Posted on Oct 6, 2015
Do you know about the all Female Cultural Support Team that served with SF and Rangers on the frontline in Afghanistan?
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We're hearing over and over about the women who recently graduated from Ranger school. We're hearing about the "possibility" of opening up positions for woman to be in positions on the frontline. It's a myth that women have not been serving in frontline positions for years. Have you ever heard of Dr. Mary Walker? She crossed the frontline during the Civil War. She is just one example. The women shown in this article are among women who are paving the way for others and giving them a base to build upon.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/women/womens-life/11906749/Afghanistan-Meet-the-American-women-who-fought-on-the-front-line.html?placement=CB1
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/women/womens-life/11906749/Afghanistan-Meet-the-American-women-who-fought-on-the-front-line.html?placement=CB1
Posted in these groups: 
Women in the Military
Special Operations
Women in the Military Special Operations
Posted 9 y ago
Responses: 8
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SFC (Join to see)
Yes I did. In fact, I was selected for a female engagement team to support the Arkansas Army National Guard in 2012, but the deployment was cancelled. The role of women for intellegence is unique and very helpful evidently.
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This is the kind of common sense approach that we need. Not a platform to subjugate women but to bring to light the abuses. CPT (Join to see)
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CPT (Join to see)
I have heard of this and I do believe that our women are more than capable of not only serving in direct combat but doing it well and doing it better than a lot of men! Thanks for sharing.
I have heard of this and I do believe that our women are more than capable of not only serving in direct combat but doing it well and doing it better than a lot of men! Thanks for sharing.
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During my tours in Iraq and Afghanistan females were emmbeded with certain units due to the sensitivities of the culture barrier. The Iraqi and Afghan women were likely to be more comfortable dealing with female soldiers. If women are qualified and meets standards there is no limits to what they can do or be. Changing times and its a new military and thats the bottom lime!!! God Bless Us All.
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Women who participated in FET Teams (Female Engagement Teams) in support of SF operations were heavily trained and went through a stringent selection process. In their final report, USASOC came to the conclusion that it was a mixed bag of results, with some successes. Much of the report contained commentary on missed opportunities to utilize the concept more effectively.
Soon after, it became a flavor of the month with conventional BCTs being encouraged to develop their own FETs out of their organic females in MI, Signal, Mechanic, Cooks, etc billets. This was an abject failure. They were neither well-trained not proficient in cultural engagement, and in my opinion did a lot more harm than good.
The point is not whether or not women can do a job. The point is that if we are going to employ women (or any Soldier, for that matter), they need to be qualified AND the best person for the job, not someone we throw out there to show how progressive we are.
FETs in Afghanistan had a lot of potential to positively affect the civil terrain, but Afghanistan's strictly gender-segregated population is a unusual and probably unique environment that is unlikely to be duplicated. We owe it to ourselves to learn lessons from the experience and do it better next time, if there is a next time.
Soon after, it became a flavor of the month with conventional BCTs being encouraged to develop their own FETs out of their organic females in MI, Signal, Mechanic, Cooks, etc billets. This was an abject failure. They were neither well-trained not proficient in cultural engagement, and in my opinion did a lot more harm than good.
The point is not whether or not women can do a job. The point is that if we are going to employ women (or any Soldier, for that matter), they need to be qualified AND the best person for the job, not someone we throw out there to show how progressive we are.
FETs in Afghanistan had a lot of potential to positively affect the civil terrain, but Afghanistan's strictly gender-segregated population is a unusual and probably unique environment that is unlikely to be duplicated. We owe it to ourselves to learn lessons from the experience and do it better next time, if there is a next time.
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CPT (Join to see)
FET (Female Engagement Team) is the Marine Corps version of CST (Cultural Support Team) is on the Army side. The article below is a link to information about them. It seems the Marine Corps is planning to deploy them again. http://www.marinecorpstimes.com/story/military/2015/08/05/marine-corps-revives-female-engagement-team-mission/30796519/
Marine Corps revives Female Engagement Team mission
The unit has yet to deploy a FET, due in part to the recent passage of the month of Ramadan, in which Muslim nations' normal work schedules are relaxed. But Kahn said the MEU has already fielded requests from Middle Eastern countries for FET support.
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Has there been documented instances that you are aware of where the Cultural Teams were engaged in direct action?
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LTC (Join to see)
A member of this team, LT Ashley White died on Oct 22, 2011 along side two rangers, when the assault force she was supporting triggered an improvised explosive device. These women served alongside SF and Rangers as a part of their team to gain intel and other information which directly assisted in the accomplishment of the mission at hand.
Army Sgt. 1st Class Meghan Malloy, a cultural support team member in Afghanistan in 2013, said her assignment while deployed alongside Special Forces was straightforward while on direct-action assaults. A medic, she patched up soldiers who got hurt and was told to shoot back at insurgents who shot at her.
Janiece Marquez said, “There were times where I was the gunner. Actually, for the last three months of my deployment, I was a gunner, and then I would still go into these villages and talk to women and children, and go into their homes.”
Women have served in direct combat in Iraq and Afghanistan, as helicopter pilots, military police, artillery officers, interpreters, and K9 dog handlers, and "nearly 200 of them have died," the cause of death for most were from combat-related injuries. This number includes "Explosive Ordnance Disposal (EOD) techs: Senior Airman Liz Loncki who was killed by a booby-trapped car bomb in 2007, Staff Sergeant Kim Voelz who died disarming an IED in Baghdad in 2003."
A member of this team, LT Ashley White died on Oct 22, 2011 along side two rangers, when the assault force she was supporting triggered an improvised explosive device. These women served alongside SF and Rangers as a part of their team to gain intel and other information which directly assisted in the accomplishment of the mission at hand.
Army Sgt. 1st Class Meghan Malloy, a cultural support team member in Afghanistan in 2013, said her assignment while deployed alongside Special Forces was straightforward while on direct-action assaults. A medic, she patched up soldiers who got hurt and was told to shoot back at insurgents who shot at her.
Janiece Marquez said, “There were times where I was the gunner. Actually, for the last three months of my deployment, I was a gunner, and then I would still go into these villages and talk to women and children, and go into their homes.”
Women have served in direct combat in Iraq and Afghanistan, as helicopter pilots, military police, artillery officers, interpreters, and K9 dog handlers, and "nearly 200 of them have died," the cause of death for most were from combat-related injuries. This number includes "Explosive Ordnance Disposal (EOD) techs: Senior Airman Liz Loncki who was killed by a booby-trapped car bomb in 2007, Staff Sergeant Kim Voelz who died disarming an IED in Baghdad in 2003."
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