[Vision2020] You've come a long way, baby . . .

[Tom Hansen]

Courtesy of today's (April 29, 2016) Spokesman-Review.

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House committee votes to require women to register for draft
WASHINGTON – Women would be required to register for the military draft under a House committee’s bill that comes just months after the Defense Department lifted all gender-based restrictions on front-line combat units. 

A divided Armed Services Committee backed the provision in a sweeping defense policy bill that the full House will consider next month, touching off a provocative debate about the role of women in the military. The panel also turned aside a measure backed by Democrats to punish the Citadel military college in South Carolina for flying the Confederate flag. 

The United States has not had a military draft since 1973 in the Vietnam War era, but all men must register with the Selective Service System within 30 days of turning 18. Military leaders maintain that the all-volunteer force is working and the nation is not returning to the draft. 

The 32-30 vote Wednesday night came with a twist: The proposal’s author didn’t back it.

Rep. Duncan Hunter, a former Marine who served three combat tours in Iraq and Afghanistan, does not support drafting women into combat and opposes opening infantry and special operations positions to women. Hunter, R-Calif., said he offered the measure during the committee’s consideration of the policy bill to prompt a discussion about how the Pentagon’s decision in December to rescind gender restrictions on military service failed to consider whether the exclusion on drafting women also should be lifted. 

That’s a call for Congress, not the executive branch, Hunter said. “I think we should make this decision,” he said. “It’s the families that we represent who are affected by this.” 

At times, Hunter evoked graphic images of combat in an apparent attempt to convince colleagues that drafting women would lead to them being sent directly into harm’s way. 

“A draft is there to put bodies on the front lines to take the hill,” Hunter said. “The draft is there to get more people to rip the enemies’ throats out and kill them.” 

But if Hunter was trying to sway people against his amendment, his plan did not work. 

Rep. Jackie Speier, D-Calif., said she supported Hunter’s measure. “I actually think if we want equality in this country, if we want women to be treated precisely like men are treated and that they should not be discriminated against, we should be willing to support a universal conscription,” she said.

Rep. Martha McSally, R-Ariz. and a retired Air Force fighter pilot, said draftees aren’t exclusively sent to the front lines. There are plenty of other useful, noncombat positions for them to fill, she said.

Reporters pressed White House spokesman Josh Earnest on whether President Barack Obama would hesitate to sign legislation expanding the draft because it would mean his daughters would be required to register. Earnest declined to comment, citing lawsuits that have been filed against the Selective Service System over the exclusion. 

If an 18-year-old man does not register with the Selective Service he could lose his eligibility for student financial aid, job training and government jobs. Immigrant men could lose their eligibility for U.S. citizenship. According to the latest annual report, 73 percent of 18-year-olds registered on time during the 2015 fiscal year ending last Sept. 30. And the registration rate for all men aged 20-25 was 94 percent. 

Hunter’s amendment was part of a defense policy bill that authorizes defense spending for the budget year that begins Oct. 1. The committee passed the legislation by a 60-2 vote early Thursday. 

The overall bill cuts $18 billion from the wartime operations account to pay for weapons and troops the Pentagon didn’t request, a money-shifting strategy Defense Secretary Ash Carter condemned on Wednesday as a “road to nowhere.” 

The overall bill authorizes $602 billion in defense spending for the fiscal year that begins Oct. 1.

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Meanwhile, in the U.S. Army . . .

Courtesy of the Army Times at:

http://www.armytimes.com/story/military/careers/army/officer/2016/04/27/meet-armys-first-female-infantry-officer/83591066/

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Meet the Army's first female infantry officer

Capt. Kristen Griest, one of the first women to earn the coveted Ranger tab, will once again make history by becoming the Army’s first female infantry officer.

Griest is expected to graduate from the Maneuver Captain's Career Course on Thursday wearing the distinctive blue infantry cord, officials confirmed to Army Times.

"Like any other officer wishing to branch-transfer, Capt. Griest applied for an exception to Army policy to transfer from military police to infantry," said Bob Purtiman, a spokesman for the Maneuver Center of Excellence and Fort Benning, Georgia. "Her transfer was approved by the Department of the Army [on Monday] and she's now an infantry officer."

More women are expected to follow in her footsteps; the Army earlier this month announced that it had approved requests from 22 female cadets to enter as second lieutenants in the infantry and armor branches. Thirteen of the new officers will enter into the armor branch, the other nine will go infantry. After commissioning, the new officers must successfully complete branch-specific training before they will qualify as infantry and armor officers.

The service also opened an eight-week application window for female lieutenants who want to branch-transfer into infantry and armor. Qualified female lieutenants in year groups 2014 and 2015 of the Army Competitive Category, with second lieutenant dates of rank of Oct. 1, 2013, or later, can apply.

These moves are part of a multifaceted Army campaign to open all branches and specialties to women, as ordered by Defense Secretary Ash Carter in December.

Other initiatives include combat arms reclassification opportunities for enlisted women, and the opening of officer, warrant officer and enlisted assignment opportunities with the 75th Ranger Regiment, a unit previously closed to women.

The Army also has opened its storied Ranger School to all qualified soldiers, regardless of gender.

As it prepares to integrate its previously closed branches and specialties, the Army is using a “leader first” approach, with plans to put in place officers before assigning new enlisted soldiers to operational units.

This includes accessing female leaders from West Point, ROTC and Officer Candidate School this summer as the class of 2016 graduates.

On the enlisted side, at least three women have signed up to become infantry soldiers. They are not expected to start training until next year.

“An incremental and phased approach by leaders and soldiers who understand and enforce gender-neutral standards will ensure successful integration of women across the breadth and depth of our formations,” Army Chief of Staff Gen. Mark Milley previously said in a statement.

Carter on Dec. 3 announced his decision to lift all gender-based restrictions on military service. The move paved the way for women to serve in the previously all-male infantry, armor and Special Forces fields and opened nearly 220,000 jobs across the military.

“We’re not going to turn our back on 50 percent of the population,” Acting Army Secretary Patrick Murphy has said. “We are opening up every occupation to women. I think that’s pretty historic.”

The Army has already opened more than 95,000 positions and nine occupations to women, including combat engineer (12B) and cannon crewmember (13B), with these moves occurring between May 2012 and October 2015.

Griest and 1st Lt. Shaye Haver in August became the first women to graduate from Ranger School. A third soldier, Maj. Lisa Jaster, graduated two months later.

Griest, a 2011 West Point graduate, has since kept a low profile, shying away from media attention. That has not stopped fakers from using her name and photo on social media; a Facebook search yields at least a dozen fake profiles bearing her name. Some bear her name and Haver's photo.

Griest again declined interview requests.

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Capt. Kristen Griest, right, and 1st Lt. Shaye Haver, left, wear Ranger tabs after the Ranger School graduation ceremony August 21st at Fort Benning, Georgia. 

http://www.TomandRodna.com/Army_Times/CPT_Kristen_Griest.jpg

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Once again, members of the female gender, formerly referred to as "the weaker sex", can proclaim LOUDLY AND PROUDLY . . .

"I am Woman"
http://www.TomandRodna.com/Songs/I_am_Woman.mp3

Seeya 'round town, Moscow, because . . .

"Moscow Cares" (the most fun you can have with your pants on)
http://www.MoscowCares.com
  
Tom Hansen
Moscow, Idaho
 
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