General James Amos, the Marine commandant, has issued an ALMAR – an “all Marine message” – telling his forces that he is exploring ways to get female Marines into combat units:
Military Women
Sexual Assault in the Ranks Up 4% Last Year
The number of sexual assaults alleged by military personnel crept up slightly in 2011. The rise from 2,617 in 2010 to 2,723 represents a 4% increase. “One sexual assault in the military is one too many,” the Pentagon’s latest report on sexual assault in the ranks concludes. “While the Department has taken bold steps to prevent and …
A New Kind of PT: Female Vets Running…for Congress
Four female veterans are making history by running for Congress this year. While women make up more than 50% of the population, they are severely underrepresented in public office. It’s about time that started changing.
A few weeks ago, I received an email from Colonel Martha McSally (USAF, ret) announcing her intention to run for …
Real Soldiers, Fake Pregnancies
Army combat vets – remember, they’re limited to men — are donning fake breasts and bellies so they can better understand how pregnant soldiers feel during physical training. It’s part of the service’s Pregnancy Postpartum Physical Training Exercise Leaders Course.
“This whole thing is pretty uncomfortable,” Sergeant Michael …
Homeless Female Vets on the Rise
The Department of Veterans Affairs has made stamping out homelessness among the nation’s veterans a top priority. According to this new Government Accountability Office report, it has its work cut out for it (despite some recent good news). “Limited VA data show that the number of women veterans the agency identified as homeless …
Sexual Assault and the Military: Old Remedies Don’t Work
The news reports on the high rate of suicide in the military are subsiding, as the rate seems to be flattening. New reports focus instead on the high rates of sexual assault. Unfortunately, the proposed solutions recycle the same old solutions: education for female Soldiers and prosecuting males.
But I fear that such proposals …
Navy Gives “Cruel” CO an Honorable Discharge
Two years after booting Navy Captain Holly Graf as commanding officer of the cruiser USS Cowpens for “cruelty and maltreatment” of her crew, the Navy decided Friday that she should be allowed to retire with an honorable …
Let’s Name More Warships for the Long Overlooked
The recent decision by the Secretary of the Navy to name a new cargo ship after farm labor leader Cesar Chavez apparently has rankled conservatives in Congress. The ship, a dry cargo and ammunition ship under construction in San …
Women in Command II
Sexual-Harassment Reports at Military Academies Jump 59%
What better time than the dead week between Christmas and New Year’s to whisper to the world that reported allegations of sexual assault and harassment at the nation’s military academies soared from 41 during the 2010 academic year to 65 in the school year that ended in May?
The increase has triggered a policy change …
Army Drill-Sergeant School Boss: Missing In Action
Afghan Education: Both Sides Now
In good news on the Afghan education front, the U.S. Air Force is hailing the first undergraduate pilot training held exclusively inside Afghanistan in more than 30 years. “Members of this first Afghan air force pilot training …
Michèle Flournoy Departs
If Michèle Flournoy were a man, no one outside of nerdy defense circles would have noted her announcement Monday that she will be leaving the Pentagon’s No. 3 post – the under secretary of defense for policy – come …