Women in SOF

Women in Combat: Equal Rights for Few or Financially Sound for All?

Over the last two decades, the push for greater integration of women into combat-related jobs in the military has gained tremendous ground. The 1994 Direct Ground Combat Definition and Assignment Rule replaced the previous “risk rule” which “excluded women from units that had a high probability of engaging in ground combat” (Barry 20). Although more […]

The Fear That May Keep Women Out of Special Ops

Women are bound for perhaps thousands of combat roles amid a mandated, military-wide integration, but the armed forces’ most coveted jobs — including Navy SEALS and Army Rangers — could remain segregated, male-only preserves largely due to concerns about sex, according to former special operations troops. Some ex-military members contend sexual attractions and relations are […]

Women in the 75th: Strap On Your BFAs

I never thought that I would write a post like this, but this is getting absolutely ridiculous and I just can’t help myself. With the recent reports coming out of Washington that women will be trained as Army Rangers and Navy Seals as early as 2016, there are valid and ridiculous views being stated all over social […]

ADM McRaven: RAND & JSOU to Conduct Studies on Female SOF

US SOCOM Release SOF Warriors, Some recent media reports about the lifting of the combat exclusion for women have been confusing, so I want to clarify our plan for the USSOCOM enterprise. As you know, the SECDEF rescinded the 1994 Direct Ground Combat Definition and Assignment Rule.  Simply put, this means that women are cleared […]

Rangers and SEALs to Train Women By 2015/2016

AP just reported the Rangers and SEALs will be training women starting in mid ’15 & ’16 respectively. I hate to tell you “I told you so,” but I did. I wrote an article about how the military has integrated the sexes. Publicly, the military says “same standards,” but the practice is actually much different. […]

US Lags Behind Israel & S. Korea with Allowing Women in Spec Ops Units

Nobody likes change. We’ve done several posts about women in combat and Special Ops from a wide range of view points. We  even interviewed a female soldier attached to an ODA team in Afghanistan.  The issue has never been about women being able to meet the standard or do the job, I have no doubt […]

TF 160 SOAR Opened to Women

DoD announced 19 April that 6200 more jobs are being opened up to women. Included in the announcement are all TF 160 aircraft pilots and some maintenance and flight engineer positions. The latter also serve as door gunners. Besides the close combat TF160 crew have been involved in (e.g. aircraft shoot-downs in Panama, Somalia and Afghanistan), […]

Women Fail Marine Infantry Officer Course, Again

Results of the USMC’s second attempt to measure women’s performance in their Infantry Officer Course have been reported. The second experiment again consisted of two female volunteers attempting the Marine Corps Infantry Officer’s Course. Both women failed the course the first day when unable to complete an obstacle in the time allotted. In the first […]

The Inconvenient Truth About Women and Combat (Part 2)

Some of the more adorable criticism that part 1 of this article received was that I need to do some growing up.  That is cute and condescending all at the same time.  The thing is, I grew up in the Special Operations community during a time of war.  Like many others in Army Special Operations, […]

The Inconvenient Truth About Women and Combat (Part 1)

The new debate about women in combat positions is an argument that few seem to be able to think clearly about.  This post will contain some harsh language.  Consider it a part of the selection process  if you are a woman.  If you can’t handle it then you might want to look at another career […]