Army approves 22 female combat arms applications

| April 16, 2016

According to Reuters, the Army has approved 22 women who applied to become armor and infantry officers. Those women are still in their training and not yet commissioned;

Thirteen have been approved to enter the Army as armor officers and nine have been approved for the infantry. All 22 must complete their remaining training before fully qualifying as infantry or armor officers, the statement said.

The women currently are in school at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, taking reserve officer training at universities or are in officer candidate school in the military.

After they are commissioned, the women will have to undergo armor- or infantry-specific training at Fort Benning, Georgia, before being assigned as officers in charge of armor or infantry platoons.

Infantry and armor positions are among the most prized assignments for new officers, you know, before they also became political prizes. When I was involved in the ROTC program, most of the male cadets applied for those career fields, but relatively few were accepted. The way it worked back then, West Pointers got first picks, ROTC cadets picked up the slots that were left over and OCS grads got the scraps. Many ROTC cadets picked up infantry or armor branch selections as “branch detail” – in other words, they began their careers as infantry officers, but a few years later they were forced to go other branches like engineer or military intelligence where more slots were traditionally available at the higher ranks.

So, I really hope that these ladies are prepared to become real combat arms officers for the right reasons, otherwise, they’re taking up slots that are highly-prized, highly-competitive positions and very necessary in The Big Scheme of Things.

Category: Army News

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Sapper3307

TAG! Your it Lars.

FatCircles0311

Vagina privilege.

Prior Service

As I write this, airborne infantry rifle platoon leaders are walking by me, leading their platoons out as part of a battalion attack at one of the army’s Combat Training Centers. It is raining. The mud is deep. They are on their fourth day of simulated combat operations and have already walked for dozens of kilometers; much of it with rucksacks near 100 lbs. They are already smoked. There are five more days in this training event and we’ve already evacuated numerous injuries and strains. Frankly, in my 27 years of service, I haven’t seen many females that could hang. If they are there, month power to them. But if they can’t, they’d better not put themselves in a position where their leadership, or inability to provide it, will put other Soldiers in harm. Standards of execution cannot, and must not, be compromised.

Hondo

Standards of execution cannot, and must not, be compromised.

They should not be. But then again, to SJW types, “equality” doesn’t mean holding everyone to the same standard. Rather, it means achieving “equality of outcome” – difference in individual abilities and effort be damned.

Were I placing a bet, I’d demand at least 1000:1 odds before taking the “standards remain intact” bet. And even then I’d think twice before betting more than about $20.

Yef

Well, you know the APFT scale for females is way lower than for men.

And do you really think the boys (the squad leadrs) are going to take seriously a female PL? I would be dropping my 4187 and requesting transfer to another BN on some dumb excuse (you cant say it is because she is a grrl) in the hopes I will not get a female infantryman as PL over there.

Yef

I meant, infatryperson.
Let’s get with the times.

Former 13D

No love for Artillery? In the greater scheme of things, a career in the Artillery doesn’t lead to the higher ranks (+O6)?

A Proud Infidel®™

If any of them make it they’ll have to overcome the thought among their subordinates of “Yeah, they’ll carry her, she’s a quota.”

Luddite4change

This time the prospective officers didn’t take up any slots for male officers; however, that won’t be the case for next year.

That won’t be the case for next year, which leaves some critical questions open. How is the OML adjusted to account for women’s pt test when they have to use the male standards for combat arms? And, what happens to women officer in the unlikely event they don’t pass their required courses to become qualified?

Hondo

If I recall correctly, an officer failing a service school for academic or leadership deficiencies can indeed lead to administrative separation.

However, if that happens here – no, I’m not holding my breath.

reddevil

Infantry is one of the most sought after branches- so is MI. However, each branch gets its share of studs and duds- basically each branch gets a proportionate share of the top performers, a whole lot of middle performers, and a proportionate share of the bottom performers.

Since Infantry is one of the largest branches, there are a numerically larger number of bottom performers that go into that branch. Some requested it, some did not.

In other words, some of the worst cadets/candidates that don’t want infantry are branched infantry, while some of the best that want infantry,,, get chemical (as an example)

valerie

I’d like to know where they got 22 women that seem likely to pass. One would think that they can be spotted from a long way off.

JimV

Cute Infantryperson.

David

always remember an ex-MI E-6 candidate at OCS in 1984 – they had a female MI TAC officer at the time (she was MI, her husband was 11B, and there were not many places with complementary slot openings) – at one point she asked him why he was going Infantry with several years of MI experience. His response was “That’s why, ma’am – most MI officers are wimps!”
Seem to recall a lot of push-ups ….

2/17 Air Cav

Kristen Beck doesn’t count. He was a man before he went woman. And while I certainly the info, which loses something in translation to sober people, if you are awake now, please provide the event info that you referred to in last night’s post.

2/17 Air Cav

…certainly appreciate…

Green Thumb

I hope they have fun when the all leave Ranger School as senior O-2’s (nine recycles)and are pissed they missed their competitive timeline.

It has become a contest to see who is first.

IDC SARC

You might know women that can whip your pansy ass, doesn’t mean they’d whip mine. Though I might ask them to do so.