Re: [semi OT] Women wargamers -longish

Alan E & Carmel J Brain wrote:
> 
> John Atkinson wrote:
> 
> > >2. Most of the problems a rising from females in the military have
to
> > do >more with us men, and the double fitness standard imposed by the
> > Army.
> >
> > My favorite pet peeve.  How about going from male/female standards
to
> > REMF/Real Soldier standards?  Clerk-typists all get the old female
> > standards, and combat soldiers _all_ get the male standards (or
> > harsher).
> 
> OK, I'm not going to speak "ex cathedra" here, but it's time for a
> disclaimer:
> "Any opinions expressed herein reflect my own views and not those of
the
> Australian Defence Force Academy, the Australian Department of
Defence,
> nor the University of NSW."
> 
> I teach at ADFA, the Australian Dfenec Force Academy (you may have
> noticed this on the tagline. The .oz bit shows that it was on the
> Internet while it was still DARPAnet (Defence Advanced Research
Project
> Agency network). Anyway, I teach Officer Cadets, Midshipmen etc from
all
> services (and not a few exchange students, from Thailand, Singapore
> etc).
> 
> About 40% of the Computer Science students and 20% of the Engineers
are
> female. At least one top student from last year has the ambition to
> command a submarine. I think she'll make it. She has the situational
> awareness and cool (and intellect) to do so. Other females are going
for
> aircrew, though not many for fighters.
> 
> The only problem I have with the military side are the number of
> casualties during training. They play sports like Rugby (Imagine
> Gridiron without any padding). Males and Females. Something like 20%
of
> the cadets get injured badly over a year ( badly == more than one
broken
> bone, or permanent incapacity).
> 
> I've noticed no distinction between male vs female casualty rates. The
> males are generally stronger, the females quicker. Any of them could
> beat me in just about any physical activity except possibly
> weightlifting.
> 
> There is one difference, thinking about it: males are more likely to
get
> injured in vehicle accidents, and tend to get more arm injuries in
> sports than leg injuries.
> 
> Summary:
> There are some cadets I wouldn't like to follow (at least until they
> mature a fair bit...). But there are others I would feel very comfy
with
> as commanders. And neither the service (Army, Air Force, Navy) nor the
> Gender correlate in any way with their leadership ability.
> 
> --
> aebrain@dynamite.com.au     <> <>    How doth the little Crocodile
> | Alan & Carmel Brain|      xxxxx	  Improve his shining tail?
> | Canberra Australia |  xxxxxHxHxxxxxx _MMMMMMMMM_MMMMMMMMM
>  abrain@cs.adfa.oz.au  o OO*O^^^^O*OO o oo	 oo oo	   oo
>		      By pulling MAERKLIN Wagons, in 1/220 Scale

I had the honor of serving the US Army for 7 years in a REMF type unit,
MI.  We had about a 30% female and yes, the woman can do the paper work,
I felt that the harder work, motor pool, field duty was left to the men.
The double standard of the PT tests did not help and of course when you
mix the sexes, you get sexes.  Women in the military is not a force
multiplier.  A womans corps is what is needed to be brought back.  David