Whistleblower details evidence of Pentagon holding female soldiers to lower standards

As the Pentagon continues to focus on diversity and inclusion in our armed forces, an anonymous whistleblower has come forward to say that women are being held to lower standards while attempting to score a spot in the elite Special Operations Forces.

“I am writing this anonymously for fear of reprisal or retribution from current Congress members, Air Force leadership, and the Special Tactics/Special Operations Forces (SOF) leadership,” the whistleblower wrote in a letter which was posted by Air Force Times. “I need to blow the whistle on an ongoing dangerous and comprising situation.”

The writer details the importance of Special Tactics (ST) Airmen, which includes “Combat Controllers, Special Reconnaissance Airmen, Pararescuemen, SOF Tactical Air Control Party, Special Tactics Officers, and Combat Rescue Offers.”

“ST operators bring the power of the Air Force to SOF ground elements such as the Navy SEALs, Green Berets, and Army Rangers by delivering global access, precision strike, personnel recovery, and battlefield surgery,” the letter reads. “To be in the ST community, Airmen go through a rigorous selection process and 2 years of training that challenge the mind and body.”

While the whistleblower agrees that some women may be mentally, and even physically, ready to serve in Special Ops, “the manner in which Congress and Air Force Special Operations Command is approaching the topic is degrading the force and jeopardizes the readiness, and lives, of Special Tactics Operators/Special Operations Forces and boots-on-the-ground forces.”

The writer then focuses on the Air Force Special Operations Command (AFSOC) and a female who was pushed through the brutal training program, even after she tried to tap out.

“Lieutenant General James Slife, the AFSOC Commander, is a major player to the degradation of SOF standards by pushing a female [name redacted] through the Special Tactics training pipeline after she made the choice to self-eliminate/quit,” the whistleblower claims, adding that the issue “may jeopardize the lives of fellow SOF members.”

“The detailed anonymous letter reported 11 examples of unusual concessions that AFSOC extended to retain the female captain, even though she had not met longstanding standards and repeatedly dropped out of essential training events, such as rigorous diving exercises and solo land navigation,” The Federalist reported Friday.

Slife responded to the Air Force Times, and while he didn’t deny the allegations, he did insist that AFSOC standards have not changed.

“While the standards remain the same, the norms have not,” Slife stated.

But, as The Federalist points out, this isn’t exactly true.

The Diversity & Inclusion Strategic Plan, released by U.S. Special Operations Command (SOCOM) Commander General Richard Clarke in March of 2021, made diversity and inclusion “operational imperatives.”

And as American Wire News reported, the Department of Defense stated Thursday that “diversity, equity, and inclusion are necessities” in the United States military.

Even, it seems, if it means lowering a few standards.

For many, especially those who have served, the whistleblower’s statement is hardly breaking news.

“This has been obvious for years,” tweeted retired Col. Rob Maness.

And according to another Twitter user, “Some of us have been fighting this policy (to the detriment of our careers) and yelling from the rooftops for 30+ years about this BS.”

https://twitter.com/RobManess/status/1492190338072649744?s=20&t=yA4zL8WhyyTrzxCPN0NdhA

According to conservative host Jesse Kelly, the notion that women are held to a lower standard is simply a matter of common sense.

“Of course they’re held to lower standards,” Kelly tweeted. “Women are smaller and weaker. The military is physical. The only way to make it ‘inclusive’ is to lower the standards.”

“It’s why all the ‘I’m fine with them in as long as the standards aren’t lowered’ talk is absurd,” he added. “They will be.”

Melissa Fine

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