Marines "Experimental Task Force" Unlikely to Change Reality
Under orders from the Department of Defense, the Marines have been conducting research on whether it makes sense to assign women to direct ground combat units. Partial findings released so far indicate that this is not a good idea. Enter the "Marine Corps Force Integration Plan," a recently established experiment that some advocates hope will produce something. . .anything. . .that supports the theory that women can "succeed" in the combat arms.
The Center for Military Readiness has produced a concise but comprehensive CMR Policy Analysis presenting the latest information about ongoing "research" on the misguided push for women in direct ground (infantry) combat. After two years of trying, results do not appear to fit the template the Pentagon had in mind:
Defense Department Deliberately Moving to Implement Policies Known to Harm Military Women
In January 2012, outgoing Defense Secretary Leon Panetta announced the Obama Administration's intent to push for "gender diversity metrics" in aggressive fighting teams such as Marine and Army infantry, armor, artillery, Special Operations Forces, and Navy SEALs. . . . Read MorePresident Barack Obama is pushing hard for women in direct ground combat units, to include Army and Marine infantry and Special Operations Forces. Under Defense Department mandates for "gender diversity," women will be incrementally ordered (not "allowed") into land combat battalions by January 2016.
Acquiescent military service chiefs keep insisting that training requirements will be "the same," implying standards will be as high as before. However, as the Center for Military Readiness reports in this CMR Policy Analysis, the fine print "catch" is hidden in plain sight:
Double-Think About Double Standards"Gender-Neutral" Training To Include Gender-Normed ScoresDuring the House Armed Services Committee's markup on the National Defense Authorization bill for 2014, committee members would not even consider legislation to preserve young women's exemption from Selective Service registration and a possible future draft. CMR has prepared this Policy Analysis to explain why this was a dereliction of duty in Congress, the Pentagon, and in the White House: