Me and the guys have decided to take a look at the greatest hits of the year. We’ve decided to showcase the top ten posts, and they’re ranked by number of views.

In June of this year Jack Murphy interviewed a female CST. Women in combat has always been a controversial topic. I’ve always thought that women can do the job but they must be properly integrated.  This would involved separation from male counterparts in many situations (e.g. all female Spec Ops teams, all female sub crews etc.) to avoid the basics of human biology and what happens when you put men and women together in close quarters.

Another issue that causes major morale issues is that senior leadership will pressure integration to the point that standards are initially lowered until quotas are met. We saw this very thing happen in the aviation community (I saw it myself when I was an aircrewman). This results in a guy that finishes top in his class not getting jets, or someone getting a third chance in the training squadron that normally would have been pulled from the program.

Women are just as capable in mental capacity and often this overrides the physical strength argument. Women in Special Ops? We say it’s about time we got with the rest of the world.

Enjoy number 6.

Brandon

A Female CST and Special Forces Enabler Speaks Out

First could you explain some of your background to us. Years in service, rank, MOS, deployment locations, units deployed with, other pertinent details…

I spent 12-years in the Army Reserves (1982-1994), took a 14-year break, and joined the National Guard in 2008. While in the Reserves, I served basically as a generator repair tech, and when I joined the Guard, I reclassed as an MP with a focus on combat operations (no L&O beyond MP school). My civilian profession was in law wherein I worked as a Paralegal. After approximately 12-years as a Paralegal, I went back to school to complete my BS program and received my degree in Criminal Justice. Following the completion of my BS program, I spent nearly a year on the South West Border Mission through the Joint Narco-Terrorism Task Force. Additionally, I possess a minor in legal studies and a BS in criminal justice.

My military career can be broken down as follows:

1982-1985 – Assigned to the 50th General Hospital out of Yakima, WA as a generator repair tech.

1985-1988 – Assigned to the 461ts Engineer’s out of Cheyenne, WY as a pipe layer.

1988-1994 – Assigned to the 403rd Combat Support Hospital out of Phoenix, AZ, mainly as a driver’s training instructor and generator repair tech.

2008-Present – Assigned to the 856 MP Company out of Phoenix, AZ as an MP 2011-2012 – Served as a CST assigned to 3SFG in Afghanistan

The training I received during my first three-years back in the military proved to be invaluable during my deployment as an SF enabler as did the training I received at Bragg in preparation for my deployment. The training I received at the unit level includes but is not limited to:

  • CQB/Room Clearing
  • Search & Seizure
  • TCP/Check Points
  • Combatives
  • UH-60 Insertions/Extractions & Patient Hot Loads
  • Various Small Arms & Crew Serve Weapons Systems (M4, M9, M203, M249, M240B/L, MK19, & .50 cal)
  • Reflexive Fire Drills
  • Mounted & Dismounted patrols/IMT
  • ASV (M1117) Training (train the trainer)
  • Drivers Vision Enhancement “DVE” training (train the trainer)
  • Limited K-9 Training
  • Limited EOD Training
  • Blue Force Tracker
  • Mine Sweep (train the trainer)
  • Certified Squad Designated Marksman (only female) in my BN
  • Information Exchange Program with Kazakhstan Nationals/AZ SPP in both AZ and Kazakhstan
  • CLS

Following A&S, the training I received at Bragg in preparation for my deployment included but is not limited to:

  • Weapons (M4, M9, M203, M249, M240B/L MK19, .50 cal,)
  • Dismounted patrols/IMT
  • Vehicle Training (MATV, RG33, RG31)
  • Rollover Training
  • Palantir, CIDNE, Share Point
  • CERP
  • Culture and Language (Pashto)
  • Tactical Questioning
  • Tactical Movements
  • General Medical
  • Communications (Thales)
  • Combatives
  • Scenario training
  • Reporting (Sitreps and Storyboards)

While at the firebase, I also received limited training on the Mini Gun, awesomeness!

My current rank is SSG/E6.

The deployment I recently returned from was my first and I was deployed to Afghanistan (southeast). Though I cannot disclose whom I was attached to, I can say I was attached to a 1st Group ODA for a brief period of time and then a 3rd Group ODA for the remainder of my deployment.
Read the rest here: http://cms.sofrep.com/8339/female-cst-special-forces-enabler-speaks/