The subject of an Army nurse that graduated from Ranger School just came up.

She's now one of close to 150 women that's graduated from that particular school and from what I understand she did it the right way, meaning she made it without any double standard.

The naysayers say she was pulled out two days early for medical reasons but sometimes guys have that happen to them and they graduate because the last two days have nothing to do with the actual course. They're administrative. I suppose if I had to venture a guess they're mostly spent eating, sleeping and recovering from the highly grueling course.

Anyway, I have always believed in no double standards and life being a meritocracy and this woman made it. Kudos! 

Several years ago at Camp Perry the subject came up and while there was some beefing about the double standard among the guys a Gunny mentioned a Woman Marine corporal that insisted on doing it the hard way. He must have liked her because he had a grin when he mentioned her. 

While she could have easily maxed the female PT test she fought like a tiger to take the male PT test and passed with a halfway decent grade. She argued with the First Sergeant to let the lower (male) score stand in her promotion package.

The Gunny was a Staff Sergeant and her platoon sergeant at the time and he said that the platoon leader added a comment. "Note: Male PT test scores. This Marine stubbornly refuses to accept a lower standard based on her sex."

She was promoted.

I commented to the Gunny that that could have gone both ways because of institutionalism and he agreed. Institutions don't like people rocking the boat. The institution sets the standards and generally doesn't like it when someone takes it upon themselves to do otherwise.  The nail that sticks up generally gets hammered.

 I respect her for refusing to accept a lower standard.

While many Combat Arms positions are open now to woman there should be no double standards for those women wanting to enter those positions. (Or for anything else, for that matter)

Some people have said I'm trying to exclude women. I am NOT. In fact I have supported opening up practically any position Army wide to anyone able to meet the requirements. I simply want one reasonable standard for everyone. If you can do the job then you can do the job and should be permitted to regardless.

Over the years I have made my careers in male dominated businesses and worked with a number of woman and they came in two sizes and shapes. A handful were there to collect a paycheck for doing as little as possible and others that wanted to pursue the trade. Those that made an effort to pursue the trade inevitably made it. Most of the others didn't although it sometimes took a lot of doing to get rid of them because of politics.

Then there was the case of Louise who was a real lightweight on one of the tugs. She was knowledgeable as all git-go but was physically weak. She often got by with having the tankermen occasionally pitch in and help her out on the heavy lifting.

After her second tour the skipper asked his crew what to do with her. The guys voted unanimously to keep her.

Why? Because she made herself valuable in other ways. She was an excellent cook and a ''Regular f***in' Rembrandt" with a paint brush. The Chief also noted that after every watch she'd sneak into the forepeak and lift weights to improve herself.

Shortly after the tug got reassigned elsewhere and maybe a year or so later I ran into the skipper. He was 'working over' on a different tug and I asked about her and he laughed.

"She's still there. I guess she ate her Wheaties every morning and kept working out and I'll be damned if she hasn't turned into a pretty good deckhand."

I admire her stick to it-ness.   

One thing that people seem to forget about special ops is how handy woman can be in places like Afghanistan. The Green beanies played hell finding a woman that spoke the native tongue and when they did they gave her a hijab and turned her loose with the local woman and gathered a lot of intelligence. Afghani women would not speak to an American male but they opened right up to a woman.

I've been accused of upholding one absolute standard as a way of keeping doors closed to women. Not true even a little bit. There are any number of men that are not able to go through the door because they don't meet the qualifications. Fair is fair.

One letter I do not want to see written is this:

Dear Mrs Cleaver,

In regards to your letter asking me for an honest reason your son was killed, I will give it to you.

I was with Beaver when he was killed. The real reason for his death is that two of the four women in our platoon couldn't carry the extra ammunition and as a result we ran out when we needed it the most.

One other thing is the case of one Kara Hultgreen that was killed landing a Tomcat on Abraham Lincoln several years ago.

There have been accusations made that she was a victim of a rivalry between the Navy and the Air Force and was released from her schooling too early. It is said she needed remedial training and the training officer said she (and other classmates) would graduate no matter what have arisen. The jury is still out on this.

If that was the case Kara Hultgreen lost her life over politics and a stupid rivalry. 

The issue is still contested and I won't say anything until it's confirmed either way but the fact that the Wikipedia page on her seems to have changed several times over the past several years and makes me wonder. 

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To find out why the blog is pink just cut and paste this: http://piccoloshash.blogspot.com/2009/12/my-feminine-side-blog-stays-pink.html NO ANIMALS WERE HARMED IN THE WRITING OF TODAY'S ESSAY