European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - April 10, 2007, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Paces stars and stripes tuesday april 102007 women in guard set for War zones by Chuck Crumbo Mcclatchy newspapers Camp Shelby miss it Leslie Madron waited to shoot on the firing Range just like her male comrades Madron is expected to be ready to fight when her South Carolina army National guard unit reaches Afghanistan in a few weeks to Madron a medic it int a big Deal that she could wind up in combat i knew what i was doing when i signed up she said the role that Madron and about 100 women from the South Carolina National guard will play in Afghanistan would have been unthinkable less than a generation ago but the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq have changed forever what the military and the Public think about women in combat female soldiers Are no longer stationed safely out of Range of com Bat instead they can be surrounded by the enemy on battlefields that have no Safe rear areas the fact that women Are in greater danger is made Clear by some grim statistics since the War on terror began in september 2001 More than 80 women in the us military have died in Iraq and Afghanistan that compares with just eight women killed during the Vietnam War about 100 women Are in the South Carolina National guards 218th brigade combat team which is training Here for an up coming Mission to Afghanistan the women hold a variety of jobs As clerks truck Drivers medics nurses Supply sergeants and mechanics to were All volunteers we All knew what we were getting into when we signed on the they also train alongside men learning defensive tactics such As conducting Security patrols operating checkpoints and detecting bomb threats although the recruiting of women has increased in the past 20 years the army is still a mans world there Are 1260 women in the South Carolina army National guard about 135 percent of its Force that s comparable to the percentage of women in the a Tiv duty army a smaller percentage of women Are in the 218th because most of the jobs in the Newberr head quartered unit Are in combat arms infantry Armor and Artil Lery Federal Law prohibits women from being in ground combat units so most of the women in the 218th Are Mem Bers of the South Carolina guards 163rd support battalion which will have about 350 soldiers work ing in support roles during the Afghanistan mis Sion because they work in a unit that has a Large number of women younger female soldiers said they dont feel isolated or unusual but maj Karen Frabel a 25year Veteran of the army and guard remembers the old Days when she Felt like she was Ina Glass bowl you do it for so Long that you kind of get used to it that there a lot of men and few women said Frabel in Afghanistan Frabel will work in a civil affairs Slot with the 218ths Headquarters unit that Means Shell be spending much of it Leslie Madron medic with South Carolina National guards 218th brigade combat team Chuck Crumbo the state Columbia pc Jasmine Brooks Eft and pc Crystal Smith both combat medics and members of company c 163rd support battalion Load ammunition into magazines before participating in a reflexive fire exercise at Camp Shelby miss in March her time visiting afghan villages meeting with local officials and citizens and trying to win their support she also will see How differently women Are treated in afghan society because the education of girls is discouraged by some faiths illiteracy among Afghanistan popu lation is about 85 percent adult women in the predominantly Muslim country usually Wear scarves to conceal their faces and their role is subordinate to the male if s common to see a Man beat his wife in pubic i dont know How in going to feel about that Frabel said til try to be understanding while it May be unsettling us troops Are told to be respectful of afghan ways and not interfere the toughest part of training at Camp been being away from their families the soldiers said when pc Delilah Brown got the news that the 218th was being called up she struggled with How to say goodbye to her husband and four children Ages 10 9 7 and3 but this will Advance my Ca reer in the guard and help us out financially Brown said be sides it was the moral thing to do Brown told her children shed be away for More than a year be cause she was going to go to help people others have had to put careers and school on hold Madron who leaving behind her Fiance and two Labrador retrievers said morale among All soldiers in her and be High were All volunteers we All knew what we were getting into when we signed on the dotted line Madron said if you signed for the school Money then you did it for the wrong reason detainees at Gizmo protesting conditions by Carol j Williams los Angeles times Miami terrorism suspects at a maximum Security prison at the us naval base in Quantana Ino Bay Cuba have resumed a mass hunger strike to protest the conditions of their detention detainees lawyers said sunday the on again off again action involving at least Over the past few months started in january when More than 170 of the 385 men currently detained at Guantanamo were moved to the newest and harshest facility Camp 6 Many of the prisoners previously had been living in 10bunk bar Racks or Meta mesh cages in open rows from which they could communicate with each other play Board games across adjoin ing cells and exercise in a communal sports court once the majority of the detainees were moved into the tougher games 5 and 6 some resumed a hunger strike that had lasted from late 2005 through january 2006 in protest of their near com plete isolation said Joshua col Ang Lobryan a pro Bono attorney for bahraini prisoner Isa Al Urbati Al Urbati told him on a recent visit that a score of prisoners had resumed the strike even though medical personnel Force feed any prisoner who has refused food for three Days or More after a May riot at Camp 4 a Barrac Slike facility for the most compliant prisoners the com Mander of the joint task Force running the prison and interrogation network Navy rear adm Harry b Harris ordered Camp 6 retrofitted to confine each Man be Hind Cement Walls and steel doors sound dispersing Mold Ings to thwart even shouted conversation were recently added Pentagon spokeswoman reached sunday would say Only that the go Anthanio medics follow established ethical proce dures when dealing with hunger strikers National guard teams alerted to possible deployment by Lisa Burgess stars and stripes Arlington a four National guard brigade combat teams totalling about 13000 reservists have been alerted for possible deployment to Iraq As Early As december Pentagon officials announced monday the units receiving the orders include b 39th infantry brigade combat team Little Rock Ark 45th infantry brigade Oklahoma City 76th infantry brigade combat team Indianapolis 37thinfantry brigade combat team Columbus Ohio the alerts approved by defense Secre tary Robert Gates represent the first time notification does not mean this is a sure thing official says full guard combat brigades could be sent Back to Iraq for a second tour these troops Are earmarked to serve As replacement forces in the regular unit Rota Tion for the War they Are not connected to the military buildup for Security operations in Baghdad that president Bush announced in january military officials said but being alerted of possible deployment does not mean that the units will be sent to Iraq for certain a senior defense official told Pentagon reporters Friday instead the official said the Pentagon is working to identify units for what it Calls the regular 20082010 Iraq troop rotation if youre going to bring National guard brigades into that youll want to notify them As far in Advance As possible so that they can make arrangements with their employers and begin to train the official said whether the four National guard Bri Gades will actually deploy or not will de Pend on conditions on the ground in Iraq the official said the 39th infantry brigade combat team last deployed As part of the 1st cavalry Divi Sion from february 2004 to february 2005 according to army records the Arkansas brigade served both in the Baghdad Green zone and in Taji Iraq the 45th infantry brigade combat team deployed to Afghanistan in the fall of 2003 to support the afghan National army the thunderbird also spent a full year in the Ater army records show the 37th infantry brigade combat team last deployed to support operations in Kosovo As part of the United nations Kosovo Force Mission from August 2004 to february 2005 one of the transformed brigades the dragon brigade now includes guardsmen from both Ohio and Michigan Indiana 76th infantry brigade combat team another transformed brigade has had elements of the unit deployed to either Iraq or Afghanistan since november 2002 the last brigade level rotation for the Nighthawk brigade was in Afghanistan from May 2004 to August 2005 army officials said Overall about on third of the 13000 National guard soldiers identified in the Alert have deployed to Iraq or Afghanistan previously the defense official said email Lisa Burgess at