combat Serves Women, Men and Military -- Bloomberg editorial
You go, military girls -- to the front lines -- Patt Morrison, L.A. Times
The Pentagon will allow women to serve in combat zones - it's about time -- Joseph Dolman
Women in combat: Good to go if they meet standards -- Lolita C. Baldor, Kansas City/AP
Women in combat? OK, but what about the sexual assaults? -- Chloe Angyal, MSNBC
Panetta: Women in Combat Strengthens US Military -- Richard Sisk, Military.com
Will Allowing Women In Combat Roles Revolutionize Military Leadership? -- Jenna Goudreau, Forbes
Combat? Reaction Of Many Women In Military Is 'Been There, Done That' -- Mark Memmott, NPR
Women in combat? Old news for lady warriors of the big screen -- Noelene Clark, L.A. Times
Former POW Jessica Lynch: Women in combat ‘good news’ -- Washington Times
Attitudes toward women now entering combat jobs in the military (Video) -- Examiner
Women in combat: We’ve marched a long way, baby -- Gail Collins, Seattle Times
Women in combat: Why that's so yesterday -- Christian Science Monitor editorial
Facts: Women already serve in some combat-related jobs -- StlToday.com/AP
5 silliest reactions to women in combat -- The Week
Combat Roles: Women have been fighting and dying in America’s wars for years. Here are eight who were killed in action last year. -- Foreign Policy

What Has Been Canada's Experience On Permitting Women To Serve In Combat

Canadian soldiers march along Kitsilano Beach in Vancouver, British Columbia, earlier this month. Reuters

Canada Offers Lessons on Women in Combat -- Wall Street Journal

In spring 2008, Canadian Infantry Cpl. Katie Moman landed in Kandahar, Afghanistan, trained, equipped and ready to fight for one of the few Western armies that allow women in all front-line combat roles.

But as her six-month tour progressed, Cpl. Moman found her troubles had less to do with Afghan insurgents and more to do with what she says was her commanders' desire to keep her from them. The complaint—echoed by other Canadian women serving in combat—underscores one of several pitfalls America's neighbor to the north has encountered in its decadeslong experience with allowing women to enter front-line jobs.

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My Comment: So .... even though Canadian women in the Armed Forces are allowed to serve in combat .... it appears that the officers do not have the confidence to permit them to go out on patrol .... especially in hot zones. My guess is that this will probably change with time .... or at least that is what those who dropped the ban are hoping for. Will women who serve in the U.S. military experience the same situation .... probably. And just as probably .... the proponents for dropping this ban are hoping that with time this will change.

As to what is my opinion on women being permitted to serve in combat .... I prefer that they do not serve. Having said that .... I do know that in the real world my desire does not conform to the reality on the ground. Women are in combat everyday, and many are being killed and wounded because of it. If being permitted to go to combat means that they will get better training and experience .... then I am all for it.

Will Women Be Entering Special-Force Units Like The Navy SEALs?

 

Female War Veteran: I'd Like To See Women As Navy SEALs -- CNN 

One of the U.S. servicewomen who sued the Defense Department over its policy against women in combat says she hopes a pending reversal allows some women to enter special-force units like the Navy SEALs.

Army Reserve Staff Sgt. Jennifer Hunt said Thursday she doesn't know yet whether Defense Secretary Leon Panetta's reported decision to open combat jobs to female troops renders her lawsuit moot. “We're still in a wait-and-see pattern and cautiously optimistic" about Panetta's decision, Hunt told CNN's Ashleigh Banfield on Thursday morning.

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 My Comment: I am skeptical that a woman can meet the physical requirements on being a US Navy Seal. If she can pass it ....great .... but I suspect that they will have to lower the standards to make this happen as they are doing so in Britain right now.

The 'Amazons' Of Kurdistan

This photo from 1992 shows PKK women fighters training in Lebanon

The Amazons of Kurdistan: Female Guerrillas Go To War For The PKK -- International Business Times

Of all the arenas where women’s equality might be an issue, the battlefield is not one that takes high priority.

Warfare is a man’s game by and large. Women are slowly making headway in national armies around the globe -- they make up about 20 percent of the U.S. armed forces, for instance. But even those serving in the world’s most powerful military are still officially barred from most combat roles.

If there is anything resembling a modern counterpart to the Amazons of Greek mythology, it exists not in the West, but in Turkey -- territory where the Amazon legend may in fact have its origins.

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Update: Turkey and the PKK: The Kurdish women who take up arms -- BBC

My Comment: I would not call them 'Amazons' .... they are primarily young girls who now find themselves on the front-lines fighting for a cause that they strongly believe in. After decades of conflict and war .... the issue of having women involved in combat (at least for the Kurds) has become moot when one realizes that most of these women have been witness to war for much of their lives.

The BBC analysis on why the PKK has so many women in their ranks is spot on, and is a must read on why the PKK .... unlike most guerrilla movements in the world .... has so many women in their ranks.

Israeli Women Soldiers Are On The Front Lines

Israeli Women Soldiers Have "Right Stuff" For Border Watch -- Reuters

(Reuters) - Breaking cover from a lookout point disguised as a dune, four soldiers storm into the open, ploughing through the sand with rifles aloft. Their battle cries are like seagull calls, and from under their helmets, ponytails flap.

Team Mor is a spotter unit on Israel's fenced-off border with Egypt, deployed at night to intercept would-be infiltrators from the lawless Sinai desert. Like dozens of others along the tense divide, it is all-female.

"We make a real contribution to protecting the country," team commander Lieutenant Mor Dafna said during training drills at Sayarim field intelligence headquarters, marching distance from the frontier.

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My Comment: And I thought they were just kept around to be good looking in videos (see above video) .... apparently not.

Do Women Really Want To Serve In The U.S. Infantry?

WNU Editor: The debate on permitting women to serve in combat roles continues .... here are two must read articles on the subject:

1) Infantry now shut to women; do they want it open? -- AP
2) Women in U.S. military fight for right to serve in combat -- Baltimore Sun

My Comment: I prefer women to not be serving in a combat role .... but what I prefer does not exist in the real world .... women are involved in heavy combat all the time, and are getting killed and/or wounded because of it. Best to give them the proper training and preparation that we give to our regular infantry soldiers .... especially since they are fighting side by side anyway.

U.S. Women Soldiers Are In Combat–Just Not Officially

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The Pentagon’s Dilemma: Women Are In Combat–Just Not Officially -- Erin Delmore, MSNBC 

Since 2001, over 280,000 women have deployed to Iraq or Afghanistan. One hundred and forty-four have lost their lives. Now four servicewomen have taken their argument–that in a war with no front lines, there’s no daylight between being deployed to a combat zone and being “in combat”–to federal court. Marine Corps Captain Zoe Bedell, a plaintiff in the lawsuit, and ACLU Attorney Ariela Migdal told Andrea Mitchell Monday why they’re suing the Pentagon for barring them from direct combat.

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My Comment: How true .... U.S. women soldiers have been finding themselves in combat situations since the start of the Iraq war .... it is time to recognize their service.

Pentagon Sued Over Women In Combat Restrictions

ACLU Sues Over Policy Barring Women From Ground Combat -- Reuters

The American Civil Liberties Union sued on Tuesday on behalf of four U.S. servicewomen to challenge a longstanding policy barring women from thousands of ground combat positions, citing the changing nature of warfare and fairness for career soldiers.

The civil rights group argued in a legal complaint filed in federal court in Northern California that a military policy to bar women from combat roles on the basis of gender was unconstitutional.

"Nearly a century after women first earned the right of suffrage, the combat exclusion policy still denies women a core component of full citizenship - serving on equal footing in the military defense of our nation," reads the suit, on behalf of four women soldiers who have fought in Iraq or Afghanistan.

Their career opportunities also had been limited by the policy, the women said.

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More News On The Pentagon Being Sued Over Women In Combat Restrictions

US servicewomen sue US military over combat ban -- AFP
ACLU Sues Pentagon Over Women in Combat -- US News and World Report
Military Ban on Women in Ground Combat Challenged in Suit -- Bloomberg Businessweek
Military Women Challenge Combat Exclusion Rule In Lawsuit Against Defense Department -- Huffington Post
Women sue Panetta over combat exclusion -- Stars and Stripes

Israeli Female Soldiers Show Their Stuff In Recent Border Clash With Militants

Female Israeli Combat Soldiers Are Proving They're Not Just 'Smaller Men' -- Business Insider

Last Friday, Caracel, the Israeli military's only mixed-gender combat battalion, won a shootout against forces on the border with Egypt. Israeli officals said three gunmen on the Egyptian side were killed, one by a female soldier, according to the Associated Press.

Israel created Caracel in 2000, to integrate women into combat duty. Although it is a combat battalion, its main responsibility has been defeating drug smugglers at the borders with Jordan and Egypt. Until the ousting of Egypt's Hosni Mubarak last year, it was a pretty simple gig. So simple, in fact, it was claimed that the male soldiers in Caracal weren't strong enough to be in a regular, all-male combat unit.

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My Comment: I expect this trend of women being positioned to engage in combat to continue .... as well as expanding into the armed forces of other countries.