It was my understanding that the U.S. military didn’t allow women to be in forward combat positions. Now Iraq is showing TV of a woman, Shoshawna Johnson, who is a POW. How did she get captured then?
(And my fervent hopes for her safe return.)
They’re mechanics, not soldiers. They took a wrong turn and got separated from the convoy.
http://www.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,4057,6184388%5E25778,00.html
She came to “fix broke stuff”.
It’s been reported that Shoshawna is a chef…an army cook.
If memory serves, she isn’t the first. In the 91 Gulf war, there were 2 female POW’s, IIRC.
Just a small nitpick. I think that you should realize that while there are many different Military Occupational Specialties (MOS) in the army, all of the people in the army are considered “soldiers”.
I remember one of the POWs stating he was “PFC (Whoever)…Private First Class”. Isn’t that a combat position? Was he accompanying them?
Private First Class is not a combat position. It’s a rank.
PFC or Private First Class is a rank, not a combat position.
That makes sense, thanks.
<- doesn’t know anything about the Military
The U.S. did indeed have 2 female POWs in Gulf War I, One was Army surgeon Maj. Rhonda Cornum who was was taken captive after her the Black Hawk helicopter was shot down by Iraqi forces. Cornum was shot in the sholder and broke both arms in the crash. The other POW was Army Specialist Melissa Rathburn-Nealy, who unlike Cornum, testified she was treated well by the Iraqis.
FWIW The U.S. classed 11 deaths of female military personnel in Gulf War I as “combat deaths” (out of the 13 serving females who died in the conflict).
In 2003 Women make up 15%, 1 in 7, of active duty military personnel. In the USArmy they are eligible to serve in 94% of the position classifications.
About the rank, the U.S. Army has two different E-4 ranks, “Corporal” and “Specialist”. Can someone explain the difference here?
That makes sense, thanks.
<- doesn’t know anything about the Military
There is not much difference the pay grade is the same. Corporal is usualy only given out in infantry units but been givien out in other army units lately. Corporal is a NCO or None Commition Officer position which means they can be given supervising position just like a Sergeant can so they can be team leaders of other E-4s. But the difference is minor because a Specialist is also can be considered as junior NCO and can also be Team leaders if neccessary.
Powerful images nonetheless regardless of whatever she was doing there. A spokesman for the Red Cross said the Iraqi TV should technically have obscured their faces before showing them on TV but I can’t agree - I think her family will draw comfort knowing she’s still alive rather then being posted ‘Missing’
NCO stands for Non-Commissioned Officer. A Specialist is a Soldier in Pay Grade E-4 who is not a Non-Commissioned Officer. A Specialist cannot be considered an NCO.
Everything I’ve seen so far tells me, contrary to my earlier feelings, that women can serve in “forward positions” as well as men.
I, too, wish them all a safe return.
Peace,
mangeorge
So does it break down to a leadership billet (at that pay grade) MOS (Infantry, Tanks) versus someone who works in a shop (Maintenance, Supply)?
UncleBill: It pretty much does break down to that. The idea appears to be that a Specialist is more a technician than a leader. FWIW, the Army used to have Specialists in all paygrades and then reduced that to just paygrades E4, E5, and E6. A final reduction in the Specialist paygrades, effective October 1, 1985, brought it down to just the one Specialist rank currently used. I believe you can find some interesting information at www.army.mil about the evolution of this. Being Navy myself (and formerly a Specialist 4, Specialist 5, and Sergeant), I think that the division between Specialist and NCO is pure bunk.