Women in Combat for T2K

[helbent4]

Originally Posted by copeab

In any case, I think I've said what I have to say on this topic. I've ended up permanently ignoring people over the years because of threads on this topic.

Brandon,

Hey, you splashed me with your cynical bile! EWWWWW!!!!

As a new(ish) member I think I can be forgiven for not knowing your pet peeves and dislikes, so it's certainly not intentional. As long as we remember to cut each other some slack, it's all good. Either that, or send me the complete FAQ of your likes and dislikes so further embarrassments can be avoided. (Just kidding.)

Tony

[Raellus]

I'm reading Anthony Beevor's Stalingrad for the umpteenth time and it reminded me of how the Soviet Union used women in the military during WWII.

Most Soviet women soldiers served in support roles, kind of like the American WACs and WASPs and WAVEs. This freed up men for the combat roles.

But, when the situation at the front grew more desperate, women did serve in combat roles as well. Apparently, there was a squadron of female night bomber crews. Women also drove tanks (one even commanded a SU-152) and manned AT and artillery guns.

Because of National Socialism's views on a woman's place in German society, very few German women served in anything other than an indirect support capacity (there were a couple of notable female test pilots, IIRC).

In the Twilight War, with all participants suffering casualties on a colossal scale, women would be needed to serve in a variety of roles in the military, both support and combat.

[pmulcahy11b]

Given both Soviet and NATO doctrine, there would in a way be no front lines. Both sides called for deep-penetration raids by special operations, air assault, and airborne troops into the rear areas of the enemy, to destroy supplies, disrupt supply lines, and attack high-level command structures. Those female troops in the rear might find themselves on the receiving end of a Spetsnaz or Ranger attack. I used this in Korea when teaching how important to the troops at 2X (Division HQ) how important it was that they knew how to use all weapons at their disposal -- the North Koreans are on the Soviet playbook, and at that time REMFs were lucky if they knew one end of their M16 from the other. (That's not the case now days, from what I understand -- thank god.)

[copeab]

Originally Posted by helbent4

Brandon,

Hey, you splashed me with your cynical bile! EWWWWW!!!!

Sorry, didn't mean to sound so negative.

[helbent4]

Originally Posted by copeab

Sorry, didn't mean to sound so negative.

Brandon,

In turn, I apologise for resurrecting a topic you and others probably hope would stay buried.

To start, I was just thinking of getting interested again in this group (I remember when a predecessor was hosted on RPG Now, I think?) and was scrolling down the thread summaries. Mostly, I just wanted to make the point about "Bobbi Lee" (or whoever) because I didn't think it'd been made about the newer editions. I appreciate that this issue can be sensitive to many and provoke an emotional response that isn't conducive to level-headed debate. Plus, sometimes a topic is just played-out for regular list members, something I wasn't aware of.

Reading over your past posts I see you're normally a pretty laid-back and knowledgeable guy, so rest assured I have no particular desire to needlessly antagonise you or land on your shitlist.

Tony

[copeab]

Originally Posted by helbent4

Brandon,

In turn, I apologise for resurrecting a topic you and others probably hope would stay buried.

No apologies needed. Since I'm somewhat active on the forums and was heavily involved in the topic before, i thought an explanation why I wasn't going to add to it was in order. Should have worded things better, though.

Feel free to carry on, don't mind my grumbling

[helbent4]

Originally Posted by copeab

No apologies needed. Since I'm somewhat active on the forums and was heavily involved in the topic before, i thought an explanation why I wasn't going to add to it was in order. Should have worded things better, though.

Feel free to carry on, don't mind my grumbling

Brandon,

Thanks for explaining where you were coming from, that makes a lot more sense now.

Tony