Commanders Split on Warrior Women but History Isn't

Before you decide which Commander is right and which one is still living in the stone age, here's a bit of history of American Warrior Women

Mary Ludwig, who would go down in history as Molly Pitcher, was born circa October 13, 1754, near Trenton, New Jersey. In 1768, she moved to Carlisle, Pennsylvania, where she met William (also known as John) Hays, a local barber. They married on July 24, 1769.

Pitcher witnessed her husband collapse at his cannon, unable to continue with the fight. She immediately dropped her water pitcher and took his place at the cannon, manning the weapon throughout the remainder of the battle until the Colonists achieved victory. According to the National Archives, there was a documented witness to Pitcher's heroic acts, who reported a cannon shot passing through her legs on the battlefield, leaving her unscathed:

"While in the act of reaching a cartridge ... a cannon shot from the enemy passed directly between her legs without doing any other damage than carrying away all the lower part of her petticoat. ... She observed that it was lucky it did not pass a little higher... and continued her occupation."

Dr Mary Edwards Walker, Civil War POW and Medal of Honor

Only Woman Medal of Honor Holder Ahead of Her Time
Department of Defense
By Rudi Williams
American Forces Press Service

WASHINGTON, April 30, 1999. He told her Mary Walker was the first American woman to be a military doctor, a prisoner of war and a Medal of Honor recipient. She was also a Union spy and a crusader against tobacco and alcohol.

"He told me she was always imitating men, and if she had dressed like a lady, she would have had a larger role in history," said Walker, a resident of Washington's Georgetown Aged Women's Home. A retired free-lance journalist, Walker said she's working on a book, "Woman of Honor," to tell the story of her aunt's Civil War exploits and her controversial life thereafter.

Through the family friend and research, Ann Walker learned her aunt was born on Nov. 26, 1832, in Oswego County, N.Y., and graduated from Syracuse Medical College in 1855. She married fellow medical student Albert Miller, but declined to take his name. The couple set up a medical practice in Rome, N.Y., but the public wasn't ready to accept a woman physician. The practice and the marriage foundered.

When the Civil War started, the Union Army wouldn't hire women doctors, so Walker volunteered as a nurse in Washington's Patent Office Hospital and treated wounded soldiers at the Battle of Bull Run in Virginia. In 1862, she received an Army contract appointing her as an assistant surgeon with the 52nd Ohio Infantry.

The first woman doctor to serve with the Army Medical Corps, Walker cared for sick and wounded troops in Tennessee at Chickamauga and in Georgia during the Battle of Atlanta.

Confederate troops captured her on April 10, 1864, and held her until the sides exchanged prisoners of war on Aug. 12, 1864. Walker worked the final months of the war at a women's prison in Louisville, Ky., and later at an orphans' asylum in Tennessee.

The Army nominated Walker for the Medal of Honor for her wartime service. President Andrew Johnson signed the citation on Nov. 11, 1865, and she received the award on Jan. 24, 1866. Her citation cites her wartime service, but not specifically valor in combat.

Walker's citation reads in part that she "devoted herself with much patriotic zeal to the sick and wounded soldiers, both in the field and hospitals, to the detriment of her own health. She has also endured hardships as a prisoner of war for four months in a Southern prison while acting as contract surgeon."

Go here for more Warrior Women Medals And then there are these from Business Insider

Maj. Lauren Edwards led more than 150 Marines and several vehicles in defensive maneuvers during the invasion of Iraq.

Sgt. Sherri Gallagher is one of the top long-range rifle marksmen in the country, and was named Soldier of the Year.

Sgt. Leigh Ann Hester killed several enemy combatants while under attack in Iraq, saving American lives.

Lt. Gen. Patricia Horoho is the U.S. Army Surgeon General—the first non-male, non-physician to take on this role.

As a military correspondent, Staff Sgt. Lindsey Kibler covered Army development and outreach in one of the most dangerous regions of Afghanistan.
v Cpl. MaryBeth Monson maintained the security of her base during an attack by Afghani insurgents disguised as American soldiers.

Air Force 2nd Lt. Samantha Morrison is the fastest woman triathlete in the armed forces.

Air Force Lt. Col. Susan Pangelinan orchestrated a disaster response mission during the California wildfires.

Spec. Ashley Pullen saved the life of a squad member by shielding him with her own body while under attack.

Spc. Elizabeth Wasil overcame combat injuries to become an all-star Army athlete.

Margaret Woodward commanded the entire U.S. air campaign in Libya during Operation Odyssey Dawn.

And more Warrior Women from the Army report

Cpl. Erica Gunter
2015: The first woman of 13M Military Occupation Specialty to become a launcher chief

Maj. Chrissy Cook
2014: The first female Bradley commander to lead her crew to "Top Gun"

Maj. Gen. Nadja West
2013: The first African-American female major general of the Army's active component

Lt. Gen. Flora D. Darpino
2013: The first female judge advocate general of the Army

Spc. Jessica Jones
2013: One of the first female Soldiers to graduate the artillery mechanic course and recognized as her company's honor graduate

Spc. Alexandra Seccareccio
2013: The first woman to obtain the multiple launch rocket system crewmember specialty

Maj. Gen. Laura J. Richardson
2012: The first female deputy commanding general of a maneuver division

Brig. Gen. Margaret W. Burcham
2012: The first woman to be promoted to a general officer in the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers

Maj. Gen. Marcia Anderson
2011: The Army's first-ever female African-American reserve officer to obtain the rank of major general

Sgt. Sherri Gallagher
2010: The first female to be selected as Best Warrior's Soldier of the Year

Lt. Gen. Patricia Horoho
2011: The first female and first nurse to become surgeon general of the Army

There are even more you can find with a simple search online. Ok, now back to the article and it should be easy to be able to decide who is right and who is wrong.

Current and Past SOCOM Commanders Split on Women in Combat
Military.com
by Richard Sisk
Jul 28, 2015

U.S. Army Soldiers use teamwork to scale an obstacle during the Ranger Course on Fort Benning, Ga., April 21, 2015. Soldiers attend the Ranger Course to learn additional skills in a challenging environment.
(U.S. Army/Pfc. Antonio Lewis/Released)

The current and former heads of U.S. Special Operations Command (SOCOM) split last week on lifting the restrictions on women in combat in special operations and throughout the military.

Army Gen. James Votel, who has led SOCOM since last August, backed the policy of the Obama administration and the Pentagon in stating that women who can meet the standards should be allowed to serve in previously restricted Military Occupational Specialties.

Standards are "absolutely the bottom line," Votel said at the Aspen Security Forum in Colorado last Friday. "This is about meeting the standards for the task that the nation expects us to be able to do. If people can meet the standards, then we should be able to integrate them."

In a separate panel at Aspen, retired Adm. Eric Olson, SOCOM commander from 2007 to 2011, said that the military and the nation must look beyond standards in making the decision and view women in combat in another context.

"I think that we are only having part of the discussion on women in combat," Olson said in a separate panel discussion at Aspen. "I think that we need to ask ourselves as a society if we are willing to put women in front-line combat units to take the first bullet on target."
read more here

Seriously?