Something to Remember

When someone enlists in the Army and goes to BCT, Basic Combat Training, they are expected to learn and memorize a series of phrases, paragraphs, and lists.
An example of some things expected of each soldier to remember are:
--The ArmyValues.
--The Warrior's Ethos.
--The Soldier's Creed.
--The Chain of Command.
--The General Orders (at least the first three)
--The Army Song
--And any song unique to your branch, for example, I was in the Corp. of Engineers, so I needed to learn the Engineers song.

Army Song "The Army Goes Rolling Along"

US Army Engineer Song

MOS Means What?

Something I have encountered time and again throughout my life, are the people who think they know about the military, yet, make the mistake of assuming that joining the military automatically means you will go to the "front lines" and be under constant fire.
What they don't realize, or know, is that there are dozens, if not hundreds of different MOS's, or Military Occupational Specialities, just in the Army alone. Many of the jobs that a future soldier can enlist in do not even have anything to do directly with combat, such as; veterinary technician, dentist, cook, tailor, etc.
The military is so much more than just holding a weapon and shooting at the "enemy," I believe that something so small, as taking the time to learn that there is more than just one ways to serve in the military, is an important facet in the way people look at the men and women who serve our country.

Women we stand, united we fall

To be female in the military is not as simple as wearing skirts with your dress uniforms, or being allowed to keep your hair long. To be female in the military is to open the door to a world filled with danger and a constant need to prove and validate yourself in a "man's world."
While, not all women feel the pressures of being female in the military, some, like myself do. In my short time in the military, both through ROTC and BCT (Basic Combat Training, or "Boot Camp") I have seen the hot-shot females, the ones who are, seemingly, just so damn good at everything that they are placed on a pedestal, and can do no wrong. While others, like myself, find themselves somehow skirting the "exclusive club," that is complete acceptance into military life.
The truth of the matter is, if you are female in the military, you find that no matter how hard you work at something or how well you excel, you always have to be that much better, and work that much harder to be accepted, to be considered equal.
What I have found to be especially true, is that if you can run, and I mean you are a long distance champ, you can make it. If you're a woman and you can't run as fast, as long, or as well, as the guys, you automatically get pushed down the hierarchy ladder, and find yourself struggling to get back up. And don't even think about getting injured, it is considered a disgrace to the military if you, as a female, get injured, because to the males, or to the aforementioned "bad-ass chicks," you are weak, and pathetic, and are a disgrace to the military.
I got injured in Basic, my body essentially started to shut down in protest to how hard I was pushing myself, was I praised for my endurance? Was I given credit for how much harder I pushed, in comparison to the men twice my size, carrying the same weight? No. I was told that I was physically unfit for the military and that I didn't deserve to be there, that that was why I was "being sent" home.
But the truth was, I was only "physically unfit" for the military because as a 5"1 female, I was pushing myself harder than everyone else there, did it matter that I could do more push-ups than most of the men? Or that for nearly an entire week I pushed through the unbearable pain of a torn rotator-cuff, excruciating back-pain, and constant ankle pain, just to avoid seeming weak and going to the doctor? No. All that mattered was that I was a female put on a serious profile (basically a list of things approved and not-approved by a doctor stating what I was and was not allowed to do) and because of that I was a disgrace.
Not all females go through my experience, but all females are automatically categorized, you're either a great runner and placed at the top of the pack, as everything else will come in time, or you're assumed weak and unimportant, then ostracized, criticized, and deemed unwanted.
To be female in the military you must grow a thick skin and realize it will never be easy, you need to rise to the top of the pack or feel yourself be cast out. and even for those who do make it to the top, they have to maintain that peak, rise higher, or find themselves slipping along its slope, as well. It is not easy to be female, but it is those females in the military who are the strongest of the bunch, the ones who have outdone the males, who have proven themselves well beyond "worthy," and who have claimed and guarded their peaks. They are the true strength of the military.