tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22583491.post2823994589266367028..comments2024-01-29T01:32:16.780-07:00Comments on 704 Houser Street: Gotterdammerung: The Armed ForcesUnknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger10125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22583491.post-54886408220886450892013-08-13T13:59:23.299-06:002013-08-13T13:59:23.299-06:00Waterboy, the numbers are fine. There is no short...Waterboy, the numbers are fine. There is no shortage of people wanting to join (thank you crappy job market). In fact, the active strength of the army grew by over 100,000 in the past ten years with no trouble meeting the goals without needing to increase the percentage of women recruits. And the Army is setting to cut 150,000 in the next year so we will have more people than we know what to do with. We are going to have to start kicking a few out.<br /><br />I nominate COL Haring.<br /><br />But this was NEVER about recruits. or not enough men serving. This was always about the self-serving desires of female colonels who want to be generals. Not just one star generals, but 4 star generals.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22583491.post-86534331916091087342013-08-13T12:21:52.325-06:002013-08-13T12:21:52.325-06:00The military has had this lesson over and over and...<i>The military has had this lesson over and over and won't accept the lesson.</i><br /><br />I didn't think it was the military that is pushing this.Giraffehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05556306156373942923noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22583491.post-90527680606581843552013-08-13T11:40:57.618-06:002013-08-13T11:40:57.618-06:00PH,
I realize that Murphy was using a tank mounte...PH,<br /><br />I realize that Murphy was using a tank mounted gun. He still had to load and reload. I don't think she can do 1/4 of Murphy did. (neither can I at this point in my life, but I don't want to lower the standard) I'm willing to be proven wrong.<br /><br />I realize the military has unique idiosyncrasies. I just wish PC BS wasn't one of them.Res Ipsahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16433725505878267643noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22583491.post-14828708221859432482013-08-13T10:46:09.775-06:002013-08-13T10:46:09.775-06:00What do the latest recruitment numbers look like? ...What do the latest recruitment numbers look like? Part of me wonders if some of it might not be related to declining enlistments (particularly in infantry due to the ongoing actions), in addition to the usual PC bullshit.<br /><br />Though the current contraction of the military overall would seem to belie this theory, the Army still needs new recruits to replace those being promoted or leaving, and I just wonder if they're getting enough men to fill all the requirements or if they're projecting a future shortfall.WaterBoynoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22583491.post-45089443963462907202013-08-13T10:18:46.325-06:002013-08-13T10:18:46.325-06:00It simply wouldn't work. The military has had...It simply wouldn't work. The military has had this lesson over and over and won't accept the lesson.<br /><br />1. Key personnel not deploying due to pregnancy.<br />2. Women assigned as medics who cannot lift a stretcher. Result: design a combat ambulance that does the lifting for them. Result: we can't afford the new ambulance so we just keep the old ones, and the women who can't lift a stretcher high enough to load it.<br />3. It's not just us. It is the police and fire departments too.<br />4. European armies with women in Artillery units that can't even load the guns because the rounds are too heavy. But they still allow sexual harassment so they don't mind. Several years ago one admitted that it was nice waking up to a pretty face. (dutch army).Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22583491.post-35839885309988329302013-08-13T09:07:11.655-06:002013-08-13T09:07:11.655-06:00I know there is no front. Perhaps we can send the...I know there is no front. Perhaps we can send them on a few missions in Afghanistan. What is needed is the opportunity to succeed or fail in combat without men picking up the slack. If there is any slack. <br /><br />I don't think they'd be as effective. I think it would be a good trade to kill off a platoon or two of women in combat as a lesson before they are fully integrated and the lesson is much more costly.Giraffehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05556306156373942923noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22583491.post-54765227307716243242013-08-13T09:02:37.154-06:002013-08-13T09:02:37.154-06:00Example: In Iraq I knew two brigade commanders in...Example: In Iraq I knew two brigade commanders in neighboring territories. One was Mr Diplomacy, building relationships and fostering institutions. The other was Mr kill them all and let Allah sort them out. Two completely opposite approaches. Yet both commanders were called "successful" and both got promoted to general. If there was a "right way", logic compels me to believe that two highly qualified experts would have approached the problem the same way.<br /><br />Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22583491.post-30230520386857931212013-08-13T08:57:14.471-06:002013-08-13T08:57:14.471-06:00There is no "front" so they will be just...There is no "front" so they will be just fine. This is a problem with the military service that goes all the way to the roots. The military can only judge basic competency, not excellence. It has no objective way to measure excellence. So the people at the top are not the best and brightest, just the ones that other people just like them liked the most. Given that limitation, it is not possible to build the best possible officers from scratch or to identify them in any meaningful way and ensure they get promoted to the point where they are running things.<br /><br />Even combat is not a good discriminator since everyone experiences it differently and mot "combat vets" in the past ten years have not even been in any serious danger from enemy action. The highest ranking people in war, got that way in peace. And no one is measuring success or failure in war. Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22583491.post-81279074719103899322013-08-13T08:32:29.914-06:002013-08-13T08:32:29.914-06:00I agree with VD on this. The only way to shut the...I agree with VD on this. The only way to shut them up is give them what they want. Make an all female combat unit and send to the front. They will either prove they can do it or prove they can't.Giraffehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05556306156373942923noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22583491.post-91734401269357454472013-08-13T07:18:36.086-06:002013-08-13T07:18:36.086-06:00A few factual corrections:
1. COL Haring is one ...A few factual corrections:<br /><br />1. COL Haring is one of my classmates. I knew her as a cadet and she was never known for her intelligence. Yet, she made it to Full Colonel and I was asked to leave as a Major (then asked to come back, then asked to leave again).<br /><br />2. Audi Murphy did not have to carry an M-2 machine gun and ammo into battle. He found it there, mounted on a burning tank. The tank carried it.<br /><br />3. Murphy was also rejected for airborne training because of his generally weak appearance. But even in this condition, he was still a man and capable of carrying all the shit a WW2 infantry man had to carry including a full sized 30-06 battle rifle and ammo. When I enlisted at 17 years old, I was smaller than Murphy, qualified for Airborne training and assignment and routinely carried a a lot more than WW2 kit (but for less time).<br /><br />4. If you consider modern combat to be manning(womaning) a checkpoint to check ID's in a third world country, then it really doesn't matter if you use men or women.<br /><br />5. COL Haring's lawsuit was always about Col Haring. She wanted to be a general but had less chance without a combat brigade command and she couldn't have one of those as a woman. So she wanted to change the rules for everyone, just to benefit herself. This was never about women serving as infantry privates. It is about women serving as division commanders. Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com