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MrRoadrunner -> RE: Women In the Infantry (12/12/2015 1:42:56 PM)
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quote:
ORIGINAL: danlongman
I have watched this debate for almost sixty years. There is never anything new introduced. The same assumptions
are made by the same types of people. They are proven wrong and they come back to the same topic the next time
it is introduced with the same argument, which is bankrupt. I have never suggested that training standards be
lowered for anybody and if it happens then it is a separate issue. It is not wrong for me to brand myself when the
others in the discussion speak in tropes that even Rush Limbaugh is afraid to wear out. My own experience with
this issue has been entirely the problem that certain men have with accepting a female presence. No one speaks
"obvious truth" and "common sense" is not particularly common in the political arena. If a woman can qualify as
an infantry specialist (and when the chips are down the qualification appears to be scoring 98.6 or so on the
thermometer test) why should she be barred from this? I guess it is because some gentlemen don't like the idea.
I will not delve into exactly why they feel threatened by such a thing.
Thought I'd piggyback on what Matti brings up. Here are the "standards". What is wrong with these "standards"?
If you cannot see it, it only means that you won't see it?
Basic Training
The individual Army Basic Training, or APFT scoring, is different if you're male or female. If you're a male between 17 and 21, you need to perform 35 pushups, 47 situps within two minutes, and run two miles in 16 minutes, 36 seconds or less. Female applicants in the same age group need 13 pushups, 47 situps and must run two miles within 19 minutes, 42 seconds. These requirements change for male basic trainees between ages 22 and 26. The regulations call for 31 pushups, 43 situps and two miles to be covered in 17 minutes, 30 seconds or less. For females, these figures move to 11 pushups, 43 situps and run times under 20 minutes, 36 seconds. Each of these parameters are assigned a score. Your total score must be 150 or more, with each segment requiring a minimum of 50 points to graduate to Advanced Individual Training, or AIT. The more situps and pushups you do -- and the lower your two mile run time -- the more points you score. A perfect score is 300.
AIT
Infantry AIT, or Infantry School, is part of the infantry's OSUT, or One-Station Unit Training, at Fort Benning. This specialized instruction teaches advanced techniques in weapons operation and maintenance, preparing fortified positions and using communications gear. This is where you learn the core of your infantry skills. AIT also features individual fitness requirements, much like those you encounter in basic training. These requirements are elevated, however, at this stage in your training. Males between 17 and 21 need to perform 42 pushups, 53 situps within two minutes, and run two miles in 15 minutes, 54 seconds or less. Female applicants in the same age group must do 19 pushups, 53 situps and run two miles in 18 minutes, 54 seconds. For males between ages 22 and 26, this drops to 40 pushups, 50 situps and run times increase to 16 minutes, 36 seconds. For females within the same age bracket, these figures decrease to 17 pushups, 50 situps and a run time under 19 minutes, 36 seconds. AIT fitness scores must total 180 or more, with a minimum 60 points at each phase. AIT completion is essential prior to being shipped to your unit.
Keeping the canards and the Rush Limbaughs out of it you can see that the standards are not standard. Even older military men are required to be able to do more physically than the younger military women?
How would you like to show up in a combat zone while waiting two minutes for the "females" to show up?
If all had the same standard would they not all perform and show up together?
And, please keep the professors, managers, and even trash collectors out of it (though, I believe that I do not see women trash collectors because they cannot handle the physical demands of the job and therefore are very few of the total.)
To blend with Matti. The women can show up late to the firefight and lob grenades into the backs of their fellow infantrymen? But, that's OK. Tell the dead boys parents that the women supporting them had met the standards? That would be comforting, eh?
The difference is in facts and emotions. See the facts? Not the emotion.
RR
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