The Goddess of War

There are two powers in the world; one is the sword and the other is the pen. There is great competition and rivalry between the two. There is a third power stronger than both, that of the women.

Muhammad Ali Jinnah

CLASSIFIED BRIEFING:
2-4 The Goddess of War

This briefing is to acknowledge the women of the world, to give them their fair share of credit. We’re gonna look “At and Into” their place within society, their contributions, their qualities and their strengths.

If you men out there wanna remain dumb-shits, then stop readin’ right now.

First off I gotta tell ya, no matter how smart a man thinks he is, piled higher-and-deeper with all sorts of fancy-Dan diplomas, unless he’s a woman (which he ain’t) he don’t understand everything there is about bein’ a woman. Just that simple.

Since this book has Warriors in the crosshairs, we’re gonna talk about the differences between men and women Warriors in general. You men are gonna have to “Suck it Up!” cause women Warriors have the advantage over us knuckle-draggers in a lot of ways.

There are all kinds of famous Women Warriors in history. Do a bit of diggin’ on the Internet, and Google “10 Bad Ass Women Warriors” to see what I mean. These women leaders are the icons of their time. And since in this so-called “Man’s World”, where most history was written by men, is it any wonder why women never got the recognition and respect they deserve?

Most everyone has heard about Joan of Arc. Talk about loving-ferocity (ferociousness). She was a Kickin’-Ass, Woman Warrior in France (leading from the front!) and won many victories over the English in the Hundred Years War.

One you may not have heard of was Queen Boudica. She lived back in the days before Scotland was called Scotland, and led her army of one hundred thousand troops against the Romans. She killed over 70,000 Roman soldiers in battles and demoralized the Roman Empire. Zenobia of Syria kicked some Roman ass too.

In more recent times, other women have stood out in history. There was Calamity Jane, the frontierswoman and Annie Oakley to name just two. O’l Annie would have been hell to beat on the rifle range! How about this one? Did you ever hear of a woman Warrior named Tah-en-a-mani? She was the one who led the attack on Custer at Little Big Horn.

And the list goes on in the history of Brazil, Central Asia, China, Japan, etc.

 “So what’s the Point?” you ask.

 The point is, that just because male historians didn’t popularize women Warriors, don’t mean that women weren’t just as fierce in battle as men. They’ve been leaders of armies from the time armies began, and kicked ass all over the world!

Goin’ way back in time, even before Marines and Rangers were doing Black-Ops with swords and spears, women have gotten a bum rap. I mean hell look at the story of Adam and Eve!

Ancient-book-geeks blame the woman (woe-to-man, to them?) for the “Fall from Paradise” – in some organic garden somewhere? Yet if you check out the Intel (other than in the Bible) it explains that Adam and Eve finally recognize their duality – being two different kinds of human beings. That is, opposites of sorts? Guess Ol’ Adam wasn’t a Jar Head, cause he’d of checked out Eve long before that?

Anyway, that “Apple” the geeks talk about, was the Symbol of the “Knowledge of Opposites”, of the duality between man and woman. Eve didn’t trick Adam into anything, and that Serpent scuttlebutt, had nothing to do with snakes that crawl around on the base at Ft. Polk, eatin’ rats. Again, these are all symbols – the serpent represents knowledge, immortal energy and so on.

Yet once again, women got the blame for somethin’ they didn’t do. Some religions (won’t say who?) claimed the “Fall” was corrupt, sex in itself is corrupt, and “Look Out!” females are the corrupters of the whole goat rope! Don’t think so. What I do think is that these boys, done got into a bad batch of mushrooms?

“Man cannot exist, if it were not for the woman”. She gives him life. The woman is the symbol of life. She is the Mother Goddess of Creation! Hell, if it weren’t for women, ain’t none of us would be fast ropin’ outa choppers. Even worse, (the thought terrifies me!) there’d be no Marine Corps!

Here’s somethin’ else to think about. There’s a quote by someone, don’t know who, that says “And God created Man in his own image/likeness”. Well, as the old Knuckle Dragger understands this, what it really means is that first off, you’ve gotta forget about the Man-Image part of it. Because in Truth, Prime Source created all us humans and animals in His/Hers/It’s form as Spirit, NOT FLESH! In other words, our likeness to Prime Source is the Spirit Form, not some old guy, with a long white beard, sitting on a cloud somewhere. Anyway, think about it.

That being said, let’s look into the qualities of this
War Goddess of Peace and Love.

 When you ask yourself, “Why are many women superior Warriors?” then look closely, you can’t help but come up with some of the following qualities. Here are just a few:

1.   Women have an extremely high tolerance to pain. They need this to give birth to children. Endurance fits in here too. The pain-tolerance, endurance, concentration and determination transfers directly to war fighting.

2.   Women have a natural tendency toward self-sacrifice. They will sacrifice themselves for their children and sacrifice themselves on the battlefield.

3.   Women have natural leadership abilities. If you don’t believe that, then you go raise a passel of nose drippers. Women have to prioritize, organize and dictate authority in the family. Obviously from history, they do a damn good job in the military as well. Freud might have said (?) “Due to the imprinting of children onto the mother, there would be a tendency to copy the mother’s behavior – to follow the mother anywhere.” (Into battle?) You figure that one out?

4.   Women have the ability to be kind, gentle and loving, yet vicious and protective. Family safety is the key in this attitude. The ferocity comes when defending life, (The ones they love) at home or on the battlefield.

5.   Women tend to have a greater respect for life, because they’ve brought life into this world. This is yet another point of conflict in Women Warriors. Not unlike Corpsman and Medics whose job it is to save life and not take it, woman create life. It is not their “Directive” to take it. In both categories, this has changed from the Vietnam era on.

6.   Women are usually more adept at details than men. That is, an exactness for details in any task given. This is a prerequisite for family planning along with battle planning.

7.   Women are skillful, graceful hunters, of people or chow for the cubs – human or otherwise.

There are a lot of really interesting quotes about women. (Check out “Brainy Quotes” on the web). This one sorta fits in here: “You can liken the love of a Mother to a force of nature. A force of nature that not only gives life and nurtures it, but will also take life to protect it.”

OK, so besides famous kick ass Women Warriors in the past, (and present) there have been female Goddesses like Pallas Athena (Greek), Kali (India), and Bast (Egypt), in philosophies and religions throughout history. So even with all this, why are so many women treated so disrespectfully by so many men? Think about it.

Besides suffering the indignity of generations of prejudice and the impact of war (like men) women in the military also bear a number of deep emotional and mental burdens.

The Parents-of-Warriors side of this is no small matter either – that is, being a parent of Warrior. One mother I talked with is a devout Catholic. She said, “If I had known that my two sons (both had multiple deployments in Iraq and Afghanistan) would become the Living Dead, that their lives would be shattered by war, I would have gone against the Catholic Church and not have had children. She now calls her mission, “The Mother’s Battle Cry!”

Imagine, this mother would have gone against her strong faith, against the Pope’s decrees, and against the Catholic Church, because of what her sons have now become. She is tormented, but resolved to inform others of her pain and the pain of her children. To this mother, her children were lost to war. A lifetime of love and nurturing is gone forever.

On the Active-Military-Mom’s side of this, here’s what one female Soldier told me – there have been many. It was in an auditorium, on a major military base. In front of over 800 fellow Soldiers a female Warrior got up, grabbed the microphone and said,

“I have been deployed twice in Iraq. During deployments, I feel like I’ve abandoned my two children – they are three and five years old. They don’t understand why Mommy has to go away, and felt that if I really loved them, I wouldn’t leave.”

“Each time I got back, I didn’t sleep for months. At first I’d check on them four or five times a night. Now I have to sleep in their room. They wake me up calling ‘Mommy! Mommy!’ And all during this time, I’m now worried that when they grow up, they may go into the military and become what I’ve become – see and do what I’ve seen and done. It’s a living nightmare.”

 Another female Soldier told me, “It sounds horrible Sarge, but I don’t have the same love for my children that I had before I was deployed. And each deployment makes it worse. I don’t love them the same anymore. At times, I don’t love them at all. It makes me feel so guilty.”

Why? It’s because Mommy never came back from war – no one does. She’s a completely different person now. Her life, goals, desires and life-perspectives have changed forever.

The tragedy here is that besides any moral or religious conflict, many women are in conflict over the Prime Directive of Procreation. That is, they may not want children after going to war. Why? It’s because, how can they justify bringing a child into this world, to grow up, join the military, and experience the horrors of war?

How could they accept that the child they lovingly raised would become a monster? How could any mother accept that even if their child wasn’t physically wounded or killed, they would be changed forever from the horrors they’d experience?

The latest figure I’ve heard is that 300,000 women have served in Iraq and Afghanistan – 40% of them have children. If the average woman has two children, that translates into nearly three quarters of a million Americans who will suffer from these wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Besides the children and parenting issues, let’s take a look at what women have to deal with in our active-duty military – deployed or in Garrison. This ain’t in some foreign damn country either, it’s right here in the good old U.S. of A.

One female Soldier said to me, “You have to be a bitch or a whore to make rank and survive in the military. I was a bitch and still got raped.”

Another female Soldier said, “I was the best mechanic in my unit. I had to be so I could fit in. Yet I was pulled out from under a truck, while a fellow Soldier was attempting to pull my pants down.”

Yet another Soldier said. “I had to sleep with my M-4, locked and loaded, on my chest at night, because I was afraid of being raped by my fellow Soldiers in Afghanistan.”

 What the hell is wrong with this picture!?!

 I’ll be damned if this isn’t a Leadership problem! There is absolutely no excuse for this except for no balls or a backbone. The stories I’ve heard about Senior NCOs and Officers covering up these criminal acts makes me wanna take ears! (Slowly!)

I’ve said to many Women Warriors, “As a man, in my time, I would have killed anyone who violated me or who violated the Code of Honor with such disgraceful actions.”

The replies from these women were pretty much the same. They said, “Sure I wanted to kill ’em, but even if I reported the rape or sexual harassment, I’d be immediately transferred out of my unit. My career would have been over in the military.”

Many of the Women Warriors I’ve talked with, were made to feel guilty about being raped. They were made to feel. “It was their fault!” Does that piss anyone else off beside me? Is it any wonder why women have a hard time with men? Is it any wonder why women have such a difficult time in establishing meaningful relationships once discharged?

I’m only mentioning a few of the dishonorable actions I’ve heard about, taking place right now in our military. Wanna know what I think? I’m gonna tell ya anyway. I think that any man, military or civilian, who rapes a woman, needs to be castrated – with extreme prejudice – period. First option? The woman who gets raped gets to do it! And if it’s military, the Officer in charge needs to grow a pair while he’s still got ’em. Real simple.

It’s safe to say that most women internalize trauma differently than men do. Women tend to hold it in and process traumatic events in ways that truly, only women understand. This is one reason many Vet Centers have established a Women Veterans Group only. Only women are present and if possible, a woman counselor conducts the group discussion.

Fear diminishes our ability to trust. The lack of trust diminishes our ability to love. Why? It stems from our fear of betrayal. And by betrayal I mean disloyalty, treachery, treason, and unfaithfulness.

For Warriors, this also has to do with our perspective of Loyalty. To us, loyalty means allegiance, devotion, and steadfastness. It means that if you give your word of Honor, you will keep your word of Honor. It means that “I can depend on you, put my life in your hands, and you will always be there to watch my back.” Is it any wonder why us Warriors are disappointed with the society we now find ourselves overwhelmed within? Think about it.

Going back to the comment of a Woman Warrior, regarding her lack of love for her children, let’s clear that up a bit. First of all, her feelings are completely “Normal” for what she’s been through – normal reactions to Battle Trauma.

For many Warrior Moms, they haven’t lost the love for the children they cherish, they’ve simply gotten numb – unable to express that love, and have become confused. That is, they’ve become confused by the torrent of emotions cascading in their minds. There is hope in this, and with the right tools, they’ll feel that love again. They’ll learn to love intensely, yet in a different way.

Added to all the topics we’ve covered in this book so far, women must also deal with generations of prejudice, condemnation, and the genetic responsibility to perpetuate the species – no small matter.

In closing this briefing I would say to women, be Proud to be One. Men have a lot to learn from you, and for those of us men willing to learn, please be willing to teach us.

Both men and women have a tremendous amount of work ahead – to change this world. To change it into that which affords our children, a life of love and happiness – a life of dreams fulfilled. In so doing, our children will find a place in their hearts to come home, and people in their lives to call friends.

 

It’s a brave new world, and only the brave will survive in it.

 Grab your gear and Saddle Up!

 It’s a “Free Fire Zone” on this next topic!

 Almost to the Summit!

 Let’s Move OUT!


If you would like to discuss any challenges you may be dealing with, please contact me. (sgtabrandiusmc@gmail.com)