Nothing to dispute here.
- We haven't seen a National Security Strategy or National Military Strategy in years.
- The sexual assault issue is virtually all-consuming. My own two-star, one of the Army's better flag-level intellects, will soon (or may already have) take charge of the Sexual Assault Prevention and Reporting program at OSD level. In fairness, word is that he was selected for something much better but personal considerations drove him to seek to remain in Washington area.
- IMHO, the women in direct fire ground combat issue is largely much ado about very little. Right or wrong, for good or ill, females have ALREADY successfully engaged in direct ground combat. To my knowledge, in modern American history, it dates back to World War II when the Office of Strategic Services employed a number of females, often as radio operators and couriers, in unconventional warfare and espionage operations in then European Theater and perhaps elsewhere. More recently, during Operation JUST CAUSE (Panama, 1989), LT Linda Bray led an MP platoon in a direct fire ground attack against a Panama Defense Force position vicinity Curundu dog kennels. Most recently, Female Engagement Teams (GPF) and Cultural Support Teams (SOF) have accompanied conventional and special operations ground elements in direct fire combat operations. By all reports they have performed well, probably because they were carefully selected and well trained. The general argument about PT requirements requires, IMHO, more study. I'm not totally convinced that all of the PT requirements are truly essentially. I think much of the PT stuff is simply a cheap way to crudely measure “resolve.” For the single most essential special operations physical quality that comes immediately to mind, tolerance of cold in combat diving, I'm not aware of any way to teach that; it's an inherent can or can't kind of thing.
Pentagon pivots to social issues; providing for common defense a lower priority
The Washington Times, 1 January, 2014
EXTRACT:
The sexual revolution has some traditionalists wondering whether the Pentagon is taking its eye off the ball — the enemy.
“Every conceivable form of PC is being enforced upon our hard-pressed military with a zeal that only a Russian army zampolit — a political officer — would truly appreciate,” said Ken Allard, a retired Army colonel and commentator. “We are seemingly concerned about everything except the most basic thing: how to fight and win the nation's wars. If we have forgotten that constraint, let me assure you that our enemies have not, from the Taliban to the drug cartels to the Iranian Quds Force.”
