{"id":37064,"date":"2013-08-12T18:41:31","date_gmt":"2013-08-12T22:41:31","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/valorguardians.com\/blog\/?p=37064"},"modified":"2013-08-13T08:48:22","modified_gmt":"2013-08-13T12:48:22","slug":"expert-in-combat-tells-us-what-is-important-about-comabt","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.azuse.cloud\/?p=37064","title":{"rendered":"Expert in combat tells us what is important about combat (UPDATED)"},"content":{"rendered":"

So this Army colonel who is an instructor at the US Army War College has decided that, based on her intense analytical viewing of “To Hell And Back”, the autobiographical tale of Audie Murphy’s experiences in World War II, we shouldn’t be paying so much attention to the amount of strength that a soldier needs to serve effectively in combat. From the Washington Times<\/a>;<\/p>\n

Some military analysts fear the Pentagon will discard some standards to ensure that a significant number of women qualify.<\/p>\n

\u201cPerhaps it is time to take a hard look at what really makes a competent combat soldier and not rely on traditional notions of masculine brawn that celebrate strength over other qualities,\u201d Col. [Ellen] Haring says in the current issue of Armed Forces Journal.<\/p>\n

She cites World War II hero Audie Murphy and North Vietnamese insurgents as examples of small people who came up big on the battlefield.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf the going-in assumption is that physical standards are the only thing that needs to be examined, then we are also assuming that we have everything else just right,\u201d she wrote. \u201cThis is belied by our less-than-optimal performances in many instances during the past 12 years. Fixating on physical standards is a tactical-level approach that misses a strategic-level opportunity.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Or, we can look at more recent Medal of Honor recipient, Dakota Meyer, who won the day by returning again and again into the face of fire and carrying injured American and Afghan soldiers on his back to his vehicle. Now I’ll grant Colonel Haring that Meyer’s exploits are still in book form and not easily perused on the screen yet, so that might account for her not mentioning this as an example to the need for physical strength. Or mentioning Staff Sergeant Clinton Romesha who recovered the body of a fallen comrade from the enemy.<\/p>\n

Of course, Colonel Haring is also engaged in a lawsuit against the military to allow women to serve in combat. She goes on to say that maybe Audie Murphy couldn’t pass the Marine Officer Infantry Course either. But I guess that’s speculation, and speculation in her favor since he’s dead and she can’t be proven wrong.<\/p>\n

Colonel Haring is a political hack whose interests are completely selfish, since she knows that she will not be called upon to serve in direct combat, given that the chances of her being required to pass an Infantry Officer’s Course are about the same as Audie Murphy’s. She might have a point in all of this if the Marines allowed men to serve in the infantry if they failed the course and they didn’t allow women to do the same, but, sadly for her, no, men who don’t have the physical stamina to complete the course are washed out.<\/p>\n

Someone sent us Colonel Haring’s r\u00e9sum\u00e9. Here’s her “experience”;<\/p>\n

Strategic Planner, US Army War College, Carlisle, PA. January 2013-Present.
\nJoint Staff Officer, Solution Evaluation Directorate, Joint and Coalition Warfighting Center, Suffolk, VA. August 2011- January 2013. Provides supervision and oversight of staff officers who conduct evaluation and testing of innovative approaches developed by field operating forces. Ensures that validated solutions are disseminated to the joint operating force.<\/p>\n

Assistant Professor, Department of Joint, Interagency and Multinational Operations, U.S.
\nArmy Command and General Staff College, FT Belvoir, VA, July 2008-July 2011.
\nProvided graduate level education to mid grade Army officers in topics including: a
\nsurvey of the strategic environment; culture and conflict; intergovernmental and multinational capabilities; military operational planning processes; and foundations of critical and creative thinking.<\/p>\n

Commander, 8th Brigade, 84th Training Command, Charlottesville, VA, January 2007-January
\n2008. Provided supervisory direction to over 85 assistant professors and instructors
\nsupporting the ROTC departments at 24 universities and colleges in the Virginia,
\nMaryland and D.C. region.<\/p>\n

Executive Officer, 6th Brigade, 80th Training Division FT Belvoir, VA, September 2005-
\nDecember 2006. Provided staff supervision and direction to a training brigade
\nresponsible for the training and education of mid grade Army sergeants and mid grade Army officers.<\/p>\n

Instructor, 10\/80 Training Battalion (CGSOC), Owings Mills, MD, September 2002-August
\n2005. Provided graduate level education to mid grade reserve Army officers in topics including: a survey of the strategic environment; intergovernmental and multinational capabilities;
\nleadership; military history; military operational planning processes; and foundations in critical and creative thinking.<\/p>\n

Executive Officer, 309th Rear Area Operations Center, Hanau, Germany, September 2000-April
\n2002. Provided rear area security planning for organizations operating in conflict environments.<\/p>\n

Civilian Property Control Officer, 322d Civil Affairs Brigade, FT Shafter, HI, January 1999-
\nproperty June 2000. Oversaw the plans and training of military personnel to ensured protection of civilian in areas where military operations were occurring.<\/p>\n

Operations Officer, US Army Japan, FT Shafter, HI, January 1998-December 1998.<\/p>\n

Team Leader, 2nd Battalion, 383d Regiment, 5th Brigade, 75th Division, FT Leavenworth, KS,
\nAugust 1995-July 1996.<\/p>\n

Commander, A Company, 1199th Signal Battalion, FT Huachuca, AZ, June 1991-August 1992.<\/p>\n

Adjutant, 1199th Signal Bn., FT Huachuca, AZ, December 1990-May 1991.<\/p>\n

Project Officer, Information System Engineering Command, FT Huachuca, AZ, June
\n1989-November 1990.<\/p>\n

Student, US Air Force Communication\/Computer System Staff Officer Course, Keesler AFB,
\nMS, July 1988-May 89.<\/p>\n

Student, Signal School, Officer Advance Course, FT Gordon, GA, January 1988-January 1988. Operations Officer, 181st Signal Company, 43d Signal Battalion, Heidelberg, Germany,
\nDecember 1986-December 1987.<\/p>\n

Platoon Leader, 43d Signal Battalion, Heidelberg, Germany, October 1984-November 1986.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

I honestly can’t imagine how someone can present themselves as an expert on what is required to be successful in combat when she herself has never deployed. In twelve years of war, she’s been hiding out at Fort Belvoir and the War College. She should be embarrassed instead of writing crap like this.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

So this Army colonel who is an instructor at the US Army War College has decided … Expert in combat tells us what is important about combat (UPDATED)<\/span>Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[84],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-37064","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-military-issues"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.azuse.cloud\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/37064","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.azuse.cloud\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.azuse.cloud\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.azuse.cloud\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.azuse.cloud\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=37064"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.azuse.cloud\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/37064\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.azuse.cloud\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=37064"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.azuse.cloud\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=37064"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.azuse.cloud\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=37064"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}