Tammy Grace Barnett; Army’s first female enlistment for the Infantry
I’ve tried to avoid writing about young Tammy Grace Barnett from Robeline, Louisiana only because I don’t want to jinx her chances to be one of the first infantry-persons in the Army. She took the oath last week, according to the Army Times;
Barnett initially visited Army recruiters in November, she said in an Army news release. She told TV station KSLA that she’d planned to enter the military police ranks, “but infantry is similar, and they are more on the front lines, like law enforcement here, and I said that’s what I want to do.”
Well, I’ve never seen MPs road march 25 miles to the scene of a crime carrying on their backs enough equipment to sustain them for a week and then engage with the perps for however long it takes to subdue them. But, I guess Tammy will learn that there is a difference. She’s a former police officer, so I’m sure she knows how to motivate herself enough to graduate, I just hope her body holds up.
Me, personally, I wish her a lot of luck and good health. I was a 128 pound private when I went through, so i know how tough it will be for her.
Category: Army News
Well informed that one is.
Yes Apples do taste like Oranges.
175 in 205 out. We were a bunch of stooopid f-ups and you know the old saying.
You are either going to be smart or strong.
Yes, it is. The commitment also seems strong. I do wish her the very best. If she can get through training, she deserves the title. But there should not be any reduction of standards. I don’t think most women would want there to be a reduction of standards. But, then, there are the SJWs.
I was 129 pounds when I shipped to Parris Island. Three months later I left weighing 148. Let’s not discuss how much I weighed at retirement.
Into boot 163 and came out 181. Went from slinging bags of lime and manure for hours on end to a much less strenuous lifestyle. As another stated, don’t ask what I weighed upon retirement. Wish I could do it all again.
Funny, I went in the Navy weighing about 154 and came out of boot camp weighing 118! Near as bad as Marine Corps boot lol
Went in at 162, came out at 147. Must have been all the running.
I went in at 165 and came out 155. Never have I eaten more food in a three month period either.
The recruiter really pulled a fast one on her. I spent many a cold night humping 50 pounds of crap up and down hills and being more than willing to trade it for a 12 hour shift checking IDs at the front gate.
I was just thinking, she went in to the recruiter wanting to be MP and the recruiter told her, “Have I got a deal for you! Just like being am MP and even more!”
I wish her all the best, but she’s gonna get her eyes opened real wide, real fast. I’d like to see her make it without any alterations to Infantry School standards. Not betting that way though.
This old perv would definitely hit it, even if it took some Viagra. Course I KNOW there are more than a few others who would do the same.
Jarhead, I think you would hit a snake if I held its head. LOL
She won’t last a week if the Drill Sergeants maintain Infantry standards.
From the Army Times article;
“The 14-month delay “is to allow the Army to properly prepare for new trainees by having trained female officers and [noncommissioned officers] in position,” ”
I’d say your “if” is a pretty big one.
She wants to be the first female 11B. She will either be that or the first female 11B failure. I’m sure that none of her instructors will think that the Secretary of the Army and even the White House will be paying attention and that she will be treated exactly the same as the male candidates. Really. The thought will never enter the instructors’ minds. Really. If she’s butt, they better hope she quits cause they sure ain’t gonna boot her.
She has that “deer in the headlights” look and there’s a big ol’ Army 5 ton truck bearing down fast with a load of Infantry Basic.
14 months of Delayed Entry is a very long time. Let’s hope that nothing changes between now and then and she is able to be successful.
When I decided to leave the Guard and go active way back when, I initially was going to be on delay with the Air Force for 7 months while waiting for a school slot. After 3 months I went back and said “never-mind” and went active Army instead.
Unless things have changed since Hackbeas recruiting, DoD policy is that Delayed Entry Program is not to exceed one year. 14 months is long time to change your mind.
I’m wondering if they can/will assign her to a Reserve unit to drill with before she reports to training? This would help her get a little bit prepared and also keep her close in case of second thoughts. I know the Army NG used to do this…
As is the norm, Hack Stone has spoken true:
From the current DD Form 4 (Oct 2007)
a. FOR ENLISTMENT IN A DELAYED ENTRY/ENLISTMENT PROGRAM (DEP):
I understand that I am joining the DEP. I understand that by joining the DEP I am enlisting in the Ready Reserve component of the United States (list branch of service)_____________________________
for a period not to exceed 365 days, unless this period of time is otherwise extended by the Secretary concerned.
My guess is that the “Secretary Concerned” has done his thing. If not, she has possible bad contract and can change her mind with no legal ramifications.
I’m no fan of this concept as I think it’s fucking stupid on a variety of levels, but now that it’s here I’m not wishing any ill will towards the young trooper and her intentions. The road to hell is paved with good intentions, here’s hoping you find your way to success regardless of the SJW noise in the background.
Good luck Ms. Barnett.
She’s no trooper. She’s not even a trainee. She’s a 25-year old woman, said to be a former police officer and reported to be an 11B because she will be the first female 11B, if she sucks seeds. Or succeeds. I forget which.
reported to be an 11B wannabee
I wish the lady luck. I’m thinking she may well need it.
I’m thinking reality will creep in and she won’t make training day one for Infantry
….maybe not even basic training day 1.
This should never have been mentioned, until after she graduates. If she graduates. The fact that she compared the infantry to police work, and that she let her enlistment become news, makes me suspicious that she doesn’t have a CLUE what she’s gotten herself into. There are too many ways she can crash and burn, and all she’s done is opened herself up to public humiliation should she fail.
If she gives it her all and her best, I might disagree with you that she will be as badly humiliated as you might think. All of us, Type A personalities included, knew other young troopers that could not cut the mustard and failed. Soon gone and forgotten in most cases. Now if they try to make special accommodations for her to pass “just because”, then that might be a different story.
Yes I said this before if we would just shut up about it and let it roll and see if she makes it then maybe release it. The Navy did that with their special programs (diver, EOD, UCT,SAR and Riverine)when females first joined those communities and know one paid attention. The problem is the politicians and the media. The SEALs say they are going to keep it all on the down low and we should do this for all of them, but we know this will not happen.
They are setting her up for failure by putting this out. Remember they did the same thing for that dumb ass 12B.
Your welcome to pound a Picket Pounder for 72 hours during a AA defense at NTC/JRTC anytime. Its part off job not shown by recruiters. But do miss the Bangalore breech on a trench line with the Infantry.
Drop your frags in boom and roll in.
What’s a ‘picket pounder’? I’ve laid a fair amount of concertina wire and apron(?) wire without even gloves, built bunkers with PSP and a ton or two of sandbags, humped tank ammunition, used a jackhammer, and a number of other jobs. It’s what 11x do when we aren’t ‘working’.
And you are right, it’s not part of the job shown by recruiters.
They set her up for failure by opening up 11B to females. She’s going to come out of this injured. I guarantee it.
Yes I’m with you they set the hole thing up for failure. I don’t think they can cut it day and day out by know means. I am just saying they do not need to make a big PAO deal out of this shit. So know when she drops she will be a failure in the public eyes. If they wouldn’t say shit just let it go and when they fail well they fail just like anyone else and let it go. It took almost 8 years for one to pass Navy EOD and 10 for Navy UCT, but the Navy Kept it all down low even when they passed know one knew and this is what the SEAL’s say they are going to do. I have ponded ton of the Picket Pounders and filled many sand bags and I’m just a Combat Support guy but we build defensive positions all day and night and it sucks help build many of the Combat Out Post and improve them so you guy’s can try to live better out there.We fill most of the HECOS and place T-Walls I get it and do understand defensive combat is not offensive.
If she fails, but gave it her best shot nobody should ridicule her. There’s no shame in failing if one fails doing the best one could at that time.
Unfortunately, her current analogy is flawed and unless she takes on a more realistic view of the task and takes steps towards meeting that challenge head on, she’s going to go in at a disadvantage.
Oh Tammy…stand by by for a reality check.
..and I’d hit it!
‘Course you would IDC! Who else do you think I was referring to? Hell man, you were probably trying to spank your monkey before you got through the first paragraph. Here I am running my mouth and already have two pages of Farmer’s Co Op News stuck together!
OK, IDC, is there ANYTHING you wouldn’t hit? LOL She is certainly pretty.
On a side note, if she IS a LEO, I’m hoping she will pull me over on a trip through her town. I’m thinking I’ll be needing to be frisked. Extensively. Over a period of several hours. I’ve been a bad boy.
SARC, you’d hit a Kohler drain if nothing else was available. You’d probably hit the tailpipe on my Escape, too, never mind the turkey baster.
Still love you, stud.
She’s a FORMER Police Officer for a reason …
Up next.. the apartment complex summer lifeguard tells us she’s going to kick ass in Amphibious Reconnaissance School….because it’s just swimming.
Unless she is injured and medically discharged, she’s already made it. As long as she doesn’t do anything to actually get into trouble, its a done deal.
Can 11B AIT be completed if the solider has a pregnancy profile?
Part two: Imagine a blue shoulder cord on a maturity uniform at AIT graduation.
‘maternity.” Fixed it for you.
And you still have hairy, dragging knuckles.
In a related story, the Army releases a new MOS sub specialty: 11R Company Clearing Barrel
ASI-1S Sandwich Specialist
I’m not sorry. Somebody was going to say it!
As a very curious former Airdale Sailor, I would like to know how many men fail infantry training.
When they do fail, what branch of the Army do the end up in? Clerical?
Only if they can pass the words per minute typing test (true fact) in AIT.
Radio Maintenance failures would move across the grinder from A Company to B Company, and depending on the needs of the Marine Corps and attitude/aptitude of the Marine, they may get a slot for Communication Center Operator, Field Radio Operator or cable dog. Or, they could end up in a completely different occupational field. I saw a few rocks end up in Motor Transport or Heavy Equipment Operator. It didn’t turn out too bad for that Heavy Equipment Operator. He had a tour on embassy duty and the drill field, and retired as a MGySgt.
They end up serving the “needs” of the service…could be truck drivers, base transportation, whatever MOS has a lower physical requirement that they can meet as well as meets their ASVAB scoring…least that’s how it used to work…but that was during the 70s..my current experience is rather obviously limited.
I know I would’ve failed Infantry training, that’s why I chose Signal! Still came out with a 60% disability. Didn’t think that one all the way through.
What MOS were you, that you got a 60% being Signal, of all things?
I was Signal (31E, Field Radio Repair) as well, and I got my 10% from a PT run accident.
31Q, 31M, 31R, 31W, 25W. TRC-170’s destroyed the back and Iraq smoke tore up the lungs
Back is 30 and both knees are added gradis at 20 each. Tinnitus for all is an easy 10. Any ear drum bleeding adds future 10 as hearing disapates. Hanging out at TAH and reading/commenting is another 20 in the PDTS area.
Coconut flashbacks 200%.
Putting up with shit from you GUYS is another 10%. I’ll head over to the VA and ask for an upgrade.
Only 10%? I guess we’ve been slacking!
At Ft. Sill they threatened to send us to cook school if we washed out
My infantry AIT company had zero washouts, that was 1971 Vietnam was on, so maybe the standards were less than today’s 11B
I hope she makes it. I just can’t see a women doing the shit we did in the bush. I know it kicked my ass!
I wish her luck if she can hang to standards. Hang strong!
Oh, I think there is some dumbass that can loan a “woobie” in the field. I cant stress dumbass strong enough. ARCOMS for all, YAY.
I am not a big fan of the left turn we have taken with respect to training. Furthermore, I am not happy that you can show up on Monday and be called Charlie and on Thursday be called Charlette …
But, I do sincerely wish this future Soldier luck and if she is the one, I hope she and the instructors do it right.
Out!
Stop the trooper abuse! There are trainees. There are soldiers. There are troops. There are troopers. Viva La Difference!
Off topic a little. Maybus is at Camp Pendleton talking (indocating the Marine Corps Os on acpecting Females in combat MOSs. He has already been to Marine’s Eastern Bases with his wrong order . Joe
She’s in for a rude awakening.
I remember my first little taste of what it was like being in the Infantry. Parris Island field week. Full pack, maybe everything including weapon was about 80-100 pounds.
Packed it up put it on and after 50 yards I thought Oh my fucking God! they really dont expect us to carry this shit for 5 miles.
They did. That was in retrospect a light load and shirt distance.
She will do fine.
There will come a day when people will wonder what all the fuss was about.
Only time will tell, Lars. Let’s not forget that she’s a FORMER Police officer with 14 months of DEP. Remember the 12B Female that went AWOL? That could happen. She SAYS that she is intent on attending and completing training, but I say DEEDS, NOT WORDS.
BTW, just what kind of “research” are you trying to do here with TAH?
Hi Lars.
Be carful their is blood in the water.
She might do fine, if you define fine as being awarded an 11 series MOS. But, I can guarantee that, in 10-12 years, she will have significant knee, hip, and back issues, earlier and more significant than her male counterparts. She’ll be collecting a 30%+ disability long before the men, and probably would have been physically fine after 20 years if she had gone the MP route.
Possibly sooner, Bobo. Physiological differences make women in general far more susceptible to major knee injures (e.g., ACL tears) than men.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/05/11/magazine/11Girls-t.html
That has been my experience Hondo.
Women have differences in architecture of body systems, physiology and the physical forces applied to their bodies produce different effects as a result.
It’s actually a great thing for EMS, orthopedic surgeons, primary care providers, physical therapists, pharmacists, medical supply/device manufacturers, etc.
That’s strange. Women figure skaters have fewer injuries in their sport than men do. I wonder if that has anything to do with a slightly wider platform for landing a triple jump.
Interesting question.
I don’t know much about figure skating, but I do recall seeing the men lofting the women more so than the women lofting the men.
If I have time I’ll see if I can find any ACSM stats on that.
Quick scan of a few peer review articles doesn’t seem to show that result…especially in tendonitis, stress fractures and long bone fractures….hmmmmm
It’s probably less publicized when women get a skating injury than when men do. I’m not referring to pairs skating, just singles. However, women don’t generally get pulled groin muscles from doing quad toe loops like Elvis Stoyko did. And only 6 women have consistently landed triple axels in competition. But it seems to me that men are more likely to pull a hamstring on a landing than women.
Really Lars? You show up here in the early hours of the morning and post what for you is a pretty mild comment and completely ignore the other two heated posts that you are more likely to jump into?
Just admit it Lars. You got pretty twisted when you felt like people were taking advantage of your learning disability. How’s it any different to twist up a veteran that may have a hard time with it for a school paper?
More Lars Hypocrisy.
Lars a hypocrite? What else is new.
He just figured that if he waited late enough, he would get his crap at the bottom of the page without rebuttal. It’s just his extra-juvenile way of trying to get the last word.
What are you talking about? I am a hypocrite because I posted a mild comment?
Nice spin.
No you’re a hypocrite because you’ve played the it’s not fair to make fun of me because of my learning disability and then intentionally twisted up a group of people that it’s a big deal for. Ain’t no spinning that Lars. It is what it is.
I knew someone that went to infantry OSUT in late 2013. The drill sergeants couldn’t yell at them for many of the things that would’ve gotten trainees yelled at before. Soldiers were posting on facebook, from their phones, while still going through OSUT, etc.
I don’t know if this has became the norm, or if they shifted back to the way things used to be done. A former drill sergeant in my unit told me about how he and the others were required to “sign off” on “met the standards” criteria for the trainees that weren’t trained to the standards we were trained on.
So, who knows. If she meets the standards, either traditional or current, she could be making a different kind of news.
If what I’m hearing, from those with relatively recent experiences at Benning, is still the norm, the chances are good that she’ll make it through provided all other things remain equal.
My buddy’s son just finished OSUT in December and he had a bunch of high speed DIs in that Company. They weren’t allowed to squeak out a fart without permission. No cell phones, no half stepping, etc. Old School!
If what I’m seeing in the Army today is a predictor, this is going to be more of an exception rather than the norm. My unit sent Soldiers to basic and AIT recently, and they were able to post on the internet while still going through basic.
On top of that, Fort Benning has this big worry about suicides that there are efforts to “reduce” the causers of “depression”.
The Army today is where the Navy was 20 years ago. We had to deal with integrating women into the combatant side of the house. Although they said that standards weren’t going to drop, they dropped like the stock market on a bad day. So did discipline, military bearing, etc. This means that what I’m seeing in a non combat arms arena today is increasingly going to be like what combat arms is going to be like, from basic on up.
Either way, if she meets the old or new standards, and other things remain equal, she has a shot of completing OSUT. Key is other factors remaining equal.
Barnett is from Robeline, a tiny little speed trap (literally) with one main road in Natchitoches Parish, LA. It is in this place that Barnett served Robeline’s population of about 170 people as a police officer. The police force there, including its chief, numbers three, give or take one. The per capita annual income in Robeline is around $10,000 and police officers can earn as mush as $21,000 after several years. They start at about $15,000. I thought it worthwhile to check this out inasmuch as every story about Barnett says that she WAS a police officer and quote her as saying that she worked on the “front line” of her community. Robeline’s income is derived nearly exclusively from speeding tickets. I now better understand why Barnett wanted to be first in something. She has now banked that and has had her 15 minutes of fame. My money says that she withdraws before her BCT start date in June of 2017. History was made when she signed up for infantry. History does not require that she even enter the Army at all.
Might could be this is the truth of it…time will tell whether this woman was serious or full of shit…the cynical, jaded, VOV is thinking you might now be on to something….
The optimistic, bright-eyed VOV was hoping she was being honest. I can respect honest even in failure.
I remember being bright-eyed and optimistic. It was a Thursday and lasted about 15 minutes.
Wednesday. 12 minutes.
While I commend her for being the “first” to volunteer, as a 12 year Infantryman all I have to say is be careful what you wish for. As a young prospect sitting in MEPS I was offered every MOS under the sun available for initial enlistments. I chose Airborne Infantry, and it took me quite some time to convince the folks there that I really wanted that over all the other non Combat Arms MOS’s I was being offered. Not bragging here, just setting the scene for the next 12 years of lack of sleep, injuries, physical and mental hardships, and fuckery in and out of the barracks that separated the strong from the weak among us. (Somehow I hung in there). I saw incredibly strong men crack, weak men become strong, and all of us become Brothers. I have a lot of issues with Females being allowed into the Combat Arms. Probably too many to list, but the bottom line to me is that this whole situation has been brought about for all the wrong reasons. “Fair” is not synonymous with “Right”. The fact that females have never had to meet the same physical standards as males is not Right, nor is it Fair. In the Infantry, there is no place for double standards, or adjusting the standards to allow the weak link to fit in. I want to know, and no one has ever explained this; What is it that bringing females into the Combat Arms will do to increase the Combat Effectiveness and Lethality of the U.S. Army? No one has answered that, not the Sec. of Defense, Army, or their boss in the White House. Last thing in my rant. (Maybe) They are going to brining in Female NCO’s and Officers to the Infantry ahead of female recruits. How in the hell would you like to be the NCO who loses their slot to a female who has never served in the Infantry? That is fucked up as a football bat. I’d rather go into combat by myself than with some POG who gets shake and… Read more »
A certain “lady’s man” former POTUS probably said it best: “Life is not fair.”
Anyone trying to make life “completely fair” is IMO doing nothing more than standing directly in front of the exhaust of a high-speed ventilation blower – and urinating directly into same.
Right there with you, especially with the APFT. As I said before, it’s going to be hard for the 1SG to explain to the male 11B that his 16 min run got him a no-go, but the 18 year old female who crossed the finish line with him is going to get an APFT Excellence Badge.
I also had a similar argument as yours when the submarine pipeline opened to women. It wasn’t that there weren’t enough qualified male sailors volunteering for and completing the training pipeline. It was the fact that it was male only that was the issue. To correct that, there are now significant changes that have to be made for female accommodations that should have been avoided.
Someone made a video covering something like this.
Many MP units in Vietnam were like this one…but this one was able to award the CIB. Some of the older Cav guys from An Khe would tell me about the 504th.
http://www.historynet.com/us-armys-b-company-504th-military-police-battalion-patrolled-central-highlands-highways-during-the-vietnam-war.htm
She’s a blonde. She’ll probably cry a lot.
I’m sure that they’ll make sure that she makes it through.
No, this should never have had media attention until it was over.
I bet everyone is going to volunteer for fire watch when she’s on duty. What a obvious clusterfuck that is about to occur.
They are more on the front lines…like police….
I don’t think this lady has a real grasp of what she’s getting herself into.
I realized at an early point that God invented the automobile so that I never had to hump a ruck again. The idea of considering Infantry never really entered my mind- so I opted for a maintenance career path…Thank-God.
It’s funny. She has not been to Basic and won’t be, if at all, for more than a year. She hasn’t done anything, yet she got more press than 99.9% of the soldiers who Fell in Iraq and Afghanistan. The limelight is great, until it fades. If she doesn’t back out, it will be her and some yellow foot prints in June 2017 and no one will give a rat’s ass who she is.
Navy already has some approved candidates that have packages approved and passed the first PT test and physicals to go to BUDs. Some are coming from small special communities that are some what physical them self’s, trying to rig the system. They will not release the names and members have been told packages will be withdrawn if names get out.
History has been made:
First woman snowed by a recruiter into taking an 11X enlistment.
For all the folks bitching that “she doesn’t know what she’s getting into”, well, no shit, snowflakes. How many people actually did, on their first enlistment, no matter what MOS/AFSC they signed up for?
As long as they make her hit the same standards as the men, I don’t give a rats ass. Sadly, that probably won’t be the case, but that’s a different Carbon Dioxide College conversation.