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| Iraq |
| Female American Infantry in Iraq |
| 2005-12-22 |
| December 22, 2005: In Iraq, women have finally joined the infantry. Itâs become customary to request volunteers from among women soldiers and marines, to accompany infantry units conducting searches and raids. This is done because you cause a major cultural uproar if male troops search Iraqi women, and if you donât search the women, the Iraqi men know they can hide weapons, or other stuff (explosives, documents) under the womenâs clothing. So, over the last two years, more and more female soldiers and marines go out on the raids. These women are armed, and ready to fight, if need be. Several hundred women have thus far served in this capacity, and some of them do get involved in combat. Few have been killed or injured on these operations, which are not as dangerous as a offensive combat (attacking a town held by an enemy that is likely to resist getting driven out.) In the army brigades and marine regiments, the 1st Sergeants (the senior NCOs that run company size units) are asked to seek volunteers from among their female troops. The 1st Sergeants know which of the women are âhard coreâ (as far as military life is concerned), and there are more volunteers than there are opportunities to go out with the raiding parties. Those female soldiers who see some fighting can get the Combat Action Badge (a new award, like the sixty year old Combat Infantry Badge, for non-infantry troops who have seen at least 30 days of combat.) In addition to searching the women, the intelligence personnel and translators often find that the female troops pick up subtle signs that the Iraqi women they are interrogating are lying, or are more willing, than they appear, to be helpful. Iraqi civilians tend to be very surprised when they run into the female troops, armed and dressed like the male troops. Many Iraqi women apparently like the idea, and some who speak English, tell the female troops so. Most Iraqi women are in arranged marriages, are not happy with their husbands, and like the idea of heavily armed women. |
| Posted by:Steve |
| #16 ROFL, tw! Sorry, not happenin' - I don't surf for beef... I'm thinkin' that be your job, lol. And I don't even have a clue where you'd find it, either... Not on the menu of the various venues I visit now and then, lol. Happy Motoring! ;-) |
| Posted by: .com 2005-12-22 23:03 |
| #15 Fair's fair -- to show proper respect for our troops, you'll have to match cheesecake with beefcake. A nice little challenge for our clever, poetical .com -- who can consider it an artistic challenge, since his sensibilities are pretty obvious. ;-) |
| Posted by: trailing wife 2005-12-22 22:48 |
| #14 Seems that one of our AC10 Spectre gunship pilots was female in Afghanistan. Is she a female when she's in countries other than Afghanistan? {8^) |
| Posted by: Parabellum 2005-12-22 17:18 |
| #13 FW - Your post reminds me of Malalai Kakar... Certainly the coolest story out of Afghanistan. You might see a story like this - or such as you describe - out of the Kurdish North, but the Arabs? No, I think it's safe to say we're, ballpark, a generation from anything like it. |
| Posted by: .com 2005-12-22 15:52 |
| #12 Armed women with authority will subvert Islam like nothing else will. The next step will be the free Iraqi forces fielding Iraqi women soldiers to assist them in their sweeps.... |
| Posted by: Flerert Whese8274 2005-12-22 15:25 |
| #11 Re: female soldiers in combat situations, this year brought our first silver star awarded to a woman since WWII. It also brought our first female West Point grad death by enemy action in OIF and OEF. I'm all for appreciation of the healthy female form. But given that these women are FIGHTing and in some cases DIEing on our behalf, it would be nice if y'all treated them with a bit more respect as soldiers. Sound stuffy? Maybe it wouldn't if you knew them, saw them off to combat situations and wondered if they would come back alive ..... as some of us here do. |
| Posted by: lotp 2005-12-22 15:24 |
| #10 THF - Those are what I'd classify as between "Healthy" and "Very Healthy" - I'd require more samples to be certain, lol. Now "Massive", well, here's my NSFW link for the day... :-) BA - Not that I know of - I got it from a site featuring AC-130 info, heh. Inspires me. Here's one you might get a grin from along that line, heh. |
| Posted by: .com 2005-12-22 15:12 |
| #9 .com, that's not the "Angel of Death" from The Hunt for bin Laden is it? What a story. Quick summary (for those who haven't read it). Seems that one of our AC10 Spectre gunship pilots was female in Afghanistan. Anyways, the Northern Alliance was amazed at our technology (imagine being used to fighting on horseback and then seeing someone "paint" a mountaintop and watch it being blown to smithereens seconds later). Anyways, they (N.A.)began to get a kick out of running with our boyz and finding AQ or Taliban goons on the next mountaintop, calling them over the radio and letting them KNOW that a bomb is about to be dropped square on their head and the 'mericans don't miss. So, anyways, on one of these drops, somehow, they got the pilot (female) on the horn with the very guys she was about to obliterate and told them "This is for how you treat your women." Last words they heard on this earth and she was nicknamed the "Angel of Death" by the N.A. after that, lol! |
| Posted by: BA 2005-12-22 13:25 |
| #8 Oh the humiliation! Women taking over! Pushing around the sexually neurotic, sand-dwelling, camel-riding, Italian Pizzaria table-cloth wearing male jackasses of the AAAA-rab world. By the way, does mk-84 stand for Massive Knockers? |
| Posted by: The Happy Fliegerabwehrkanonen 2005-12-22 13:21 |
| #7 I'll take our female GIs over their jihadi and ba'athist scum any day. Um, about that pic: bombs away! |
| Posted by: Xbalanke 2005-12-22 12:28 |
| #6 hehehe... I wonder what impression these women have on the young Iraqi girls (and boys). Quite a role model. |
| Posted by: CrazyFool 2005-12-22 11:19 |
| #5 ROFL, YS! My favorite, er, at least it was my favorite, was this one... Good competent people, regardless of gender, and credit where due - always. My mother was a better shot than I am. |
| Posted by: .com 2005-12-22 10:48 |
| #4 |
| Posted by: Yosemite Sam 2005-12-22 10:40 |
| #3 Eventually we may see the NRAI - national rifle association of Iraq. I personally will donate memberships for a couple of those wives .... heh. |
| Posted by: lotp 2005-12-22 10:19 |
| #2 "Most Iraqi women are in arranged marriages, are not happy with their husbands, and like the idea of heavily armed women." That's a great line. |
| Posted by: Penguin 2005-12-22 10:13 |
| #1 Sometimes the best man for the job, ain't a man. |
| Posted by: Besoeker 2005-12-22 09:39 |