How America's top general came to endorse women in combat
By Matt Smith
CNN
January 24, 2013
STORY HIGHLIGHTS
NEW: Joint Chiefs of Staff chairman says female gunner changed his perspective
The Pentagon is lifting its longstanding ban on women in combat units
Panetta says American women are already fighting and dying overseas
"The time has come for our policies to recognize that reality," he said
(CNN) -- The U.S. military is dropping its longstanding exclusion of women from combat units, Defense Secretary Leon Panetta announced Thursday, calling it a recognition of the reality on the battlefield.
"The fact is, they have become an integral part of our ability to perform our mission, and for more than a decade of war they have demonstrated courage and skill and patriotism," Panetta told reporters at the Pentagon. American servicemen and women are already "fighting and they're dying together, and the time has come for our policies to recognize that reality."
Gen. Martin Dempsey, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, recounted a foray onto the streets of Baghdad as commander of an armored division in the early days of the war in Iraq.
"I slapped the turret gunner on the leg and I said, 'Who are you?' And she leaned down and said, I'm Amanda.' And I said, 'Ah, OK,' " Dempsey said.
"So, female turret-gunner protecting division commander. It's from that point on that I realized something had changed, and it was time to do something about it."
About 203,000 women are in the active-duty military, including 69 generals and admirals. Despite the official ban on combat, which dates back to 1994, women who served in Iraq and Afghanistan often found themselves engaged in firefights.
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Here's a little history for you from a video I did a couple of years ago.
Former Marine thinks the time is right for women to get combat jobs in the military
FOX31 Denver
January 23, 2013
In 1966, there were about 400,000 troops in Vietnam, almost all of them men. There were only 2,500 women in the Marine Corps.
19-year-old Paula Sarlls was one of them. She was recruited right out of high school.
Sarlls says, “He told me the great opportunities there were and education was one.
And I got an education in more ways than one.”
She says opportunities for women were limited to clerical, accounting, radio operators, traffic controllers and some computer work. And she says some men were openly hostile.
She says she has four pages worth of incidents she had to deal with. She describes working at a control tower where the ceiling was covered with huge spider webs.
“The guys thought it was funny to take the spider webs and pin me down and put them on my face,” she says.
When she tried to report it, she says she was told not to talk about it. “As I left the tower that night I had an eight inch knife put to my throat and told if I told anyone else, they’d kill me.“
“It kept on for two, three weeks and finally stopped. But it was pretty bad,” she says.
The women who take the new combat positions will likely face some opposition, too. “It still happens, people are people.”
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by Julie Hayden
Thursday, January 24, 2013
OEF OIF veterans show Gulf War Illness
Report: New vets show Gulf War illness symptoms
By Kelly Kennedy
USA Today
Posted : Wednesday Jan 23, 2013
WASHINGTON — Veterans of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan may be suffering from the 20-year-old set of symptoms known as Gulf War Illness, according to a new report released Wednesday by the federal Institute of Medicine.
“Preliminary data suggest that (chronic multisymptom illness) is occurring in veterans of the Iraq and Afghanistan wars as well,” the report says.
This may be the first time that the symptoms suffered by veterans of the 1991 Gulf War have been linked to veterans of the current wars, which started in 2001 and 2003, said Paul Rieckhoff, CEO of Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America.
It also means the Department of Veterans Affairs’ definition of who qualifies for Gulf War veterans’ benefits should include those who served in Afghanistan, said Paul Sullivan, a 1991 Gulf War veteran and founder of Veterans for Common Sense.
Because Wednesday’s report associates the symptoms with deployment, Sullivan said, the VA “should expand the geographical definition of the current Gulf War to include the ongoing conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan.”
The researchers were to investigate treatments for Gulf War illness, including any existing research, to see what worked for veterans. Their research included traumatic brain injury, which is caused by blunt force to the head or proximity to an explosion; post-traumatic stress disorder, which must involve exposure to trauma; respiratory problems, fibromyalgia; and chronic pain.
Chronic multisymptom illness was formerly called Gulf War Syndrome, the Institute of Medicine report said. It includes symptoms in at least two of six categories: fatigue, mood and cognition issues, musculoskeletal problems, gastrointestinal problems, respiratory difficulties, and neurologic issues that last for at least six months.
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By Kelly Kennedy
USA Today
Posted : Wednesday Jan 23, 2013
About one-third of Gulf War veterans — or 175,000 to 250,000 people — have Gulf War illness.
WASHINGTON — Veterans of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan may be suffering from the 20-year-old set of symptoms known as Gulf War Illness, according to a new report released Wednesday by the federal Institute of Medicine.
“Preliminary data suggest that (chronic multisymptom illness) is occurring in veterans of the Iraq and Afghanistan wars as well,” the report says.
This may be the first time that the symptoms suffered by veterans of the 1991 Gulf War have been linked to veterans of the current wars, which started in 2001 and 2003, said Paul Rieckhoff, CEO of Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America.
It also means the Department of Veterans Affairs’ definition of who qualifies for Gulf War veterans’ benefits should include those who served in Afghanistan, said Paul Sullivan, a 1991 Gulf War veteran and founder of Veterans for Common Sense.
Because Wednesday’s report associates the symptoms with deployment, Sullivan said, the VA “should expand the geographical definition of the current Gulf War to include the ongoing conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan.”
The researchers were to investigate treatments for Gulf War illness, including any existing research, to see what worked for veterans. Their research included traumatic brain injury, which is caused by blunt force to the head or proximity to an explosion; post-traumatic stress disorder, which must involve exposure to trauma; respiratory problems, fibromyalgia; and chronic pain.
Chronic multisymptom illness was formerly called Gulf War Syndrome, the Institute of Medicine report said. It includes symptoms in at least two of six categories: fatigue, mood and cognition issues, musculoskeletal problems, gastrointestinal problems, respiratory difficulties, and neurologic issues that last for at least six months.
read more here
Las Vegas Police Officer Allegedly Shot Family, Burned Home, Killed Self
Hans Walters Murder-Suicide: Las Vegas Police Officer Allegedly Shot Family, Burned Home, Killed Self
The Huffington Post
By Andres Jauregui
Posted: 01/23/2013
Nevada police said that Lt. Hans Walters, a 20-year veteran of the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department, killed his family and set fire to his home before fatally shooting himself on Jan. 21.
A standoff at Walters' Boulder City, Nev., home occurred Monday, after an unidentified male caller claimed to a 911 dispatcher that he had killed his wife and child, set his house aflame and would "injure any officer that attempted to come to the scene."
Units from multiple departments responded, including a Las Vegas SWAT team. Officers reportedly encountered Walters in front of his house with a handgun. According to CNN, Walters ignored commands from police to drop his weapon and, instead, returned to the burning house.
Authorities believe the off-duty lieutenant shot himself after he entered the house.
The Clark County Coroner's Office confirmed Tuesday that Walter's 46-year-old wife, Kathryn, and 5-year-old son, Maximilian, each died of a gunshot wound to the head.
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The Huffington Post
By Andres Jauregui
Posted: 01/23/2013
Nevada police said that Lt. Hans Walters, a 20-year veteran of the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department, killed his family and set fire to his home before fatally shooting himself on Jan. 21.
A standoff at Walters' Boulder City, Nev., home occurred Monday, after an unidentified male caller claimed to a 911 dispatcher that he had killed his wife and child, set his house aflame and would "injure any officer that attempted to come to the scene."
Units from multiple departments responded, including a Las Vegas SWAT team. Officers reportedly encountered Walters in front of his house with a handgun. According to CNN, Walters ignored commands from police to drop his weapon and, instead, returned to the burning house.
Authorities believe the off-duty lieutenant shot himself after he entered the house.
The Clark County Coroner's Office confirmed Tuesday that Walter's 46-year-old wife, Kathryn, and 5-year-old son, Maximilian, each died of a gunshot wound to the head.
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Grounded Navy Ship Taking on Water on Philippines
Grounded Navy Ship Taking on Water on Philippines
Jan 24, 2013
Associated Press
by Oliver Teves
MANILA, Philippines - A U.S. Navy minesweeper that ran aground on a Philippine reef is damaged and taking on water and will have to be lifted off the rocks in an operation that could last another week or two, a Navy official said Thursday.
Before the USS Guardian can be removed from the Tubbataha Reef, about 56,000 liters (15,000 gallons) of fuel will be siphoned off to avoid spills, Rear Adm. Thomas Carney, commander of the Navy's Logistics Group in the Western Pacific, told reporters.
The ship, which is based in Japan, crashed into the reef before dawn Jan. 17 while on its way to Indonesia after making a rest and refueling stop in Subic Bay, a former American naval base west of Manila.
All of its 79 officers and crew were transferred to two other U.S. vessels the following day for safety reasons as the 68-meter (74-yard) long, 1,300-ton ship was unable to maneuver on its own and buffeted by strong winds and waves.
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Jan 24, 2013
Associated Press
by Oliver Teves
MANILA, Philippines - A U.S. Navy minesweeper that ran aground on a Philippine reef is damaged and taking on water and will have to be lifted off the rocks in an operation that could last another week or two, a Navy official said Thursday.
Before the USS Guardian can be removed from the Tubbataha Reef, about 56,000 liters (15,000 gallons) of fuel will be siphoned off to avoid spills, Rear Adm. Thomas Carney, commander of the Navy's Logistics Group in the Western Pacific, told reporters.
The ship, which is based in Japan, crashed into the reef before dawn Jan. 17 while on its way to Indonesia after making a rest and refueling stop in Subic Bay, a former American naval base west of Manila.
All of its 79 officers and crew were transferred to two other U.S. vessels the following day for safety reasons as the 68-meter (74-yard) long, 1,300-ton ship was unable to maneuver on its own and buffeted by strong winds and waves.
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Security Forces Airmen Add Tasers to Patrol Units
Security Forces Airmen Add Tasers to Patrol Units
Jan 23, 2013
Air Force News
by TSgt. Dan Heaton
SELFRIDGE AIR NATIONAL GUARD BASE, Mich.
Security Forces Airmen at Selfridge Air National Guard Base have begun using a new tool to protect the base.
Security Airmen are now being issued Taser electroshock weapons as part of their gear for use while on patrol around the base. In addition to providing overall base security, Security Forces personnel serve as law enforcement officers on the base and provide additional layers of security to sensitive areas, such as the base flight line.
Security Airmen said the Taser weapon will help them to "bridge the gap" between the use of verbal orders to an individual and the use of deadly force.
To prepare for the use of the weapon, security Airmen have been undergoing a series of classroom sessions, which includes a demonstration of the use of the weapon on several volunteers. During the January drill weekend, eight volunteers were tased as part of a training session, attended by several dozen Security Forces personnel.
"There's no doubt it works," said Senior Airman William Lizenby, shortly after he was on the receiving end of a five-second jolt of electricity from the Taser. "I couldn't move. It felt like it went on for far longer than the five seconds."
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Jan 23, 2013
Air Force News
by TSgt. Dan Heaton
SELFRIDGE AIR NATIONAL GUARD BASE, Mich.
Security Forces Airmen at Selfridge Air National Guard Base have begun using a new tool to protect the base.
Security Airmen are now being issued Taser electroshock weapons as part of their gear for use while on patrol around the base. In addition to providing overall base security, Security Forces personnel serve as law enforcement officers on the base and provide additional layers of security to sensitive areas, such as the base flight line.
Security Airmen said the Taser weapon will help them to "bridge the gap" between the use of verbal orders to an individual and the use of deadly force.
To prepare for the use of the weapon, security Airmen have been undergoing a series of classroom sessions, which includes a demonstration of the use of the weapon on several volunteers. During the January drill weekend, eight volunteers were tased as part of a training session, attended by several dozen Security Forces personnel.
"There's no doubt it works," said Senior Airman William Lizenby, shortly after he was on the receiving end of a five-second jolt of electricity from the Taser. "I couldn't move. It felt like it went on for far longer than the five seconds."
read more here
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