This Is The Army, Ladies

November 3, 2007

For reasons unknown, Marie Claire magazine has decided to run an article chronicling 3 female’s that volunteered for Military Service and their tribulations during this time of war, titled Life as an American Female Soldier.

In the article we read of one who signed up for the College Payment benefit, another who says she joined the Army out of High School because she didn’t fit into any cliques and “started drinking, smoking, and taking tons of meds” because a Master Sergeant tried to place her hand on his penis and an Iraqi Security Guard asked her to become his third wife, which caused severe depression and PTSD and another who says she and her female roommate would hold music and dance parties at night with men from the unit, and then would have to sleep with her back to the wall in case they returned to rape her.

Not exactly what I would refer to as a representative cross section of generations of women who have served in the United States Military Forces and performed magnificently over the years. I still have to give these 3 credit for serving, though, something many men cannot bring themselves to do. And yes, many men will also join for the same wrong reasons these women gave.

Of the three females listed, I did not read of one who said they joined the Army to serve their country or out of a sense of duty and honor. Perhaps that is why the article seemed centered on “female soldiers deal with issues men don't even think about.” The issues? “You can't wear earrings. Makeup can't be excessive. There probably aren't many times you can feel like a girl. You had to wait in long lines no matter where you were: in the mess hall, bathroom, shower”

Welcome to the United States Army, ladies. The fallacy seems to be that some, men and women both, feel that the Military is just a Social Club for easy free benefits from the government. Nothing could be further from the truth. You all were fed a line of bull of an easy free trip somewhere, especially when we are at war.

None of what I have yet to say should be misconstrued to say that women can’t be in the Army or that they must stay at home. Several women have performed magnificently in the past and present, while others seem to feel their gender should matter and it should be easier for them. Tell that to our enemies that only see an American uniform and if a woman in it, easy prey for their pleasures while in captivity.

It is too easy to look back and place blame on the Clinton administration for their push for Gender-Integrated Basic Training on the Army, Air Force, and Navy, but it started long before they were in office. The Clinton’s only accelerated it with only the Marine Corps resisting the push, earning them the label of ''extremists'' who were at risk of ''total disconnection with society'' from Clinton’s former Assistant Secretary of the Army, Sara Lister. That remark led to her premature resignation shortly after.

While I cannot fully place the blame on Clinton for The Feminization of the U.S. Military, it was during his administration that many began seeing the Military as more of a social club for free benefits and less as what it is there for, to fight wars. It was under their administration that the Army began it’s ill-fated “Army of One” advertising concept, replacing the earlier “Be All That You Can Be.”

As General George S. Patton said on June 4, 1944, "An Army is a team. It lives, sleeps, eats, and fights as a team. This individual heroic stuff is pure horse shit. The bilious bastards who write that kind of stuff for the Saturday Evening Post don't know any more about real fighting under fire than they know about fucking!"

That old “Brown Boot Army” attitude has been pretty much eliminated from the public psyche throughout the Clinton years and well into the Bush years. Perhaps that is what led the 3 women in the above article to believe they were simply going off to summer camp instead of fighting a war.

We can also see how the fallacy of this attitude towards our Military has affected recruits by looking back to Pfc. Jessica Lynch and the hype launched about her, not by the Army, but by the media eager to prove their liberal notions of a “kinder gentler Army” correct. We also see it in a statement from the parents of Spc. Jamaal Addison, killed in the same ambush where Ms. Lynch was captured, “[Jamaal] enlisted in the Army 18 months after graduating from...high school in 2000. He did not join to fight. He realized his obligations. But he wasn't a fighter.”

Unlike when I went through Basic Training prior to Viet Nam, when we all had training in Infantry tactics to at least some extent, the members of this ill-fated squad didn’t and even in the case of Ms. Lynch, her weapon was so dirty it would have jammed had she tried to use it.

What received nowhere near as much media attention was the Silver Star Awarded to Sgt. Leigh Ann Hester for valor in combat. Although Ms. Hester also entered the National Guard under the Clinton administration, she received a more rigorous training as an M.P. Unlike the 3 in the article, Sgt. Hester says, “Your training kicks in and the soldier kicks in. You've got a job to do, protecting yourself and your fellow comrades.” I might add, provided you receive the training in the first place.

Historically, women have played a very major role during our wars and helped achieve victory. Without their contribution we could not have won any of them. Even though women weren’t previously sent to the front lines in Combat Units, many also paid the ultimate sacrifice, giving their lives in the wars.

None that I ever heard of or met whined about “not feeling like a girl” as they knew where they were and what they were to do. Many others today similarly ‘suck it up’ knowing their sacrifices are for the protection of their families, friends and fellow citizens and just like their male counterparts, willingly place themselves between our enemies and us.

For those who feel that relaxing training standards to allow more females into Combat Roles brings about equality, don’t be too surprised when our enemies treat you as equals, meaning when you pick a fight, you get a fight.

Welcome to the United States Army, ladies. In achieving your equality, you had to give up your superiority.

Lew

Cross posted to A Newt One