Women in Infantry

[erpowers]

I have a question that I would like someone to answer for me. Are women now allowed in the Infantry? I have heard and read some stories about women being in Infantry units, but I have also heard that women are not allowed in the Infantry. So, what is the right answer? Are the women in Infantry units just support people, or are they actually parts of the units? Is this just in the Army? I have not heard about any female Marines being in the Marine Infantry.

[Solly Mack]

1. They can't have the MOS (11 Bravo) but they can be in an infantry unit

the unit can have cooks ,logistics, headquarters (supply, admin, etc), medics.. depends on the size of the unit...a smaller unit will most likely not have cooks, for example.

[RB TexLa]

2. They should be

[MadMaddie]

3. They are not offically in infantry..however, the line that used

to divide the front lines with the backlines has been blurred....there is no true frontline or backline.....

The Green Zone is just as deadly, it's supposed to be farely safe but the news doesn't report how they are getting hammered by morter fire every day....

[Breeze54]

7. Which means they don't get the same pay

but they get the same jobs and injuries and deaths! :grr:

[genie_weenie]

8. No that is not correct.

all persons in Iraq receive eminent danger pay.

[Breeze54]

9. That's fairly new though...

Remember when Najaf was invaded by the convoy that took a wrong turn?
Nine were found buried and the female soldier that was rescued ??

There was a lot of talk of why was she even with that convoy
and that's when the combat pay issue concerning women was raised or changed... (?)

Something about her MOS and the pay scale. I'm trying to find the link.

[theoldman]

4. It's my understanding that women are not allowed on the front

lines of combat. The are only allowed in support rolls.

[texasclarkie]

5. However,

they can be pilots.

[rasputin1952]

6. I have been privileged to serve in the Army w/both old and the new

system.

Couple of things here that are interesting: Women cannot hold certain MOS's, ie the 11 Series, however, all non-combat MOS's are open to females. I was a 91B, but I began my career as an 11B(Infantry), then an 05B(Voice Radio Operator), I went to Ft Sam Houston and the Caduceus I always wanted.

As a Med Plt Sgt I can tell you a couple of things about women in the Army and in combat situations.
Women go through Basic Training and Advanced Individual Training,(AIT for a specific MOS). I've always enjoyed the years I spent with all soldiers, but to be honest, women, for the most part, are far better in many areas. I never had a problem w/any woman I worked with, guys were a different story, there were always the "macho" guys, the quiet guys, the thinkers, the doers and what we called "Bolo's".

The last unit I was w/was the 3/161 Inf(M), a WA Nation Guard Battalion. I had 4 women in the Plt and I had no problem sending them out with line troops as support. Be aware though, Medics are not Combat troops, and yet they are right there out front w/the troops. If we had gone to war, i would have been secure in the knowledge that if sent out any of these female Medics out unit, they would do their jobs; often better than some of the males I had in the Plt.

Convoys constantly roll through unsecured areas, there are supplies, fuel, ammo and a host of other things that support the troops on the line. (It has been said that there are 14 soldiers for each front line soldier). Women are drivers, MedEvac and other chopper pilots, in supply, in communications, and every other aspect of the Army. They are trained to fight and will.

:patriot:

[TahitiNut]

10. Yep. I never saw a job that a woman couln't do in Nam.

I'd have no problem with women serving alongside men. They're just not "second class" in any sense ... nor are men, actually. If I'd been hit, I wouldn't give a shit whether the medic were male, female, gay or straight ... just THERE and able to do the job.

:shrug:

I was at Ft. Sam (HQ Company) from June to December 1968 - the Hemisfair days.

[RamboLiberal]

11. One area that has inadvertently gotten women in combat

in Iraq is that they can be in MP units. Also many are supporting convoys, even manning guns though they are not infantry.

And you have instances like in the Marines where the women were going out to man checkpoints so they could search Iraqi women. I remember the story when a truckload of Marine women got bombed on the way back from just such duty and many were killed or seriously injured.