The Gender Equality Checkpoint

[it]

IDK, with the whole moving and everything I really wished there were "boys" and "girls" signs at Ikea.... But I think I managed to get it right:

[sexobon]

A female Army Ranger student lifts a rucksack onto her back on Tuesday, Aug. 4, 2015, at Camp James E. Rudder on Eglin Air Force Base, Fla.

For those not familiar with US Army Rangers, there's Infantry, then there's Rangers (kinda like high speed Infantry), and then there's Delta Force (kinda like high speed Rangers). The focus of their respective missions narrows; but, they're all direct action missions as opposed to an organization like Special Forces which, while maintaining that capability (fighters-teachers) , focuses on training indigenous forces in guerilla warfare.

Army's top officer: Pioneering women in Ranger School have 'impressed'

... General Odierno said that the feedback on the female soldiers currently making their way through Army Ranger School – for the first time in US military history – has been almost universally positive. ...

... The Army will announce next week whether the two female soldiers still in the running to become the first women to wear Ranger tabs – of the 19 who started the course in April – have successfully made it through the program and will graduate in a ceremony next Friday.

The Army will probably launch another coed Ranger School course in November, Odierno said. “And then we’ll make a decision after that on whether we make it ... permanently open to women,” he said.

The question, he added, is, “Can they meet the standard or not? And if they can, we lean towards the fact that it would probably be good if we allowed them to serve” in combat. ...

[xoxoxoBruce]

I saw a picture of one of those women in Ranger school, at the end of a horrendous test, something like carrying a 500 lb pack, run over a 50,000 ft mountain, and walk on water. At the finish she was dragging her pack but she fucking did it, and the men in the class were cheering her on.

I believe from what I've read, the females in the services have been invaluable in the middle east, and far Pacific, connecting with native women who are very Leary of men.

[Clodfobble]

There's a cookie file somewhere that is a quote about how back when gays were ejected from the military, 90% of them were women.

[sexobon]

Originally Posted by xoxoxoBruce

... I believe from what I've read, the females in the services have been invaluable in the middle east, and far Pacific, connecting with native women who are very Leary of men.

Originally Posted by Clodfobble

There's a cookie file somewhere that is a quote about how back when gays were ejected from the military, 90% of them were women.

Of course, they didn't want them connecting with indigenous women. It would demoralize the straight males who think that's their job.

[it]

Honestly I don't think it's going to matter much... Obviously it does matter for those women individually and that they can be allowed to do that, which is fantastic, but in the long run... Speaking as an Israeli - where it's actually considered shameful for a woman to not serve in the military as much as it is for men - I do not think the US has the right cultural makeup and attitude to reach a significantly gender mixed defense force.

It's good that it's enabled and allowed, but unless there's a more significant change in the culture the women serving will be the minority for some time.

[Happy Monkey]

Outside of official combat roles, women in the US military are represented similarly to US corporations - pretty well represented at the lower levels, less so as you go up.

[it]

Huh - that's interesting.

The ones they sent here as part of the UN peace keeping force at the end of the 2nd Israeli-Lebanon war acted like they've never seen women soldiers. Has it changed so much since then, or was it particular to those troops, or something else... I am just curious.

[xoxoxoBruce]

PEW(pdf) says, enlisted = 14%, commissioned officers = 16%.

[it]

Originally Posted by xoxoxoBruce

PEW(pdf) says, enlisted = 14%, commissioned officers = 16%.

Going straight to the data - I like that.

According to this there are actually slightly less enlisted women soldiers now then when I was in service, though more officers.

[sexobon]

HM stipulated outside of official combat roles.

[xoxoxoBruce]

What are official combat roles? Does that mean a job in the military is non-combat when stateside, but combat where there's a war going on? Women assigned to units as radio operators, medics, or mechanics, had to be replaced before going into a war zone? Would a woman flying a Predator drone from the US be a combat role?

[sexobon]

This is 3 years old; but, will give you an overview (you know how to search the specifics).

Why Can't Women Serve at the Front?

As for why this hasn't changed, ask Obama. He could change it with the stroke of a pen. It's not in the Constitution, it's not a law, it's just a matter of public policy.

[Clodfobble]

Originally Posted by xoxoxoBruce

What are official combat roles? Does that mean a job in the military is non-combat when stateside, but combat where there's a war going on? Women assigned to units as radio operators, medics, or mechanics, had to be replaced before going into a war zone? Would a woman flying a Predator drone from the US be a combat role?

My cousin and his wife both flew planes for the Navy during the first Gulf War. He was dropping bombs, she was doing supply runs and the like. She was still in a certain amount of danger, but she wasn't killing anyone.

[footfootfoot]

Originally Posted by sexobon

Why Can't Women Serve at the Front?

Because they can operate drones from Arizona?