FW: [OT]ish - More MP stuff

> Just for those who might not have visited the link Kiara
> sent... two things caught my attention:
>
> Item 1)
>
> December 20, 1989 - At approximately 1:00
> a.m., Operation Just Cause begins in Panama.
> The 7th and 82nd Military Police Companies
> take part in the operation with their respective
> divisions as well as the 549th MP Company,
> stationed in Panama.

And, to further clarify, the 401st Military Police Company (on rotation
to
Panama from Fort Hood, Texas) along with at least two other MP Companies
(I
believe the 511th was one) - also on rotation - were involved in this
operation, although they were opconned to local units in support.

My company was opcon'd to the 193rd Infantry Brigade, which happens to
also
be the combat patch I wear from this particular little operation.

> At 1:30 a.m., Captain Linda Bray, of the 519th
> MP Battalion, leads a platoon of military police
> in an attack against a Panamanian Defense
> Forces (PDF) compound near Panama City.
> After calling for their surrender, and receiving
> fire, she drives a vehicle through the closed gate
> of the compound, forcing them to flee. Military
> police quickly secure the compound and capture
> weapons left behind. They then secure other
> portions of the Curundu and Curundu Heights
> areas and protect the Balboa harbor. By her
> actions, she earns the distinction of being the
> first woman in United States history to lead US
> troops into battle.
>

*SPARE ME!*  I am *so* sick of this story...  Captain Bray was the
subject
of a great deal of media attention for her assault on a dog kennel (the
above mentioned PDF compound).	She gained this distinction by a matter
of
hours - shortly thereafter my unit had also come under fire, lost a
soldier,
and secured the areas they were supposed to secure - and the two platoon
leaders involved were female.

More to the point, we were all under orders not to discuss operations
with
the media.  For some unknown reason, she and that platoon chose not to
follow that particular directive.  I disagreed with the way the
publicity
was handled back then, and I still do.	I don't like the fact that one
woman
was held up as unique when all those of us deployed were doing our jobs
- it
wouldn't have happened with a male officer, and I'm sickened by the fact
that it happened with a female officer.

I shall now quietly get off my soapbox at this point and go back to
discussing organizational structure rather than the politics involved
with
women in the Army.

Best,

Kiara