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U.S. Army: 50% of Females Will be Kicked Out of Military if Genderless Physical Fitness Tests Continue

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The Army is considering adding gender-specific standards to its new Army Combat Fitness Test, or ACFT, after early data shows nearly half of female soldiers can’t pass the test and might face being removed from service once it becomes official next year.

Service officials, including Sergeant Major of the Army Michael Grinston, testified before a House Appropriations Committee subpanel Monday that scores may end up being separated by gender to identify the 1st, 10th, 25th and 50th percentile of soldiers.

In practice, this could mean men and women still would have to meet the same standards but would not be compared to one another. Physical fitness scores are heavily considered in promotions, especially in combat-arms jobs such as infantry and cavalry.

Army officials said one possibility would be to note the soldier’s percentile ranking in their record. For example, the record could show the soldier was in the top 10% of fitness ability among their gender across the Army. . .

The news comes shortly after Military.com obtained internal Army data showing that 44% of women are failing the ACFT, compared to 7% of men. The data suggests women get better at the test as they become more familiar. Failing to pass an official fitness test can quickly lead to a soldier being booted out of the military; at this time, ACFT scores do not count against those who take them. (Read more from “U.S. Army: 50% of Females Will be Kicked Out of Military if Genderless Physical Fitness Tests Continue” HERE)

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U.S. Army’s New Top Priority: Climate Change

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The United States Army published a bulletin last week revealing what the military branch considers a grave threat that may jeopardize U.S. national security: climate change. . .

The document — published by the assistant secretary of the Army for installations, energy and environment — claims “climate change is a serious threat to U.S. National security interests and defense objectives.”

“Warming temperatures open new theaters of operations for military and commercial use, while extreme weather events and rising sea levels threaten infrastructure and economic output, trigger large-scale population displacement, migration and exacerbate food and water insecurity,” the bulletin claims.

Because of these alleged threats, the Army will now be “prioritizing climate change” in strategic defense plans. The new focus appears to be directly related to President Joe Biden’s agenda, which emphasizes addressing climate change threats.

The Defense Department, in fact, has already established the “Department of Defense Climate Working Group,” a new office that will coordinate the Defense Department’s ongoing response to climate change. (Read more from “U.S. Army’s New Top Priority: Climate Change” HERE)

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A 4,600 Mile Army Airborne Message Drop to Russia

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The U.S. military illustrated on Friday why America remains the instrumental global force for freedom.

It did so by delivering the 3rd Brigade Combat Team of the 82nd Airborne Division 4,600 miles from its Fort Bragg home base to Estonia. Without stopping to rest or refuel, approximately 750 paratroopers were dropped into northern Estonia in a simulated forcible entry operation. Once on the ground, they were just 70 miles from the Russian border and 150 miles from Vladimir Putin’s home city of St. Petersburg. The U.S. paratroopers jumped alongside B company, 2nd Battalion of the British Army’s Parachute Regiment.

In war, supported by an allied air campaign and as in 1944 in Normandy, the American and British paratroops would be outnumbered and surrounded by the enemy. They would be tasked with delaying Russian forces in their advances to Estonia’s capital, Tallinn, and buying time for NATO armored and mechanized forces to launch a counteroffensive. Theirs would be a high-risk, bloody operation. Put another way, an operation in the finest tradition of the Airborne Infantry.

In this case, the 3rd Brigade was acting as the Army’s Immediate Response Force. Under that contingency, one brigade of the 82nd Airborne is always deployable on 18 hours’ notice. No other nation can match this speed and scale of flexible response. It’s not just about the airborne troops. It’s about the logistics, mobility, intelligence, and field headquarters assets that go with them. (Read more from “A 4,600 Mile Army Airborne Message Drop to Russia” HERE)

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Army Investigates Handout Suggesting Trump Campaign Slogan Constitutes ‘Covert White Supremacy’

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The Army Wednesday night announced it has launched an investigation into how a presentation on racism and discrimination included a handout suggesting President Donald Trump’s campaign slogan “Make America Great Again” is considered “covert white supremacy.” The investigation was launched after a complaint from an Alabama congressman.

Mo Brooks, a Republican who represents the district where the handout was distributed at the Redstone Arsenal, called the handout a “violation of the Hatch Act” designed to keep the military out of partisan politics. Brooks sent a letter to Army Secretary Ryan McCarthy, copied to Trump, Attorney General William Barr and others.

He “demanded an investigation into Army personnel illegally using federal government resources to distribute racist and partisan political propaganda in direct violation of the federal Hatch Act and any number of military regulations,” according to a statement on his website. And he said that the Army must “prosecute and fire” Redstone Arsenal personnel responsible.

Cynthia O. Smith, an Army spokeswoman, said that “as soon as Department of the Army leaders were made aware of these products the Army initiated a 15-6 investigation to determine how this happened. The Army does not condone the use of phrases that indicate political support. The Army is and will continue to remain an apolitical organization.” (Read more from “Army Investigates Handout Suggesting Trump Campaign Slogan Constitutes ‘Covert White Supremacy'” HERE)

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Suspect in Murder of Vanessa Guillen Appears in Court

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A suspect accused of assisting in hiding the body of murdered Army Specialist Vanessa Guillen appeared in court on Monday, amid increasing calls for an independent investigation into the disappearance of the solider who went missing more than two months ago. . .

Cecily Aguilar, 22, has been charged with conspiracy to tamper with evidence in connection with Guillen’s death.

According to the U.S. Attorney’s Office of the Western District of Texas, “20-year-old U.S. Army Specialist Aaron Robinson told Aguilar that he killed a female soldier by striking her in the head with a hammer while on Ft. Hood on April 22, 2020,” and “subsequently, Robinson enlisted the help of Aguilar in disposing of the dead female’s body.” . . .

Guillen’s family has called for a Congressional investigation into her death, claiming the Army has not been forthright in providing details since her disappearance from the base. The soldier’s loved ones also said Guillen had told them she was sexually harassed by a superior prior to her disappearance, and that she refused to report the alleged misconduct out of fear of retaliation. (Read more from “Suspect in Murder of Vanessa Guillen Appears in Court” HERE)

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Passengers: Flight Attendant Refused to Hang Army Ranger's Uniform Jacket

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Photo Credit: WSOCTVU.S. Airways is trying to track down a U.S. Army Special Forces soldier after passengers said one of an airline flight attendant refused to hang up his jacket on a Charlotte-bound flight.

Late Friday afternoon, the airline issued an apology for what happened on board U.S. Airways Flight 1930 from Portland, Oregon, to Charlotte on Thursday.

The statement reads: “We apologize for the situation and are reviewing the incident internally. We have a long and proud history of serving our military members and hold the men and women who serve our country in the highest regard.”

Thousands of people have responded blasting the airline online after the story went viral.

First Sgt. Albert Marle asked a flight attendant if she could hang up his jacket to keep it from getting wrinkled. Passengers on board the flight said she refused, citing a policy that said the closet was only for first-class passengers and Marle wasn’t one of them.

Read more from this story HERE.

Army is Worried Too Many White Men Lead Combat Units

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Photo Credit: U.S. Army photo by Sgt. Kani RonningenU.S. Army sociologists are worried that a lack of black officers leading its combat troops will have detrimental effect on minorities and lead to fewer black officers in top leadership posts.

“The issue exists. The leadership is aware of it,” Brig. Gen. Ronald Lewis toldUSA Today on Thursday. “The leadership does have an action plan in place. And it’s complicated.”

The Army reports that only 10 percent of its active-duty officers are black, which has contributed to its dearth of black officers leading soldiers with occupational specialties in infantry, armor and artillery.

Read more from this story HERE.

The Army's 3D-Printed Food Will Give Soldiers Personalized Meals

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Photo Credit: Marines / Creative Commons

Photo Credit: Marines / Creative Commons

Three-dimensional printing is changing the way the Army treats injuries and builds bombs, and now the technology is poised to revolutionize how soldiers are fed. 3D printing will allow the Army to print food on demand, from pasta to pizza, and tailor its nutritional content to an individual soldier’s needs.

Feeding thousands of soldiers in the wilderness of a far-flung battlefield has never been an easy task. The food served to Army personnel needs to be unspoiled, nutritious, and reasonably tasty. For decades, soldiers have dined on Army-supplied Meals, Ready to Eat, but MREs are usually pretty unappetizing and limited to 24 options like “beef taco filling” served in a tinfoil bag. You couldn’t even get a pizza until last year when Army researchers developed a groundbreaking pizza that stays fresh for three years.

But 3D printing could change that. While most current methods for 3D printing food pile layers of nutritional goo on top of each other, the Army is looking to use ultrasonic agglomeration, which binds particles together by shooting ultrasonic waves at them. This approach, explained Army Magazine in its July issue, affords them great flexibility when it comes to printing varied meals—adding some additional options to the menu.

“You would like a sandwich, where I would like ravioli. You would print what you want and eliminate wasted food,” Mary Scerra, an Army food technologist at the Natick Soldier Research, Development, and Engineering Center (NSRDEC) in Massachusetts, told Defense One.

Read more from this story HERE.

Army to Force Out 550 Majors; Some in Afghanistan

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Photo Credit: JANE ARMSTRONG / U.S. ARMY

Photo Credit: JANE ARMSTRONG / U.S. ARMY

About 550 Army majors, including some serving in Afghanistan, will soon be told they have to leave the service by next spring as part of a budget-driven downsizing of the service.

Gen. John Campbell, the vice chief of the Army, acknowledged Friday that telling troops in a war zone that they’re out of a job is a difficult task. But he said some of the soldiers could join the National Guard or the Army Reserve.

The decision to cut Army majors comes on the heels of a move to slash nearly 1,200 captains from the ranks. Army leaders were criticized at the time for giving 48 of them the bad news while they were deployed to Afghanistan.

The Army declined to say how many majors will be notified while they are at the battlefront.

“The ones that are deployed are certainly the hardest,” Campbell told reporters. “What we try to do there is, working through the chain of command, minimize the impact to that unit and then maximize the time to provide to that officer to come back and do the proper transition, to take care of himself or herself, and the family.”

Read more from this story HERE.

German Officer to Serve as U.S. Army Europe's Chief of Staff

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Photo Credit: U.S. Army Europe

Photo Credit: U.S. Army Europe

A German Army brigadier general who recently served with NATO forces in Afghanistan is assuming duties as the chief of staff of U. S. Army Europe, the first time a non-American officer has held that position.

Brig. Gen. Markus Laubenthal, most recently the commander of Germany’s 12th Panzer Brigade in Amberg, and chief of staff of Regional Command North, International Security Assistance Force Afghanistan, will be stationed at USAREUR headquarters, Wiesbaden, Germany. He could report to duty as early as Monday.

Laubenthal also has served as military assistant to the deputy commander of operations and assistant chief of staff of operations for NATO forces in Kosovo.

Read more from this story HERE.