First Female US Army Sniper

From the Army Times. Meet the Army’s first female active duty sniper

Not the first in the history of the world, but the first in the history of the US Army.

U.S. Army Sgt. Maciel Hay, a cavalry scout with 1st Squadron, 91st Cavalry Regiment, 173rd Airborne Brigade passed Army Sniper School in November of 2023.

“A close friend of mine told me I’d never make it in the Army, and there’s no way I could become a sniper,” Hay said. “Needless to say, that person is no longer part of my life. But now that I look back at it, I really do appreciate the motivation.”

You can click thru for the details.

Hat tip to Angry Cops: Airman Escapes Arranged Marriage in Pakistan & 1st Female Sniper

The history of female snipers in WWII was of interest to me a few years ago, when I was researching those part of WWII history not covered in schools in Illinois. You can find some of it after the break.

Army "Baffled" By Decline in White Recruits

Gee. I can't imagine why straight white men don't want to join the army. Army Sees Sharp Decline in White Recruits

The Army's recruiting of white soldiers has dropped significantly in the last half decade, according to internal data reviewed by Military.com, a decline that accounts for much of the service's historic recruitment slump that has become the subject of increasing concern for Army leadership and Capitol Hill.

The shift in demographics for incoming recruits would be irrelevant to war planners, except it coincides with an overall shortfall of about 10,000 recruits for the Army in 2023 as the service missed its target of 65,000 new soldiers.

And they really claim that they don't understand what happened.

But the drop in white recruitment has baffled Army staff and isn't easily explained by any one particular factor, and no parallel demographic trends in the civilian sector are perfect comparisons.

It couldn't be the embrace of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion, or Critical Race Theory. It couldn't be that the whole of the government has declared war on traditional America. It couldn't be any of those things. Because if it was, that would mean that the leadership of the Army, and the military in general, were a bunch of screw-ups and imbeciles. (Hat tip to Breitbart.)

Army Reports on the Vanessa Guillen Case

Color me shocked. U.S. Army report: Vanessa Guillen reported sexual harassment twice, but superiors took no action

She reported sexual harassment. It wasn't handled properly, or even handled at all. Are we shocked that the military has a problem in this area?

In case you have forgotten - or never knew - this case, Specialist Vanessa Guillen was bludgeoned to death, her body was smuggled off base, she was dismembered and her remains set on fire. The suspect in the case was Spc. Aaron Robinson, though he never faced trial, because he killed himself. All this took place at Fort Hood, located in Killeen, Texas. It is believed she died on April 22, 2020.

Among the report’s findings, investigators say Guillen was sexually harassed and reported it on two separate occasions. They say Guillen’s leaders failed to take appropriate action and that the allegations were not moved up the chain of command.

When she disappeared the powers-that-be didn't want to draw attention to the fact that she didn't leave base voluntarily.

According to the report, the acting senior commander of Fort Hood also misjudged the significance of Spc. Guillen’s disappearance and was overly reluctant to engage the media, misjudging how big of an event it would become. Her disappearance prompted a search that would garner national headlines and social media attention for months.

In other words, ass covering. "Maybe the media won't notice..." The media noticed.

They also couldn't keep the guy in custody, which, given how it turned out, I am less upset about. (It still shows a level of incompetence that we have come to expect from years of government training.)

After finding her remains on the evening of June 30, the Army held Robinson but “poor communication” allowed him to flee a conference room and leave the base, killing himself before investigators could find him.

So you have a guy who is a suspect in a murder/dismemberment and you are holding him in a conference room. Really? That is the best Fort Hood can come up with?

Here is a link to the Army's review document of this incident, and it actually isn't the snow-job I expected.

(3) 3CR did not sufficiently emphasize the response and prevention of sexual harassment. Overall, 3CR's command climate did not sufficiently emphasize the response and prevention of sexual assault or sexual harassment. Recovering from long standing deficiencies, the ineffectiveness of Fort Hood's SHARP program compounded 3CR's problem. 3CR's leaders, supervisors, and Chains of Command lacked understanding of their responsibilities. When presented with allegations, SPC Guillén's Chain of Command failed to take appropriate action.

And once again you can color me shocked to discover that the chain of command, starting at the bottom with people overseeing specialists, haven't got a clue when it comes to what to do in the face of sexual harassment. That can't be their job, can it? Maybe if we ignore it, it will go away.