DOD: Now That Women Can Serve in All Combat Roles They 'May' Need to Register for Selective Service

[Vigilante]

Wonder how that will go over with the DemocRATS "WAR ON WOMAN"?

CNS News ^ | 12-4-15 | Susan Jones
Following his announcement that he is opening all positions in the U.S. military--including all combat positions--to women who can meet the standards, Defense Secretary Ash Carter was asked on Thursday if that means women will have to register with the Selective Service, just as men must do. "It may," he said. A reporter asked Carter, "Mr. Secretary, does this decision now lead to a -- a greater debate about whether women need to register for Selective Service?" "It may do that, Phil," Carter replied. "That is a matter of legal dispute right now, and in fact, litigation. So...I don't know...

 

[Auld Phart]

I'm all for it.

 

[bucs90]

Well......it's anti male discrimination to NOT make them. If they can serve in every role a man can....but you say only men can be forced into service....that's clear discrimination.

 

[Stephanie]

that should go over real big. that Obama he can't seem to get enough American people on some sort of list, except we can't talk about a Muslim being put on some list. ObamaNation= Not a shred of hope and the change is marching us towards a communist country

 

[PaintMyHouse]

DOD: Now That Women Can Serve in All Combat Roles They 'May' Need to Register for Selective Service

Fine by me...

 

[TNHarley]

They better. Equality and all..

 

[Fueri]

of course they should register in that case.

careful what you ask for and all that.

not that I see the draft ever being implemented, and it drives up costs, but it would seem to logically follow the decision.

 

[waltky]

Granny woulda joined the Navy Seals - but she didn't know how to swim...

Navy Preparing to Open SEAL Screening Process to Women
Dec 08, 2015 -- The U.S. Naval Academy is preparing to open its screening process for Navy SEAL training next year to women who are juniors at the academy, the superintendent said Monday.

Vice Adm. Walter "Ted" Carter told the academy's Board of Visitors at their quarterly meeting that the school is waiting for specific guidance from the Navy before definitely opening next spring's screening. He noted it could take longer before female midshipmen will take part in the rigorous 24-hour marathon screening process. "We'll be ready to put women through the screener as early as next year," Carter said. "I don't know that we could move any faster, but it could be longer depending on what the details of the policy decisions are." The superintendent's comments come less than a week after Defense Secretary Ash Carter announced the military will open all combat jobs to women.

The academy, which has Navy SEALs on its staff, conducts the screening on its grounds in the spring and fall. It tests physical, mental and teamwork abilities. The screening is a gateway to additional opportunities each summer at Basic Underwater Demolition training, which is conducted in the Naval Special Warfare Center at Naval Base Coronado-Naval Amphibious Base in California. If the screening in Annapolis, Maryland, is opened to women next year, female midshipmen in the Class of 2017 could be the first to graduate from the academy to go on to become members of the elite naval commando force. Last year, the academy had about 100 male students who were initially interested. The top performers in the screening are selected for further training in California the following summer. The school had 38 SEAL spots this year.

The superintendent said the academy expects to have female students interested in participating, based on comments students have submitted to an anonymous online academy bulletin board. "We know that there's a warrior mentality within the men and women here, so I fully anticipate we'll have some that are interested," he said. Col. Stephen Liszewski, the commandant of midshipmen, said the academy should have a better feel for interest next semester, when the school conducts a poll among students. "In every warfare community or specialty here at the academy that's been opened, there has always been interest from female members of the brigade," Liszewski said, noting that female students wanted to serve aboard submarines when the Navy opened them to women in 2010.

The superintendent said he is confident the academy has female students who can succeed at becoming SEALs. "Based on the talent that I see here, the physical attributes, the performance in our physical training scores, the performance on the field of sport, I'm very confident for the women that truly want to do this we'll have some that can do it," he said. Liszewski noted that a female student last fall scored at the top in an explosive ordnance disposal screener, which has some similarities to the screener for SEAL training.

Navy Preparing to Open SEAL Screening Process to Women | Military.com

See also:

US Navy's Top Officer Sees Technological Gap 'Starting to Open'
Dec 08, 2015 | The Navy's top officer said he sees a widening gap between the service's performance and its potential -- but also opportunities to move ahead quickly with technological advances.

Speaking at the U.S. Naval Institute's annual Defense Forum on Monday, Adm. John Richardson said the sea service today finds itself in a challenging position, with financial constraints, limited buying power and key global competitors, including Russia and China, who are quickly developing parity in terms of ability. As technology develops at an exponential rate, Richardson said he sees the Navy lagging behind. "If you see the gap between potential in performance and where we are in delivering performance, that gap is just starting to open," he said. "It's not a huge gap right now; it's probably small enough that on our best days we can convince ourselves we're doing OK. But you can see, going forward, that that gap is only going to widen at ever increasing rates."

Despite this troubling outlook, Richardson said he saw ways the service could move faster in developing key capabilities, including its unmanned carrier-launched aircraft and in testing technologies through fleet experimentation. "It is possible, if we are sort of united in this effort, to come up with sort of an 'HOV lane' if you will, that can fast-track some really mature and right ideas -- the right types of technologies," he told reporters following his address. "Once we see that happen … then more and more people can start to gradually move over to the streamlined way of buying." The Navy's Unmanned Carrier-Launched Airborne Surveillance and Strike, or UCLASS, system, he said, was one candidate for a faster development path, he said.

The service's plans for carrier-launched drones have been embattled by red tape and capability requirements. The UCLASS is expected to come online in 2025. "I talk about a quick learning cycle going forward, I think [UCLASS is] a prime candidate for that," he said. "Trying to get something out there, unmanned, so we can learn how to operate an unmanned aerial vehicle from a carrier … I think that this UCLASS program and other unmanned technologies are sort of primed for this type of program."

Richardson also said he'd like to see more experimentation with gear and systems in the fleet so that the Navy could harness the knowledge and instincts of the sailors who will use the equipment. More fleet experimentation would be a key step in accelerating development, he said. "The real magic happens when you put [technology] with the developers and they meet the sailors out there and they watch their idea come to life," he said. "The amount of creativity out there in the fleet is tremendous."

US Navy's Top Officer Sees Technological Gap 'Starting to Open' | Military.com

 

[JimBowie1958]

This is just nothing more than one more step at destroying all cultural differences between men and women, the vaunted goal of unisex laws for all.

I 100% totally disagree with drafting women and I will assist any female relative of mine in avoiding the draft and speeding them out of the country.

We should not draft women and that there were roles in the military that women could not serve has allowed women to not be registered.

 

[waltky]

This is just nothing more than one more step at destroying all cultural differences between men and women, the vaunted goal of unisex laws for all.

Uncle Ferd waitin' till dey got unisex showers...

... den he gonna join up.

 

[Claudette]

I'm all for it.

So am I.

If women want combat rolls the same as men then they should also be willing to get drafted like men.

If the draft is ever used again that is.

 

[PaintMyHouse]

I'm all for it.

So am I.

If women want combat rolls the same as men then they should also be willing to get drafted like men.

If the draft is ever used again that is.

Does a combat roll come with combat coffee and combat jelly?

 

[Claudette]

No but it does comes with bullets and the possibility of death.

 

[PaintMyHouse]

No but it does comes with bullets and the possibility of death.

That's not nearly as appetizing...

 

[Auld Phart]

No but it does comes with bullets and the possibility of death.

Bummer

I'm hoping to stay on a lead-free diet

 

[theDoctorisIn]

It's a moot point, since there will never again be a draft in this country.

 

[American_Jihad]

The day islamic radicals get a hold of them will be the day we go after the ones who sent them there...

Putting Military Women's Lives on the Line
The key data Obama's move to force women into combat roles ignores.
December 7, 2015
Arnold Ahlert

In a move that reeks of political correctness, Defense Secretary Ash Carter announced Thursday that all combat positions in the U.S. military will now be open to women, with no exceptions. "They’ll be allowed to drive tanks, fire mortars and lead infantry soldiers into combat,” Carter declared. "They’ll be able to serve as Army rangers and green berets, Navy SEALs, Marine Corps infantry, Air Force parajumpers and everything else that was previously open only to men.”

As the Center for Military Readiness (CMR) explains, Carter could only make the change by overruling the best professional advice of the U.S. Marine Corps “in matters involving life, death, and national security,” and “by breaking his own promise” to base his decision on the quality of scientific research behind the military services’ recommendations. The Marine Corps had requested some exceptions to the policy, but Carter declined to honor them. “The important factor in making my decision was to have access to every American who could add strength to the joint force,” he insisted, further stating the decision to do so was based on empirical analysis of the data following a three-year review by all armed services branches.

CMR president Elaine Donnelly disputes that assertion, noting that Carter promised to base his decision on "the analytic underpinnings and the data supporting them.” On that basis, Donnelly added, “Secretary Carter must assign greater weight to Marine Corps empirical evidence than he does to wishful thinking, unsupported speculations, and ‘mitigation myths.’” CMR further explains Task Force tests were created to test the hypothesis that “an integrated unit under gender-neutral standards will perform equally as well as a gender-restricted unit.”

Not exactly. The Marine Corps Test and Evaluation Activity (MCOTEA) report, a 33-page memo with attached documents, was signed by Brig. Gen. George W. Smith, Jr., Director of the Marine Corps Force Innovation Office. It was designed to analyze the collective performances of units because Marines operate as such. Moreover the analysis emphasized the unwavering focus considered the benchmark of achieving the most combat effective force.

Integrated units were found lacking in three areas. Female Marines demonstrated they were capable of performing physically demanding tasks, but not at levels commensurate with their male counterparts, measured in terms of performance, fatigue, workload, or cohesion. With very few exceptions gender-integrated units also performed at lower levels with respect to time taken to complete tasks, move under loads and achieve timely efforts on targets, when compared with male counterparts. And finally, it was determined that the greater the gender integration, the more these shortfalls were “magnified.”

In terms of Combat Performance Readiness, all male units out-performed integrated units in 69 percent of ground combat tasks with the greatest physical discrepancies occurring in “specialties that carried the assault load plus the additional weight of crew-served weapons and ammunition.” Cumulative Impact of Injuries categories revealed women’s disadvantage in upper and lower body strength resulted in higher fatigue levels and greater incidents of over-use injuries, such as stress fractures.

Yet perhaps the one stat the reveals the political nature of this exercise was an Army Survey taken in 2013 of the service’s nearly 170,000 women: less than 8 percent who responded to that survey wanted a combat job. Moreover, that survey was followed up with a series of questionnaires sent to women on active duty, in the reserves and to Army National Guard members. Again, only 7.5 percent of the 30,000 women who responded indicated their desire to obtain jobs in infantry, armor, artillery and combat engineering.

Regardless, the Obama administration is moving forward with the program, getting mixed reviews in the process. “This is a unilateral decision by the secretary of defense for purely political reasons,” said Rep. Duncan Hunter (R-CA), a member of the Armed Services Committee who served two tours in Iraq and one in Afghanistan. "What is it going to do to our ability to be lethal at the small-unit level? It degrades that ability,” he added. Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, (D-NY), a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee disagreed. “This will strengthen our armed forces, and it builds on a history of honorable and courageous service by women throughout the military,” she countered. Judy Patterson, CEO of the Service Women’s Action Network was thrilled with Carter’s “momentous decision.” “We salute his leadership on this issue, and look forward to working with him and the service branches to create full combat integration in 2016,” she said.

...

Such denialism goes hand in hand with progressive attitudes regarding gender integration. The Obama administration pursues diversity while ISIS pursues the destruction of our nation and Iran pursues a nuclear weapon. And once again, the administration’s timing is impeccable: one day after the deadliest terror attack since 9/11, the president chose to advance his social engineering agenda and degrade the nation's military preparedness. That’s because progressives would rather protect multiculturalism, diversity and political correctness than the lives of their fellow Americans.

Putting Military Women's Lives on the Line

 

[waltky]

Uncle Ferd says womens always cost more than ya think...

Opening Marine Infantry Jobs to Women Will Raise Recruiting Cost: Rand
Dec 08, 2015 | Opening infantry jobs to female Marines could cost the Marine Corps nearly $2 million per year in additional recruiting and retention expenditures, according to a new study published by the Rand Corp.

The study, commissioned by Marine Corps Combat Development Command, examines all the implications of opening all-male Marine combat jobs to women. Like the other services, the Corps is now preparing to do just that in accordance with a mandate from Defense Secretary Ashton Carter that takes effect at the start of next year. The 215-page report examined the practices of foreign militaries; the experiences of women in male-dominated fields like law enforcement and firefighting; the history of gender integration within the U.S. military; and a variety of literature on the topic. The Marines could be successful at integration, the report finds, as long as the service manages expectations, takes appropriate proactive steps, and monitors the effectiveness of its approach. But the transition will involve one-time and recurring costs.

Because female Marines have been found to complete infantry training with lower success rates than their male counterparts, and because they are predicted to spend fewer years in infantry units, the integration of women will result in a smaller Marine Corps infantry, the study finds. To maintain the infantry at its current size, the Corps will have to invest more to either bring in new recruits or retain talented Marine grunts. Those costs could total $1.8 million per year, the study concludes. "Recurring costs could also include additional physical conditioning time as necessary, lost time necessary to recover from increased injury rates, as well as any other alterations to training or continued implementation of policy changes," the researchers wrote.

And even with all combat fields open, data suggests the number of women in Marine infantry jobs will remain small, the report concludes. The Corps would need to recruit 100 female grunts per year to build an infantry that is 2 percent female, assuming optimistically high boot camp and infantry training graduation rates. "We caution in the report that ... it would not be surprising if we have low numbers of women," the report's head researcher, Agnes Schaefer, told Military.com. "I think that [Carter] got at that issue. He said there will be equal opportunity, but not equal representation."

Because of this, the Marine Corps will have difficulty in developing "critical mass," or large enough groups of women in combat units to avoid tokenism and discourage discrimination. The report suggests that the Marines consider designating a specific infantry battalion to receive the first group of female Marines or using lateral moves to place more female officers and enlisted leaders in certain units to serve as role models. Finally, the report recommends that systematic monitoring take place, including a comprehensive evaluation at the five-year mark after integration, so that the Marine Corps can assess its success and make course corrections. Even gender-neutral physical standards should be frequently monitored and revised, the report recommends.

MORE