Things You Hear on NPR: Unintentionally Humorous Coverage of Women in the Military

If NPR can’t make it sound good, no one can:

It’s a recent morning out in California’s Mojave Desert, and Marine Lance Cpls. Paula Pineda and Julia Carroll are struggling to pick up and maneuver Carl. He’s a 220-pound dummy, and a stand-in for a wounded Marine.

Carroll’s knees buckle for a moment, but as a dusty wind picks up, the two women pull Carl off their light armored vehicle. They carry him to safety, careful not to let his head drag on the rocky ground.

So that’s something!

When Violence against Women Is Politically Correct

While doing research for work, I ran into this, a compilation of empirical and other information tending to support the position that “placing women in physically demanding jobs in the military, as for example combat,” is unwise.  A couple of typical examples:

“Using the standard Army Physical Fitness Test, [an Army researcher] found that the upper quintile of women at West point achieved scores on the test equivalent to the bottom quintile of men.”