Hemingway's guns

[King Brown]

Speaking only from experience as a reporter covering mean places with mortar and directed fire all around, female colleagues did perfectly well and if truth be known may have been a calming influence to get our heads in gear. In Afghanistan, our women soldiers participated in the heat of battles, and Capt. Nicole Goddard, almost a neighbour, was decapitated while directing artillery fire against Taliban. I'd demean her by describing her looks. Just say you could take her anywhere. She would have been be an adornment in salons of the world.

With profound respect for your country and military, the US has been a slow learner in what works and doesn't, who can serve and can't serve their country. It has been isolating itself from the realities of war to the extent of now endangering its own survival. It is learning that technological superiority doesn’t necessarily convert into military success. It is coming to terms that the cost of wars of choice aren’t worth it. As Gates said on his departure, anyone contemplating another of these things "needs their head examined."

Canada, which paid dearly for choosing Afghanistan's most dangerous sector in Kandahar and which your country has now taken over, regards its women as equals in all branches of the services. The results speak for themselves. US elite forces welcomed us as partners in combined operations in Afghanistan, particularly sniping assignments. I also found that any notions of chivalry disappear under fire. Thank god yours and ours are coming home.

[Stepmac]

Originally Posted by King Brown

Speaking only from experience as a reporter covering mean places with mortar and directed fire all around, female colleagues did perfectly well and if truth be known may have been a calming influence to get our heads in gear. In Afghanistan, our women soldiers participated in the heat of battles, and Capt. Nicole Goddard, almost a neighbour, was decapitated while directing artillery fire against Taliban. I'd demean her by describing her looks. Just say you could take her anywhere. She would have been be an adornment in salons of the world.

With profound respect for your country and military, the US has been a slow learner in what works and doesn't, who can serve and can't serve their country. It has been isolating itself from the realities of war to the extent of now endangering its own survival. It is learning that technological superiority doesn’t necessarily convert into military success. It is coming to terms that the cost of wars of choice aren’t worth it. As Gates said on his departure, anyone contemplating another of these things "needs their head examined."

Canada, which paid dearly for choosing Afghanistan's most dangerous sector in Kandahar and which your country has now taken over, regards its women as equals in all branches of the services. The results speak for themselves. US elite forces welcomed us as partners in combined operations in Afghanistan, particularly sniping assignments. I also found that any notions of chivalry disappear under fire. Thank god yours and ours are coming home.

Thank you for your informative post. My experience in war and training for war ended when the desert wars opened up and I just barely was able to observe women in combat roles. I never saw any in actual combat (other than nurses. I was flying A-4's at the time.) Obviously your experience is more current and to the issue than was mine. During the VN War the only females that I recall where in S-1 or the nurse's corps. There were none in cockpits. That took another decade.

The felicity of war is beyond me. While compelling, the magnitude of the question is boggling.

Sad to hear about Capt. Goddard.

[Bill Murphy]

King, you might comment on Mr. McCarty's comment "I googled you and find that you did extensive work with women in military." I have a feeling he is trusting google a bit too much. I am a bit uncomfortable with this exchange on the PGCA site since we are dealing with a discussion about anti semitism and the situation in Europe and "dropping out of the Communist Party because of anti semitism". Some of us see even more important reasons for dropping out of the CP, like their record of slaughtering their own citizens and a few other minor transgressions like improper transfer of property. Let's explain our conversation here or delete it, which I will do when the time is right. I have nothing against ABT or GS, but we don't need to glorify them or their politics on a Parker gun website. If either one of you fellows wants to debate the politics of Toklas, Stein, Dos Passos, or, for that matter, Werner Von Braun, we'll meet somewhere, buy a good supply of whiskey, or whisky, and sit down for a long weekend. Not here.