Category Archives: Military

June 24, 2016 Radio Commentary

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Women in Foxholes

Radio Commentary, 90.7, 91.7 New Life FM, June 24, 2016 – By Sue Ella Deadwyler

Three years ago, a decree came down from the administration that gave the military until January 2016 to integrate women into all combat jobs, but that decree also authorized branches of the military to ask for specific exemptions. Acting on that decree, Defense Secretary Ashton Carter announced on December 3rd that the Pentagon would open all combat jobs to women.

That was not good news to General Joseph Dunford, Jr., who is a former Marine Corps commandant and current chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. He skipped the Defense Secretary’s announcement ceremony, but said, “I have had the opportunity to provide my advice on the issue of full integration of women into the armed forces. In the wake of the secretary’s decision, my responsibility is to ensure his decision is properly implemented.” In other words, he will do his job.

Since the decree had an opt-out provision, the Marine Corps learned through studying its units that all-male units had much lower injury rates and higher overall performance than co-ed units. So, the Marines asked permission to exempt females from infantry and armor positions. However, Defense Secretary Carter did not honor the opt-out provision, overruled the Marines, and mandated that the military operate under a common set of standards. Continue reading →

August 30, 2013 Radio Commentary

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Former Georgia Legislator Making National Impact

Radio Commentary, 90.7, 91.7 New Life FM, August 30, 2013 – By Sue Ella Deadwyler

Do you ever wonder what happens to politicians that “do good” in Georgia and then leave? It could be said we’re sharing personnel or it could be the Lord puts them where they can do even more “good.” That’s the way it seems for retired military chaplain Col. Ron Crews, former Georgia Representative, now executive director of the Chaplains Alliance for Religious Liberty.

As a Representative in the Georgia General Assembly, Crews sponsored H.B. 1580 that passed in 1996, defining marriage as “only the union of man and woman.” Several years later, his co-sponsor Representative James Mills was appointed to the State Board of Pardons and Paroles. These men had such foresight that they, actually, pre-empted the passage of the federal Defense of Marriage Act, recently ruled unconstitutional by the U.S. Supreme Court. Eight years after H.B. 1580 passed to define marriage in state law, S.R. 595, which was introduced by Senator Mike Crotts, passed the General Assembly by a two-thirds vote and was ratified by voters in the 2004 General Election. That ratification amended the Georgia Constitution as follows:

“This state shall recognize as marriage only the union of man and woman. Marriages between persons of the same sex are prohibited in this state. No union between persons of the same sex shall be recognized by this state as entitled to the benefits of marriage This state shall not give effect to any public act, record, or judicial proceeding of any other state or jurisdiction respecting a relationship between persons of the same sex that is treated as a marriage under the laws of such other state or jurisdiction. The court of this state shall have no jurisdiction to grant a divorce or separate maintenance with respect to any such relationship or otherwise to consider or rule on any of the parties’ respective rights arising as a result or in connections with such relationship.”

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August 2013 Newsletter

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Military Implementation Plan puts Women
in Direct Combat and Foxholes

“The time has come to rescind the direct combat exclusion rule for women and to eliminate all unnecessary gender-based barriers to service. The Joint Chiefs of Staff unanimously join me in proposing that we move forward with the full intent to integrate women into occupational fields to the maximum extent possible.”
– General Martin E. Dempsey, Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman,
January 9, 2013 Memo to Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta

Since a current social goal of the Defense Department is “diversity as a strategic imperative,” the draft-women issue is being considered by the U.S. District Court for Central California. The case against the Selective Service System (SSS) and its director, Lawrence G. Romo and DOES 1 – 50, was filed by the 501(c)(3) National Coalition for Men (NCFM) and 18-year-old Texas resident James Lesmeister, who recently registered for the draft.

The plaintiffs claim sex-based discrimination against males, because females are exempt from a military draft. While women are not required to register, men who fail to register can be fined $250,000, sentenced to five years in prison and disqualified from a number of government benefits, such as jobs, financial aid, citizenship and job training.

The female combat exemption was rescinded. On January 9, 2013, Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman General Martin Dempsey sent a memo to Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta about the “Women in the Service Implementation Plan,” that equalizes the roles of men and women in the military. The first sentence explained, “The time has come to rescind the direct combat exclusion rule for women and to eliminate all unnecessary gender-based barriers to service.”

Fifteen days later on January 24, 2013, outgoing Defense Secretary Panetta announced the administration’s intent to eliminate military women’s exemption from direct ground combat in the Army and Marine infantry, armor, artillery, Special Operations Forces and navy SEALs. Elimination of that made females and males “similarly situated” in the military and eligible for the draft. The 1981 Supreme Court Rostker v. Goldberg decision explained the term as follows:

“The purpose of registration was to prepare for a draft of combat troops. Since women are excluded from combat, Congress concluded that they would not be needed in the event of a draft, and therefore decided not to register them … Men and women, because of the combat restrictions on women, are simply not similarly situated for purposes of a draft or registration for a draft.”

In 1992, the Presidential Commission on the Assignment of Women in the Armed Forces noted: “The purpose of conscription is to induct what the Supreme Court called ‘combat replacements’ in a time of national emergency. Therefore if women are not eligible for direct ground combat, Congress could exempt them from registering for the draft.” (Emphasis added.)

ACTION – Ask Congress to prohibit women in combat. Congress is in recess, so call their local office as follows: Representatives Kingston (R-1st), Savannah: 912 352-0101; Bishop (D-2nd), Columbus: 706 320-9477; Westmoreland (R-3rd), 770 683-2033; Johnson (D-4th), Lithonia: 770 987-2291; Lewis (D-5th), Atlanta: 404 659-0116; Price (R-6th), Roswell: 770 998-0049; Woodall (R-7th), Lawrenceville: 770 232-3005; Austin Scott (D-8th), Warner Robins: 478 971-1776; Collins (R-9th), Gainesville: 770 297-3388; Broun (R-10th), Athens: 706 549-5988; Gingrey (R-11th), Marietta: 770 429-1776; Barrow (D-12th), Toll-free in Georgia: 1 866 890-6236; David Scott (D-13th), Jonesboro: 770 210-5073; Graves (R-14th), Dalton: 706 226-5320. NOTE: Please make a separate call for each action suggested in this newsletter.

  • To read the rest of this newsletter in PDF format, please click here.