Thoughts, opinions?
I like the parts about increasing the size of the military (it’ll make it easier to get promoted and re-enlist). I also like the part about giving health care to reserves. I’m not too crazy about the part about women in combat. I think that the current setup is just fine, no need to really move it either way.
This…is such a load of utter bullshit.
Agreed, but likely what happened was some right-wing nutjob in the House tacked on the “no women” amendment to the bill, knowing that everyone else needed to pass it or they’d look like they didn’t want to give money to the military. Same thing happened to Kerry (which was brought up frequently during the election); he was ready to vote for a bill that would give millions to the armed forces, someone tacked on a “no women” or “no gays” amendment or something like that, and he was forced to vote against, allowing the GOP to attack him as “against helping our armed forces.”
That’s pretty back-handed.
So are you totally new to the way Washington works or what?
No. I was just spelling it out for anyone who didn’t know. A lot of people hear about things like this and honestly think the whole House of Representatives is for it.
Read the article carefully and stop making doomsday threats. The bill passed COMMITTEE, not the house, which means it’s just been approved for entry into voting rounds in the House. It hasn’t been approved yet. Also, under pressure from the military higherups, this provision has been very heavily modified as over 22,000 women’s positions would have to be removed, something the military cannot deal with while simultaneously increasing the size of the military and dramatically missing recruitment goals. So don’t expect this to pass the House in its current form.
It is pretty frightening it passed through committee at 61-1 though. I wonder who the dissenter was. I don’t quite understand the reason behind this. Do many Americans really consider women in the military to be that important of an issue? I wish Bill Mahr’s season wasn’t over. He’d probably have some fun with this tomorrow.
It wouldn’t be as much about expanding the military and recruiting, but more about restructing the military like that while in a war. That would be a massive change that would be dangerous to do while we are fighting such a difficult war.
Read the article carefully. >.> It says Cynthia McKinney, a representative from Georgia. Most Georgians don’t like her though. She’s just in one of those like 85% Democrats district.
Anyway, it also says the bill would put a decade old Pentagon policy into law (or something close to it). So, I don’t think there would be THAT big of a restructuring going on. It’ll be changed no matter what though.
It’s the men. They’re afraid we’ll outperform them!
Those bastards!
Hey nick, anyone else in the army: Arn’t women supposed to opt-in to front line combat anyway? Arn’t they not supposed to be sent to the front? How is this a change from that?
Info’s Marines, not Army. He’s gonna get pissed when he reads that. >.>
I meant Armed Forces, or the entire defense force of our country, i guess. I just called it that Army because i forgot that different divisions get pissy about that kind of stuff. Sorry, no offense meant.
Info hasn’t responded yet because he’s already on his way to your house to kill you. Sorry dude.
Yeah, The 984 and GM pretty much covered it. Also, WTF? I mean, I talk about the Marine Corps so much that people get annoyed with me. How can you not know that I’m a Marine? Also, this may upset deadtear and Herr, but we Marines consider ourselves to be the best and toughest branch. We have to longest initial training and the highest PFT standards. Now, if you were someone I didn’t know well, I wouldn’t get as upset. I’d kindly respond to give the ebst image of the Marine Corps.
As for your question, women can fly in combat as far as I know, not be sent to go actually fight. Pretty much women can’t do combat jobs, however, if the situation arises, then they’ll fight. In the Marine Corps, women are trained exactly like men (except for PT, they have different requirements). Such as if a unit is doing a convoy to resupply a something or is moving to some other locations and the convoy is attacked, the women will get and put rounds down range just like everyone else. Women can also man machine guns on vehicles, I’m not sure if they stand post or not, but I think that they can. I’m not as sure about all of the details since my unit is an infantry unit and doesn’t rate females. We’ve had only a handful of women in my 3 years at my unit and they have been active duty and they’ll be the only one (I’m not sure why have even the 1). Since we don’t have any women really, I don’t get to see as much about the female aspects.
Easiest way of putting it, with little details: Women can’t sign-up or have combat jobs, but if the shit htis the fan, they’ll be fighting just like everyone else.
This news is nothing really new…just a reiteration of current military policy. No women in combat arms, but combat support and service support are fine, which is a decent policy as of right now. As far as combat roles, though not totally economically and ethically sound (possibility of rape and so on…), some women are capable of doing such tasks like the Army Lionesses. I wouldn’t mind a woman or two in my platoon, as long as they don’t become GI Jane, and the men keep their hands off. It’s a cooperative effort. No “I am woman, hear me roar!” and no “Shake it baby!” and everyone wins in my platoon. With all due respect, there’s also the biological issues that women have that men don’t. Of course the last thing someone is thinking about is their period when someone is shooting 7.62 rounds at them, but still it has consequences that could emerge. Women as Rangers, SEALs, and SFs? No…not right now…but maybe in Artillery and Armor. Infantry’s a no-go. The men I worked with and had to deal with at BCT/AIT would tear them apart. My opinion isn’t out of prejudice, but skepticism and concern.
This is sort of interesting to see different perspectives on the issue between the branches. It also sort hard for me to talk about the fields like Herr does because the Marine Corps has some of the elements, but they aren’t officially called that. Even then, it is broken down to basically just MOS (or job). There is a chart of all MOS and by some it says (males only or no females), however, you can’t be like cmmand, service, and support or shit like that.
Jeeeez 
I know you’re a marine, i just forgot that its unpolite to think your group and the Army are the same thing. Sorry. :3