SPC Tinita Taylor: The Warrior Princess
A couple of folks have sent us a link to ARMY.MIL where they report that the first female soldier, Specialist Tinita Taylor, has “graduated” from the Jungle Operations Training Course in Hawai’i.
“I wanted to prove to the men that I can do what they can do,” said Spc. Tinita Taylor, Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 3rd BCT.
Completing the course was not an easy task for her. According to Taylor, the mental tasks were the hardest to overcome.
“I had to keep reminding myself ‘mind over matter’; my head and body had to work together to finish this,” said Taylor.
“My body held up, but telling myself I can do it is what I needed to do,” she continued.
The Caruthersville, Mo., native said she got her drive from wanting to be one of her childhood role models.
“By completing this course, I feel I am halfway to being that warrior princess I want to be,” said Taylor.
Enduring the course opened Taylor’s eyes to what infantrymen do, and she found a new respect for them.
Congratulations, Specialist.
But can someone tell me how this makes our military better able to face our nation’s enemies? I’m sure she had a lot of obstacles to overcome, but she used a lot of “I’s” in that statement. Now, if JOTC hasn’t changed since I went through (when mastadons still roamed the Earth) it is a unit course, not a course that tests the individuals, but rather a course that trains the team to function in a jungle environment. I went though it with my squad and my platoon. Granted there were individual skills that were trained but we were evaluated as a unit.
So, that makes me wonder how Specialist Taylor got into the course in the first place. And if they still teach the course and evaluate units the way they did back in olden times, how was that unit that she was attached to benefit from having her going through the training? Or is this just another school where you get another badge for the badge-happy Army?
Graduating from jungle school is just the beginning of what Taylor has in mind to add to her list of accomplishments. Next up is Air Assault, which she plans on attending later this year, and then it is on to Pre-Ranger and Ranger School.
“My goal is to be the first female Soldier to complete Ranger School,” said Taylor.
Any schools in your future that don’t have a badge involved? By the way, you have to go to through jump school before Ranger School, specialist.
Category: Military issues
The jungle badge.
Whatever.
If you can get a short tab, go for any other, right?
Is that course hard or something? Seems like a big fuss over a class. I received my jungle training living in the southern Philippines for 6 months…I wonder if that spc. Ever ate lizard…yummy
I found that monitor lizard was lacking when compared to monkey or fruit bat.
Oh man you ate the pterodactyls known as a fruit bat? Your crazy… You win.
I never felt it necessary to prove anything to anybody except myself.
Yeah, I was struck by her statement too. She wanted to prove to men? I just conducted a telephone survey of 128 male Veterans. 26% said “Jungle what?” The remainder said, “Call me when you have an issue I give a shit about.”
+10 AirCav.
I will send congrats to the young warrior princess and wish her luck … less is sometimes more when the PAO shows up!
Ranger School eh?
http://www.duffelblog.com/2014/03/female-army-ranger/
Warning – it’s Duffel Blog. ‘Nough said.
Okay so I am glad she made it through. Don’t know how the evaluation was done, unit vs individual. Something tells me she was a guaranteed pass for a “badge”. My problem with her self stated attitude is that she considers herself an “individual” rather than a part of the unit that accomplished this course. Her definition of being a “warrior princess” tells me she believes she was a princess before she enlisted and that will remain her attitude as long as she stays. You can bet she’ll be walking a marching with that left shoulder slightly forward to be sure everyone sees she is a “tabbed warrior princess”. She did it all by herself, right. The Army does not need “individuals”, they need team members.
Wooly mammoths had replaced mastadons back when I was an instructor at the USMC Jungle Warfare Training Center on Okinawa. We ran 2 courses: a short course for non-grunt units (pogues) and a longer course for grunts. The difference? pogues only did 1 day patrol and 1 night patrol. Grunts got to spend an additional week enjoying Northern Training Area. Individual skills training was pretty much the same: rope bridges, rapelling, land nav etc. Both course had a nice 3 mile ‘fun run’ through the Jungle Endurance Course at the end. We certainly didn’t train any “warrior princess”.
Fun times watching air wingers find the habu in the Pit and Pond! And for anybody who went through when I was an istructor: I’m sorry if I smashed your head into the culvert pipe on that obstacle.
Stacy, when were you there? My son taught at JWTC for a time.
93-94
OK, he was there much later than that.
told ya, wooly mammoths!
Easily the worst Marine Corps experience I had.
Being starved for a week is something I won’t forget.
J-DUB!
Jonn: Have they changed the requirement for Ranger School to require BAC now? Back when I was in, legs with Ranger tabs were not neccessarily common but they were not unheard of either.
A captain I worked for in Korea went through Ranger school as an LT and he said that he always thought the legs were “getting over” compared to the airborne qualified students because they (supposedly) got to rest while the airborne students were going through pre-jump.
The last time I saw a 11G (I think that is right) was in the late 90’s.
I can’t speak for personal experience, being neither airborne or Ranger tabbed, but I do know a guy in 3ID at Stewart who got his Ranger tab last year, and he is not airborne qualified.
Dunno if being a leg-Ranger was getting over … we had to do air assaults instead of jumping in. I’d rather jump — one bird I was bumped from (to go to another bird) did a “hard landing” in which the UH-1 was impaled by a pine tree. The pilot was severely injured (rumor was he died in the seat) and the Ranger student who bumped me got beat up fairly badly. This would have been in the Oct~Nov time-frame.
Hoo-ahhhhhhhhhhh
Oct ~ Nov 1980
The attitudes displayed here are why there was an article written about her. Just because she was a member of a team does mean she did not accomplish anything. By that standard no one should get recognized for anything, ever. I personally don’t give a shit what gender you are as long as you pull your own weight but that attitude is not exactly widespread among the lower enlisted and those who aren’t in a PC spotlight. If the training is hard and she is the first female to do why downgrade that? And lay off her on the “Princess Warrior” thing. The Army is full of pumped up males with their own cocky attitudes.
Don’t you have some dishes to clean or something?
Christina,
Save the drama for your Moma. The article was nothing more than a fluff piece to try to support the idea that females are fully capable of being successfully integrated as infantry.
…and some sammiches to make?
Hey Chris. She called herself the warrior princess. Everyone else referred to her as Tiny Tits Tinita. No lie.
Chris,
Use Vagisil … it might clear up what you have!
And if it does not … perhaps the refreshing scent will ease your mind!
Master Chief…You took the words right out of my mouth. Here-Here.
It is quite fragrante’!
let it go.
evetually that grain of sand will become a pearl……
I have a feeling this course is similar to the old Combat Lifesaver courses in their “rigor”.
Oh man, I remember the hell I went though at CLS. That shit was like the long walk in WV.
I am going to give her slack on the article. This was set up by the upper powers that be to follow the administrations line that females can do anything a male can do. This story was written before anyone was sent to the course. The article is P.C. public relations, written as the civilian leadership wants.
As for a JOTC in the Kawailoa Training Area, back in the day this was part of the normal field exercises by infantry units (straight leg). I do not know how good of a JOTC you can have in a place with no creatures that can kill you, no snakes and Oahu weather.
I did a JOTC rotation in Ft Sherman, Panama. 1993-ish.
Who do I contact to demand my badge?/SARC
Not sure what her original MOS was, but according to AKO she is assigned to 334 Signal at Joint Base Lewis-McChord.
I smell politics…there’s too much “first female” in this “new Army”. I’d venture that if she’s held to the same standard as her counterparts in the Q-course, her dreams of being a Ranger will end there. I’ll be very disappointed if any female qualifies for the tab, even though I’m sure it may sound sexist, it just means the standard has been lowered. The Q-courses are no joke for Ranger or Spec Ops. GI Jane is a myth.
“even though I’m sure it may sound sexist” New guy, huh? This place was nearly called “Rainbow Kisses” but the name was taken. Statements, however intended, are not tolerated if they COULD be perceived to be sexist, crass, rude, or–worst of all–intolerant. I’m sure Jonn will give you a pass, this one time–so long as you promise to rewatch the series of PPTs regarding political correctness entitled, “So what if he sticks his dick in another man’s butt?”
New guy? No, it’s called making a point without being ridiculous and condescending. I don’t troll comments, and as a vet I respect everyone else’s contributions and service. I hate to see the Army make things worse within it’s ranks than it already has. First it’s co-ed billeting, then it’s co-ed training, on to gays being accepted openly and having same-sex “partners” as dependents, and now small steps such as this in the march towards mediocrity. I really think that there has to be a stopping point to the EO show by tabbing those who don’t merit it but are as “firsts”. The Army is becoming a shell of the traditions and standards that made it the feared force it should always be.
I never see the ladies with a full kit. I wonder why? I mean everything; pack, weapon, ammo, water, radio, armor, satchel charge, ammo boxes, grenades, e-tool, etc etc etc. I never see the little darlings carrying bridge sections, sandbags, or running 90 lbs jack hammers (yeah, they still use those). I never see them doing anything but posing with a rifle and armor or receiving an award for being just as good as a man.
I want to see her do the six pull ups after the morning run in jump school. If so…good to go.
As for her Ranger School delusions…as Danny Zuckoin Grease would say:”Don’t make me laugh.”
Classic example of the feminization of the military AND social engineering.
A great feel good story…they are also called fluff.
She graduated. Great. What was the overall attrition rate?
Good on her to complete a school and have aspirations to do better. Motivation is one of those things that is lacking in today’s force and I think it is cool that she wants to try Ranger school.
Whether or not she LOMs or gets peered out for not carrying her own weight and then some is a different story though. I still don’t believe that females have the strength and vigor to last through the second FTX here in the mountains where I am currently an RI. I’m not sexist, but after seeing men become broken off before the end of day 2 of the FTX I have doubts as to whether her “warrior princess” attitude will last.
Also, airborne is not a pre-requisite for attending Ranger school. Legs who graduate are awarded the Golf identifier and normally after graduation, take the opportunity to walk on to airborne so they can become a Victor. This is for regular Army of course, every 75th guy who comes through is airborne qualified.
Coming from a guy who did Mountain Phase twice, I agree with your assessment. I have a hard time picturing the warrior princess humping the TVD with a full packing list.
I suspect she’ll be at Mackall for SFAS by next year… as for firsts, I am waiting for the first transgender Jungle Warfare Expert… warrior princess…whatevs