Military Review English Edition March-April 2015 | Page 56

Col. Charles E. Rice, U.S. Marine Corps Reserve, retired, holds a B.A. in political science from the University of
Texas-Arlington and a J.D. from St. Mary’s University School of Law, San Antonio. His last active-duty assignment
was as a liaison officer for 1st Marine Expeditionary Force G-3 in Iraq from 2004 to 2005. He is an attorney in
Abilene, Texas.

Notes
1. Department of Defense (DOD) News Release 037-13, “Defense Department Rescinds Direct Combat Exclusion Rule; Services
to Expand Integration of Women into Previously Restricted Occupations and Units,” U.S. DOD website, 24 January 2013, http://www.
defense.gov/Releases/Release.aspx?ReleaseID=15784 (accessed 13
November 2014).
2. Les Aspin, Direct Combat Definition and Assignment Rule, Memorandum from the Secretary of Defense, 13 January 1994.
3. U.S. Department of Commerce, U.S. Census Bureau News,
CB12-FF.21, 11 October 2012, https://www.census.gov/newsroom/
releases/archives/facts_for_features_special_editions/cb12-ff21.html
(accessed 12 January 2015). Approximately, 21.5 million Americans
are veterans; War and Sacrifice in the Post-9/11 Era, The Military-Civilian
Gap (Washington, DC: Pew Research Center, 05 October 2011,) 8,
http://www.pewsocialtrends.org/2011/10/05/war-and-sacrifice-in-thepost-911-era/ (accessed 17 November 2014). During this decade of
sustained warfare, only about 0.5 percent of the American public has
been on active duty at any given time; Drew Desilver, “Most Members
of Congress Have Little Direct Military Experience,” Pew Research
Center Fact Bank, 4 September 2013, http://www.pewresearch.org/
fact-tank/2013/09/04/members-of-congress-have-little-direct-military-experience/ (accessed 17 November 2014). In 2010, veterans
comprised only 7 percent of the U.S. population.
4. David Lerman, “U.S. Military Vows to Put Women in Combat
Roles by 2016,” Bloomberg News, 24 July 2013, http://www.bloomberg.
com/news/2013-07-24/u-s-military-vows-to-put-women-in-combatroles-by-2016.html (accessed 13 November 2014). In discussing more
combat positions opening to women, Representative Loretta Sanchez,
a California Democrat, described it as providing equal opportunity for
women. She said, “I’m real excited to get this done … Combat performance is an important issue when people are looking at moving up in
all of these organizations.”
5. DOD News Release 037-13.
6. Valerie J. Nelson, “Youngest Marine to Get Medal of Honor,” Los
Angeles Times, 06 June 2008, http://articles.latimes.com/2008/jun/06/
local/me-lucas6 (accessed 17 November 2014). Marine Jack Lucas
enlisted at age 14 to fight in World War II and received a Medal of
Honor for actions on Iwo Jima six days after turning 17; Veterans of Underage Military Service, “Were You a ‘Kid’ in the Military?” http://www.
oldvums.org/ (accessed 17 November 2014). Sailor Calvin Graham was
awarded the Bronze Star and Purple Heart at age 12 during World
War II. Veterans of Underage Military Service has published 5 volumes
of stories from underage veterans who served during World War II,
Korea, and Vietnam.
7. U.S. Department of the Navy, “Marine Corps Physical Fitness Program,” Marine Corps Order 1600.13, 1 August 2008, http://www.marines.mil/Portals/59/Publications/MCO%206100.13%20W_CH%201.

54

pdf (accessed 12 January 2015), 3-8. Test criteria for men over age 46
is more difficult than for women ages 17-26. “CFT passing criteria
has been derived from extensive testing of a wide sample population representing all demographics that comprise the Marine Corps
Total Force.”
8. Chris and Jeannette Haynie, “Marines or Marines*?” Proceedings
138, no. 11(November 2012):47; Amy McGrath, “Women in Combat,”
Marine Corps Gazette 96, no. 11 (November 2012):47; Megan H.
MacKenzie, ”Let Women Fight,” Foreign Affairs 91, no. 6 (November/
December 2012): 34.
9. Haynie and Haynie, 47.
10. McGrath, 47; MacKenzie, 34.
11. Margaret C. Harrell, et al., Assessing the Assignment Policy
for Army Women (Santa Monica, CA: RAND Corporation, National
Defense Research Institute, 2007), 34.
12. Field Manual (FM) 3-24, Insurgencies and Countering Insurgencies, (Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing Office [GPO], 2006),
21.
13. Ibid., 23.
14. Ibid., 18.
15. Donovan Campbell, Joker One (New York: Random House,
2010), 92.
16. U.S. Army Center of Military History, “Combat Chronicles
of U.S. Army Divisions in WWII,” http://www.history.army.mil/html/
forcestruc/cbtchron/cc/036id.htm (accessed 15 November 2014).
During WWII, the U.S. 36th Division fought 400 days of combat in five
campaigns from April 1943 to April 1945.
17. Defense Prisoner of War and Missing Personnel Office, www.
dtic.mil/dpmo, (accessed 15 November 2014). World War II numbers
reflect U.S. Army ground troops and U.S. Marine Corps personnel
and do not include missing Army Air Forces or Navy personnel;
Cheryl Pellerin, “Obama, Parents Give Thanks for Bergdahl’s Freedom,”
Department of Defense News, 31 May 2014 http://www.defense.gov/
news/newsarticle.aspx?id=122377 (accessed 17 November 2014). Sgt.
Bowe Bergdahl was the only U.S. service member known to be held
captive in Afghanistan.
18. U.S. Marine Corps, MARADMIN no. 579/06, Announcement
of the USMC Concept for Functional Fitness, 12 December 2006, http://
www.marines.mil/News/Messages/MessagesDisplay/tabid/13286/
Article/117858/announcement-of-the-usmc-concept-for-functionalfitness.aspx (accessed 12 January 2015).
19. Henning, Park and, Kim, “Physiological Decrements During
Sustained Military Operational Stress,” Military Medicine 176(9)(September 2011): 991-992.
20. Ross. R. Vickers, Jr., Physical Abilities and Military Task Performance: A Replication and Extension, Document No. 09-30, (San Diego,
CA: Naval Health Research Center, 9 June 2009), 4-5; North Atlantic

March-April 2015  MILITARY REVIEW