Panetta opens combat roles to women

zboy1 · Post by **zboy1** » January 23rd, 2013, 2:13 pm

http://news.yahoo.com/ap-sources-panett ... itics.html

WASHINGTON (AP) â€” Senior defense officials say Pentagon chief Leon Panetta is removing the military's ban on women serving in combat, opening hundreds of thousands of front-line positions and potentially elite commando jobs after more than a decade at war.

The groundbreaking move recommended by the Joint Chiefs of Staff overturns a 1994 rule prohibiting women from being assigned to smaller ground combat units. Panetta's decision gives the military services until January 2016 to seek special exceptions if they believe any positions must remain closed to women.

A senior military official says the services will develop plans for allowing women to seek the combat positions. Some jobs may open as soon as this year. Assessments for others, such as special operations forces, including Navy SEALS and the Army's Delta Force, may take longer.

The official said the military chiefs must report back to Panetta with their initial implementation plans by May 15. The announcement on Panetta's decision is not expected until Thursday, so the official spoke on condition of anonymity.

Panetta's move expands the Pentagon's action nearly a year ago to open about 14,500 combat positions to women, nearly all of them in the Army. This decision could open more than 230,000 jobs, many in Army and Marine infantry units, to women.

In recent years the necessities of war propelled women into jobs as medics, military police and intelligence officers that were sometimes attached â€” but not formally assigned â€” to units on the front lines.

Women comprise 14 percent of the 1.4 million active military personnel.

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Looks like the majority of comments are against this idea, even some of the women. Of course, you got the mangina's and feminists supporting it too.

The_Hero_of_Men · Post by **The_Hero_of_Men** » January 23rd, 2013, 5:53 pm

Personally, I am against this idea, but if women want to be equal to men, then put them in the same situations such as getting shot and dying and tortured as POWs... I repeat; I am totally against women being in combat.

Andrewww · Post by **Andrewww** » January 23rd, 2013, 8:35 pm

I am against it either. Not because I don't think women shouldn't be target practice for the Taliban just like men but if I was in a life or death combat situation I'd rather have a guy covering my back not some feminazi who thinks all men are expendable.

abcdavid01 · Post by **abcdavid01** » January 23rd, 2013, 9:02 pm

You know, I just...I don't even...this country's going to Hell.

Contrarian Expatriate · January 23rd, 2013, 9:04 pm

Women receive the same military pay as men, and they are promoted even faster.

This is only fair, so get the body bags ready!

Ghost · Post by **Ghost** » January 23rd, 2013, 9:31 pm

advantage · Post by **advantage** » January 24th, 2013, 7:04 am

Complete bullshit. We are going to pretend that women are physically and mentally ready for the rigors of combat. There is no way that women can be special operations troops without tremendous changes to physical requirements.

Welcome to the new US, where we are all special and equal, and everyone gets a participation medal.

zboy1 · Post by **zboy1** » January 24th, 2013, 11:28 pm

General admits failure in Lackland sex scandal; 32 alleged culprits
http://www.latimes.com/news/nation/nati ... 0101.story

Air Force chief: Scope of the Lackland sex scandal is â€˜stunningâ€™
http://thehill.com/blogs/defcon-hill/ai ... z2IyCKxLUk

How will the military handle female combat soldiers when they can't even control sex scandals in Basic training LOL?

jamesbond · Post by **jamesbond** » January 25th, 2013, 9:43 am

Contrarian Expatriate wrote:Women receive the same military pay as men, and they are promoted even faster.

This is only fair, so get the body bags ready!

I agree, women want equal rights, so they also need to have equal responsibility! I say let them fight on the front lines and get their arms and legs blown off like men do.

There will be more body bags coming back from wars around the world and more women coming back in those bags as well.

Welcome to "equality of the sexes" ladies!

ladislav · Post by **ladislav** » January 25th, 2013, 10:14 am

The Iranian army is getting ready for a rape fest.

lone_yakuza · Post by **lone_yakuza** » January 25th, 2013, 10:41 am

Ghost · Post by **Ghost** » January 25th, 2013, 2:40 pm

Tsar · Post by **Tsar** » January 25th, 2013, 3:15 pm

ladislav wrote:The Iranian army is getting ready for a rape fest.

Just what I was thinking. When the feminist American women go into foreign combat they won't be in America anymore. They will be in "No Feminists Land" and they won't have the same rights or protections as the Muslim women. When they go into hostile territory, especially as soldiers, they are just asking to be captured and turned into sex slaves. Most men shouldn't want to even touch American women, especially the masculine, tomboy, feminist types that would want to be soldiers, but there are desperate men everywhere and some aren't picky.

Taco · Post by **Taco** » January 25th, 2013, 3:43 pm

"Promoting", American women to the front lines is an excellent idea.

abcdavid01 · Post by **abcdavid01** » January 25th, 2013, 4:07 pm

What does this say about Testosterone levels in our women? That explains a lot, even physical attractiveness (lack of).

Panetta opens combat roles to women

Panetta opens combat roles to women

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