Panetta Approves Women In Combat But They Are Already There

As an old Army infantryman, I never supported the idea of sharing a foxhole with a woman. War is supposed to be men’s work. As Steve Martin once joked about outdoor activities, “Manly men doing manly things in a manly way with other manly men.”

When I became a police officer a couple of decades ago, I also had similar feelings about women as cops. Then came a zone partner I’ll refer to as “Bev.”

The call was a fight in progress. I arrived first to see two black men facing off with martial arts weapons. One was armed with a bow i.e. a long stick; the other had a pair of martial arts weapons called sai i.e. foot and a half long steel sword-like weapons.  There was also a large crowd of about twenty people watching the confrontation.

When I arrived, I was the only cop there. I drew my handgun and ordered the two men to drop their weapons. The man with the bow immediately dropped it and backed away with his hands in the air. The other man, who was wearing only a pair of shorts, looked at me with an enraged glare, turned toward me, and took up a fighting stance, holding the sai in each hand in front of him. He was sweating, his neck muscles were pulsating, and every other muscle in his body was taught.

I looked into his eyes and told him to drop the weapons. I also said that if he took one step toward me, I was going to shoot him. He didn’t move and only continued to stare into my eyes.

Just then, the man’s mother ran into the scene, wrapped her arms around her son and said, “Don’t shoot my baby!” At that moment, he lowered both of his arms. I suddenly caught a flash of blue out of my left eye. “Bev” came out of the shadows toward the man’s right side, knocking the weapons out of his hands.

I quickly holstered my handgun and joined the fray. During the struggle, the mother struck Bev in the face and the single fight became two fights. After a couple of minutes, I managed to handcuff the man, and Bev handcuffed the woman. The incident was over with no serious injuries to anyone, largely because of Bev’s quick and fearless maneuver.

Bev’s actions that day, along with another female officer who later helped me subdue a six foot seven inch, three hundred pound domestic violence suspect, convinced me that a woman could handle anything in the police world.

I still had reservations about women in combat until my service in the Iraq war and the story of Leigh Ann Hester of the 617^th Military Police Company.

On March 20, 2005, Hester was awarded the Silver Star, the nation’s third highest award for valor, following her actions during an enemy ambush on a supply convoy near Salman Pak, Iraq.

Hester’s MP squad was escorting a convoy when about fifty insurgents initiated an ambush with AK 47s, machine guns, and rocket-propelled grenades.

Hester led her fire team into a flanking position. From there, she and her squad leader, Staff Sergeant Timothy Nein, assaulted the enemy trench line with hand grenades, an M203 grenade launcher and M4 carbines. Hester herself killed at least three enemy troops. At the end of the battle, twenty-seven insurgents were killed, six were wounded and one was captured.

Hester was later awarded the Silver Star. Squad leader Nein eventually received the Distinguished Service Cross.

The moral of both these stories is that women are capable of fighting in war as well as on the streets of America. Just look at the women who serve courageously in the Israeli Army, as well as the American women who fly Apache helicopters and F16’s into combat.

Although times have changed, I still believe that women in the infantry will prove to be problematic. In harsh environments like the jungle or the desert, hygiene, privacy, potential male-female relationships, and natural physical limitations will likely be significant issues. And I’m sorry, but I’ll be terribly sad if they allow women in the Rangers, Special Forces, SEALs, or other special operations forces.

Leon Panetta has opened the door for women to join all military units that are subject to service in combat, and we should acknowledge that women are hardy souls who can possess just as much courage and determination as men – sometimes more.

But women in the infantry? Let’s just say this old soldier is glad he’s retired….

Charles M. Grist
Author of the award-winning book My Last War: A Vietnam Veteran's Tour in Iraq

Last Combat Brigade Leaves Iraq

This article from AOL documents the exit from Iraq of the last combat brigade, the 4th Stryker Brigade of the 2nd Infantry Division.

However, as long as one American soldier remains in Iraq, there will be an insurgent (foreign terrorist, disenchanted Sunni, or radical Shiite) trying to kill them. DO NOT FORGET THOSE TROOPS WHO REMAIN BEHIND.

It ain't over 'till the fat lady sings, i.e. until the last soldier leaves Iraq.

No matter what you feel about America's conquering of Saddam Hussein, the fact remains that we will ultimately leave a country that has been given a chance at liberty and self-determination.

What they do with that opportunity after we are gone is up to them.....

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Last US Combat Brigade Pulls Out of Iraq

Rebecca Santana, Associated Press

EDITOR'S NOTE: The 4th Stryker Brigade, 2nd Infantry Division was officially designated the last combat brigade to leave Iraq under Obama's plan to end combat operations in Iraq by Aug. 31. Associated Press writer Rebecca Santana joined the troops on their final journey out of the country.
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KHABARI CROSSING, Kuwait (Aug. 18) -- As their convoy reached the barbed wire at the border crossing out of Iraq on Wednesday, the soldiers whooped and cheered. Then they scrambled out of their stifling hot armored vehicles, unfurled an American flag and posed for group photos.

For these troops of the 4th Stryker Brigade, 2nd Infantry Division, it was a moment of relief fraught with symbolism. Seven years and five months after the U.S.-led invasion, the last American combat brigade was leaving Iraq, well ahead of President Barack Obama's Aug. 31 deadline for ending U.S. combat operations there.

When 18-year-old Spc. Luke Dill first rolled into Iraq as part of the U.S. invasion, his Humvee was so vulnerable to bombs that the troops lined its floor with flak jackets.

Now 25 and a staff sergeant after two tours of duty, he rode out of Iraq this week in a Stryker, an eight-wheeled behemoth encrusted with armor and add-ons to ward off grenades and other projectiles.

"It's something I'm going to be proud of for the rest of my life - the fact that I came in on the initial push and now I'm leaving with the last of the combat units," he said.

He remembered three straight days of mortar attacks outside the city of Najaf in 2003, so noisy that after the firing ended, the silence kept him awake at nights. He recalled the night skies over the northern city of Mosul being lit up by tracer bullets from almost every direction.

Now, waiting for him back in Olympia, Wash., is the "Big Boy" Harley-Davidson he purchased from one of the motorcycle company's dealerships at U.S. bases in Iraq - a vivid illustration of how embedded the American presence has become since the invasion of March 20, 2003.

That presence is far from over. Scatterings of combat troops still await departure, and some 50,000 will stay another year in what is designated as a noncombat role. They will carry weapons to defend themselves and accompany Iraqi troops on missions (but only if asked). Special forces will continue to help Iraqis hunt for terrorists.

So the U.S. death toll - at least 4,415 by Pentagon count as of Wednesday - may not yet be final.

The Stryker brigade, based in Joint Base Lewis-McChord in Washington state and named for the vehicle that delivers troops into and out of battle, has lost 34 troops in Iraq. It was at the forefront of many of the fiercest battles, including operations in eastern Baghdad and Diyala province, an epicenter of the insurgency, during "the surge" of 2007. It evacuated troops at the battle of Tarmiyah, an outpost where 28 out of 34 soldiers were wounded holding off insurgents.

Before the Aug. 31 deadline, about half the brigade's 4,000 soldiers flew out like most of the others leaving Iraq, but its leadership volunteered to have the remainder depart overland. That decision allowed the unit to keep 360 Strykers in the country for an extra three weeks.

U.S. commanders say it was the brigade's idea, not an order from on high. The intent was to keep additional firepower handy through the "period of angst" that followed Iraq's inconclusive March 7 election, said brigade chief, Col. John Norris.

It took months of preparation to move the troops and armor across more than 500 kilometers (300 miles) of desert highway through potentially hostile territory.

The Strykers left the Baghdad area in separate convoys over a four-day period, traveling at night because the U.S.-Iraq security pact - and security worries - limit troop movements by day.

Along the way, phalanxes of American military Humvees sat at overpasses, soldiers patrolled the highways for roadside bombs, and Apache attack helicopters circled overhead as the Strykers refueled alongside the highway.

Chief Warrant Officer 3 Gus McKinney, a brigade intelligence officer, acknowledged that moving the convoys overland put soldiers at risk, but said the danger was less than in past.

The biggest threat was roadside bombs planted by Shiite extremist groups who have a strong foothold in the south, McKinney said.

But except for camels straying into the road, and breakdowns that required some vehicles to be towed, there were no incidents.

The worst of the ride was conditions inside the Strykers - sitting for hours in a cramped space - and the temperatures outside that reached 50 Celsius (120 Fahrenheit).

The driver's compartment is called the "hellhole" because it sits over the engine and becomes almost unbearably hot. The vehicle commander and gunner can sit up in hatches to see the outside world. At the tail end are hatches for two gunners. Eight passengers - an infantry squad in combat conditions - can squeeze in the back.

Riding as a passenger felt a bit like being in a World War II-era submarine - a tight fit and no windows. The air conditioning was switched off to save fuel on the long ride south to Kuwait. Men dozed or listened to music on earphones.

When the convoy finally reached the sandy border, two soldiers, armed and helmeted, jumped off their vehicle and raced each other into Kuwait.

Once out of Iraq, there was still work to be done. Vehicles had to be stripped of ammunition and spare tires, and eventually washed and packed for shipment home.

Meanwhile, to the north, insurgents kept up a relentless campaign against the country's institutions and security forces, killing five Iraqi government employees in roadside bombings and other attacks Wednesday. Coming a day after a suicide bomber killed 61 army recruits in central Baghdad, the latest violence highlighted the shaky reality left by the departing U.S. combat force and five months of stalemate over forming Iraq's next government.

For Dill, who reached Kuwait with an earlier convoy, the withdrawal engendered feelings of relief. His mission - to get his squad safely out of Iraq - was accomplished.

Standing alongside a hulking Stryker, his shirt stained with sweat, he acknowledged the men who weren't there to experience the day with him.

"I know that to my brothers in arms who fought and died, this day would probably mean a lot, to finally see us getting out of here," he said.

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Well done, 4th Stryker Brigade.....

Charles M. Grist
http://www.mylastwar.com/