G.I. Jane...

[jeff-10]

I guess I will weigh in here with my 2 cents. I served 3 years as a 11 Bravo. 2 years as a SAW gunner and 1 year as a fire team leader, from age 18-21 in both the 101st and 2nd Inf division. In both of those I served in air assault infantry battlions which is essentially light infantry. The majority of my peers were my age and my squad leaders were maybe 25 at the most. PL was maybe 23 and the PSGT was probably 29 to 32. The reason they use young men for line infantry is not for judgement or decision making abilities it is because they treat you like a pack mule. Between armor, weapons, LBV and rucksack the loads would easily exceed 100 lbs and our movements were routinely over 20k at a time. Not something your average young woman could handle easily, but it was something you average 19 year old male 11B had no problem with most of the time, other than some griping.

As a side note at Ft Campbell my unit would often be assigned to be OPFOR for PDLC. The PDLC candidates had to do a 12 mile road march out the training area and back to the barracks. We would march out with the students, many of whom were female. A lot of the female soldiers were unable to carry there basic load the 12 miles and we would often help them with it.

Now all that being said I believe that woman could basically do every job in the military except infantry and special operations. If it wasn't for women it the military I am sure we would have had a draft already.

 

[ksnecktieman]

Scrambled letters? PDLC? Maybe PLDC? For Primary Leadership Development Course?

 

[JJNA]

Their actions were in keeping with the highest traditions of the United States Armed Forces.

Damn right. Valor is valor. Male, female. Doesn't matter. It should be celebrated and honored.

But I do not think that we can then generalize such episodes into service-wide practices.

By the way, there is a movie that I would like to compare to "G.I. Jane" quite often. It is "Courage Under Fire" with Meg Ryan. Now, holdings the merits of the movies as films or replications of reality aside, I personally liked the latter film better.

It showed what "warrior mentality" was all about. Courage, sacrifice and calm leadership from a seemingly ordinary person (in this case a woman) rather than all the Sheba the Queen of the Navy SEALs routine.

 

[jeff-10]

Scrambled letters? PDLC? Maybe PLDC? For Primary Leadership Development Course?

Yah my dyslexia kicking in again.

 

[280PLUS]

For the record...

From a 5 year Vet whose duty certainly wasn't as difficult as some to all you Vets here who made a lifelong commitment to our nation's security.

THANK YOU!!

 

[280PLUS]

Mideast Stars and Stripes
May 4, 2005
Marine Raid Breaks Gender Barrier
By Sandra Jontz, Stars and Stripes
KARMAH, Iraq — Lance Cpl. Erin Libby doesn’t want to be treated the same as her male Marine Corps counterparts. But she does want to be treated as an equal — even in combat.

In a way, she got her chance last weekend when Marines from the 3rd Battalion, 8th Marine Regiment led a raid into the city of Karmah in search of high-value targets and hidden weapons.

“We’re out here, and we’re rocking on the front line,†said Libby, a 21-year-old from Niceville, Fla., who pinned on the rank of lance corporal during a break in the mission.

In all, 14 women from Combat Logistics Battalion 8 were called away from their usual jobs of supplying ammunition, food, water, fuel and mail for the three-day offensive that kicked off in the pre-dawn hours Saturday about 15 miles northeast of Fallujah.

Cultural sensitivities precluded male Marines from searching women, so the female Marines were meant to deflate fears of Iraqi men and women, said the battalion executive officer, Maj. Larry Miller. It was a first in Iraq to have female Marines embedded at the lowest levels of infantry companies and working alongside their male counterparts, said Chief Warrant Officer 2 Jill St. John, 39, an embark officer with CLB-8.

“This is history. This is huge for us,†St. John said. “I’ve been in the Marine Corps for 18 years, and this is my first opportunity to be out with an infantry company. Even five years ago, the Marine Corps wouldn’t be doing this. This is a major change in how we think women can be used in the military.â€

While female Marines were used in similar fashion during missions in Afghanistan, they were not fully integrated with line companies, St. John said.

“It wasn’t quite as dynamic as this. They’d wait at a camp in the rear and were called in when needed, often called in for resupply,†such as bringing in food and water.

“I’m so sick of hearing females can’t do this and females can’t do that. Blah, blah, blah,†said Cpl. Rachel Bergstrong, 20, of Cumming, Ga. “We’re in it as much as the grunts, and we love it.â€

The battalion’s Lima and India companies absorbed the women into their ranks, giving them the primary mission to search women and children suspected of hiding anything. But the female Marines’ presence was not intended to show a softer side of the Marine Corps, said Capt. Mark Liston, commander of India Company.

“They’re still a fighting force for us,†he said. “With them, we can grab a wife [of a suspected insurgent], for example, put the screws to her, and find out where the husband might be hiding. And while it hasn’t been used here, [the insurgency has] been known to use female suicide bombers,†Liston said.

But there were times in which the softer side appeared in both the male and female Marines. When they weren’t raiding homes and businesses, the Marines were on humanitarian missions, handing out food, water and toys, especially to the hordes of children who flocked to the streets when the Humvees rolled in.

“Whenever I read about these humanitarian missions, I always thought it was so cheesy,†Libby said after tossing out handfuls of stuffed animals. “Now I’m the one sounding cheesy, but I like this. It makes you feel good inside.â€

They’re often referred to as the WMs, or women Marines. They hate it, and the crass distortions of the acronym some say they’ve heard.

“We’re Marines, bottom line,†said Cpl. Dawn Lansberry, 31.
“I’m t here to prove a point,†Libby said. “A lot of males think females are weak. It’s time to shine, and I’m going to leave here golden.â€

 

[DRZinn]

the crass distortions of the acronym some say they’ve heard.