Military Lifts Ban On Women In Combat
WASHINGTON — Defense Secretary Leon E. Panetta is lifting the military’s ban on women in combat, which will open up hundreds of thousands of additional front-line jobs to them, senior defense officials said on Wednesday. The groundbreaking decision overturns a 1994 Pentagon rule that restricts women from artillery, armor, infantry and other such combat roles, even though in reality women have found themselves in combat in Iraq and Afghanistan, where more than 20,000 have served. As of last year, more than 800 women had been wounded in the two wars and more than 130 had died. Women have long chafed under the combat restrictions and have increasingly pressured the Pentagon to catch up with the reality on the battlefield. The move comes as Mr. Panetta is about to step down from his post and would leave him with a substantial legacy after only 18 months in the job. Mr. Panetta’s decision came after he received a Jan. 9 letter from Gen. Martin E. Dempsey, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, who stated in strong terms that the armed service chiefs all agreed that “the time has come to rescind the direct combat exclusion rule for women and to eliminate all unnecessary gender-based barriers to service.”
I got a bunch of emails about this story. Everybody saying that the feminists won. That our country is fucked now. I couldn’t disagree more. Women want to fight in wars? Knock yourself out. . The more the merrier. Now don’t get me wrong. If I was a dude I wouldn’t want a chick near my battalion. Like I’m already risking my life out here. Last thing I need is a chick driving my tank directly into a tree or gossiping to the enemy about our locaction because they’re on their period. No thanks. So what you got to do is just have all female units. Boom problem solved. That way no dudes have to fight with chicks and get killed because of their incompetence and feminists get to play war. It’s a win, win for everybody. Even the government wins. You can never have enough foot soldiers in a war. Just dump the chicks out on the front lines and see what happens. It would actually be kind of funny.
Renee outta be decent with the short range cannons na im sayin prez?
Finally this is the best chance for Neil to get offed.
9 am blog, shocked, KO barstool owns your ass chump
This will be an interesting experiment. Let’s see how it goes next time we have to go to combat on a larger scale. I mean, I’m sure making strategic military decisions based on hypersensitive political correctness and gender equality runamuck couldnt possible backfire? Right?
The one’s joining the service are big and butch and could easily take you one on one
China just called to say thanks for the land in 10 years
we are so fucked
This will last until a squad gets mowed down bc their female cover fire was too busy instagramming a pic of her combat boots.
Great troll blog, Pres. Love it.
Out of like 6500 deaths only 130 have been women.
Equal rights has single-handedly destroyed this country. Take KingBlackDude for example…
I love how the rational for all of this is that “in reality women have found themselves in combat in Iraq and Afghanistan, where more than 20,000 have served.” but then they go on to say: “As of last year, more than 800 women had been wounded in the two wars and more than 130 had died”
Only 130? If “in reality” they are part of the combat role then why is their death rate a fraction of the men who serve? This is stupid and even women in the military agree. They aren’t built for combat.
This gives new meaning to The Expendables.
“even though in reality women have found themselves in combat in Iraq and Afghanistan, where more than 20,000 have served.” The whole point is a realization that combat/noncombat isn’t a legitimate distinction anymore. No where has been it mentioned that less qualified female soldiers will be admitted to combat units in order to implement this policy.
One of the major injustices was that women were excluded from certain combat pay and veteran payments, even though many actually were involved in fighting. They already risk their lives, regardless of combat/noncombat distinction. Supply units are most targeted for IEDs and who serve in supply units? Women. Women also serve as EOD techs and medics. They provided combat support that in many instances ended up being combat. Say what you will about them, but they still wake the fuck up every morning in a combat zone and serve our country. That’s more than you can say you’ve ever done. 150 women have been killed and 1000 have been wounded. So is that because of their “incompetence?” Many women received decorations for valor in combat and receive the same training. They are still members of our armed forces, show some fucking respect for their sacrifice and bravery.
This comment will probably be voted down, but if you serve our country and are willing to put your life on the line, I respect that. Straight, gay, black, white, asian, hispanic, male, female, it doesn’t matter. If they can and will serve, god bless’em
^^^ dude this is barstool, go comment on nbcnews.com you cunt
rexisfat still on my dick i see
@hardwhite
Women only comprise 14% of the armed forces. Men comprise 86%. Do me a favor. Get a box of crayons, take the numbers (note that numbers are different than letters) do some math and get back to me.
Def put them all in the same group. Their periods will all sync up eventually. That’ll be interesting…
Def put them all in the same group. Their periods will all sync up eventually. That’ll be interesting…
Welcome to the 21st Century morons
Blackdude you blissfully ignorant slut..as a fan of barstool you should probably consider that for every beiber or puppy blog that you jerk off too there’s also a few poorly written blogs praising those who serve our country so that pieces of shit like you can spew whatever they want on the Internet
Bitches are going to get raped. Literally
The psychology behind women in combat lies more with the men than it does the woman. Women are natural care givers, which compromises their ability to kill when necessary. Men are natural hunters and protectors. If a woman is in harm’s way, which is the definition of combat, men are naturally wired to protect them more, which can compromise an entire mission. I’m not in the military, and I support women in the military, but certainly not in combat. Don’t worry, there are people who think about this stuff beyond “It’s not fair”.
I’ve got a scream’n eagle in my pants! What was this story about?
Women dont do shit in the Army everytime theres a detail for heavy lifting or any hard work they pick only males and most of the time females get the office jobs behind a desk doing nothing its bullshit
the1goodopinion , this is barstool, go suck a dick bro, i am all for the troops you cunt, go back to bed
I’m all for this as long as their physical exams and all other metrics are equal to what the men have to pass. No 8 lb shot put instead of 16 and 50 sit ups instead of a 100 bullshit.
Call me old school but there’s just some jobs women shouldn’t be doing, and this is one of them.
@joejohnson every one deployed to a warzone gets the same pay
I’m sure it’s an unpopular opinion but I’m kinda with JoeJohnsonBeans on this. Regardless of the job they are doing, women in the military still deserve our utmost respect. That said, if the concern is that they won’t be able to perform in combat as well as men, the answer is simple. Make sure all requirements are the same regardless of gender. Then you’ll have true equality and arguments that women aren’t as up to the task as men will become null and void
I highly doubt they are talking about your run of the mill female who is scared of spiders and takes pictures of herself for face book. There are a lot of chicks out there who would pummel any of us guys, trained fighters and killers who are way more bad ass than 99% of us on here could ever hope to be. In the words of Chris Rock “If they want to fight let em fight, cause i aint fightin. I don’t care if I see a Russian tank coming down Flat Bush Avenue, I aint shootin no body. Call me a faggot, when the wars over Ill be the faggot with 2 legs”
navy NFO here, and in the past 6 years ive met hundreds of females in the navy and marine corps, and there are beastly women in the military but probably less than 1% of them would come close to as physically capable as the bottom 1% of the men. If i were a badass on the front lines (which im not because im a pussy and wanted to chill in the back of a jet), I would hope these ladies will be held to the same physical standards going forward. Too bad it’s “not fair” to expect them to be able to do a few pull-ups
The military is not a social experiment. Read “We’re Not All Created Equal, Get Over It.” It’s a Marine Corps Times article written by a female Marine Officer.
Also, does this mean that women have to register for the draft now?
Pres you are a fucking asshole. So you call out anonymous “Patriots fans” on Twitter who are probably not from New England nor real Patriots fans and instead are fake fucking trolls, and say how despicable it is to make fun of a guy’s dead brother, but then you insult women in the military? I’m not saying they will EVER be on the same level as men in the military, let’s not kid ourselves here. But there ARE women in battle zones – they DO risk their lives – they DO train way the fuck harder than you and DO get deployed to foreign countries where they could be blown up at any second and don’t see their families or their children for years. They still fight for your right to sit here and insult them you fat ignorant motherfucker. If you assist in giving me the right to do whatever I want to do and say whatever I want to say and generally just be an American, you earn my respect regardless of what I think of your gender or race. I usually get sarcasm but this just pissed me off
I’m cool with it as long as they don’t drive any vehicles that my tax dollars pay for.
@kickthepuppy your rational is correct, make the standards the same. Unfortunately the standards are not the same.
I was in the military and the physical requirements on women are a joke for any athletic male… this means that the top performing females in an infantry unit are at best just average or slightly below average when compared to the men. Is that who you want covering your ass?
Oh shit, Davey Pageviews lost the critical dirrrtydot demographic. He’s screwed now.
Dude, take a chill. He wasn’t insulting women veterans. I think you need to head on over to KO Barstool and relax.
I’m all for jokes, but I hope none of you seriously think that letting females in combat is going to jeopardize security of the United States. I have seen strong men, and weak men. Strong women, and weak women (physically speaking). It’s great that we have a chance to go to combat, but in reality… is this even news? Women have made their way into combat for many years now, on supply routes, helicopter pilots, medics, translators etc. I’m proud to serve in the US Army, as a MEDEVAC pilot, not a paper pusher. Viva la fucking stool.
Agree with @blackhawk. Plenty of women in non-combat roles see combat regardless. This won’t have the widespread effect people think it will, it seems mostly political. Most combat units will submit a letter of exception to this policy and most likely will receive it. Also, a lot of you seem to romanticize the image of the military and/or soldiers/marines. There’s a high percentage of fat, blubbering, zero-accountability, worthless men serving now. Adding women to a few units will not substantively effect the combat effectiveness of most, if not all units.
One reason to consider why women haven’t not been allowed into combat MOS’s is due to the inherent nature of these jobs. Infantry units, scouts, snipers, etc. may be mostly self-sufficient for days, maybe even weeks at a time. Men can physically be fine without proper hygiene for long durations, without any real negative effects. Women on the other hand, after a short period of time with no proper hygiene, well…have problems.
I’m not a doctor, I just played one for this post. Also served as an 11B.
Former E-5 in USMC
1) The Pentagon announced it will create gender neutral requirements for combat. Women will be held to the same standards as men if they choose such a role.
2) @hardwhite: You are a disgrace to the military if you did serve. No veteran would ever trivialize the loss of life by any person or any group. I wouldn’t want a guy like you in my squad.
3) To those who have not had the privilege and honor to serve: Shut up. Women in uniform have bigger sacks than you and I’d trust them over some keyboard heroes.
The military has been used as a social experiment; see, desegregation of the Armed Forces.
JSB: I don’t think I could ever be a sniper. Not mainly because of hygiene, since baby wipes do well for a while…. but because my huge boobs may just get in the way of making that perfect shot. Or it may even be my poor driving that doesn’t even allow me to get on location. =/
@dingdevil, no disrespect intended and my apologies if you took offense to anything I said. I have the utmost respect for military men as women alike and I am humbled by the services you all provide and the sacrifices that you make to protect the freedoms of millions of people that you’ve never met. I certainly hope that nothing I said caused you to think otherwise and thank you for your service
CO: Private! Dig your motherfucking foxhole, you worthless piece of shit!!!!
PVT: Um, like, why do you talk to me like that? It’s kinda rude, ya know? I’m totally unfriending you if you keep this up. It’s not like there’s a gigantic rush to do all this digging! And why is it called a foxhole, anyway? Like, do foxes actually dig holes? I don’t know. I think I am gonna go tweet about this.
These chicks are going to need thick skin ASAP just for the conversations that go on in combat units. Stupid filthy shit we talk/joke about would get most people fired in a civilian job.
this is ridiculous… when was the last time YOU considered joining the military pres? Fucking stupid
Hey Retahded…that’s clearly what you are if you think me asking Pres not to disrespect those who serve our country is being a feminazi you dick licker. People act so fake about military respect…I don’t care who you are, if you protect my rights in an honorable way, you get my respect. I hope your life comes down to a woman saving you…
I actually just got off the phone with a usmc recruiter, now i’m not so interested
T-O T-O I just broke a nail!!
Here is why you cannot have women in the military…..
First off talk to anyone from any branch… they are raging whores… litterally collect money and fuck the enitire unit…
My personal experience
I was in the navy on air craft carrier. There was a chick who fucked everybody on the ship… long story short she ended up getting so depressed about being such a whore that she jumped into the back of a helicopter rotor and killed her self… she kept a diary and details of every one she fucked on the ship… needless to say this was a massive ordeal for the ship, the crew, the captain, and the navy.
furthermore the whole respect the military nonsense is propogated by the media. In reality military get insane benefits and do next to nothing, most never getting deployed… the ones that actually do deploy dont parade around beating their chest about the military… and with all do respect a lot of people who joined had nothing going for them and really had no choice.
@blackhaw101….from one vet to another, thanks for your service. Former 11charlie here. Please post pictures of you ” huge” tits. Thank you very much. 11C out-
It’s weird you don’t see too many women tweeting about this equality.
11charlie, this is 15alpha… gunna have to give that request a big negative. My comments are purely for humor. My tits are nothing to write home about, and funny enough my driving skills aren’t too bad. Thank YOU and all the other vets on here very much. =]
15A out
“if I was a dude…” yea, prez? is there something you’d like to tell us
Dude are you serious? All female unit outside the wire get’s in TIC guess what? Everyone around them that isn’t in a situation goes to them and all of a sudden you are putting your life on the line cause a bunch of incompetent females fucked up and couldn’t suppress the enemy like they are supposed too. They think to much on there own. They lack the ability to do what they are told without thinking about your own life. Some people call it being “brain washed”, I call it being a Marine. We will see how long this lasts.