Female soldiers of the world A few weeks back I did a post called “Ugly Beautiful” focusing on finding beauty within unlikely places, or seeing a different side of something usually perceived as ugly, that one can interpret as beautiful. Or perhaps just unveiling or uncovering some beauty by changing perspective. In this post though, it’s more of a misplaced beauty – beauty within unforgiving environs, or in places most would see as un-befitting. But, people are people and often something we see as odd or divisive, is more a reflection of ourselves than the actual state of the way things are. Female soldiers, specifically, Special Forces; They’re rare and a part of our world that most in society don’t want to acknowledge, because on some level, it violates some moral code, or a puristic ideal and goes against what most believe being a woman is all about. This is perhaps harking back to traditionalists; where women are the nurturers and care givers, and men are the protectors and providers. However, women have immense strength, and besides, what happens when the man falls (as he so often does) – and let’s not forget that men usually go to women to glean strength and support. But really, this is just a slight demonstration of the strength of women, because they can be the best protectors and are already providers, but they can do it without forfeiting their nurturing and softer sides. I was going to get all philosophical about this and delve into the inequality issues and the fight that many women have been fighting for ages, but instead I’ll just let the pictures speak for themselves because these ladies are simply badass – if that’s not too crude. I could've also gone into the various roles they'd played over the ages and still do today, from assassins (often in the vein of the John Le Carre coined term; honey-traps), freedom fighters or even bodyguards - the late Muammar Gaddafi was one leader known to be partial-to/fascinated-with female (virgin) bodyguards. And then there's the world's most famous (and perhaps the most beautiful and glamorous) female bodyguard: Anna Loginova. She had a successful modelling career alongside her other profession, including work for Chanel. She died in 2008 in Moscow, at the age of 29, from head injuries sustained in what authorities believed to be a random carjacking. Loginova studied martial arts and in 2005 founded an agency called Stilet (Dagger) dedicated to female bodyguards (trained by ex-KGB operatives) to provide discreet protection for Russian billionaires . We know that women in this profession are in high demand the world over. I'm also only handing a passing mention to past female leader's, known for their unshakeable stance when it came to conflict, strong women in history like Cleopatra, St Joan of Arc - the sword carrying saint, Queen Elizabeth I, Mbande Nzinga Angolan Queen, 1582-1663 - who organized a powerful guerilla army to repel the Portugese settlers (eventually negotiating a peace treaty but refusing to bow to their then King), Queen Victoria, Golda Meir and the Iron Lady Margaret Thatcher. If you’re curious, there are other reasons behind my decision to post this – it’s simply because I am actually writing about it – perhaps not women soldiers in general, but my book does contain a central character which happens to be a highly qualified female operative. The fictional character's name is Ayalah Karmin, an ex-IDF paratrooper and Sayaret Matkal vet who is working freelance after a term in Mossad. Of course when I researched this, I did not look into gender battles, but simply looked into the army, the units and disciplines, since all who achieve these exceptional feats need to meet the same exceptional standards. And then of course Israel is known for its equality in the military – with such a small country they can't afford to be stingy on who defends their country… ALL Israeli citizens are conscripted by law at the age of 18, for a mandatory 2 years of service. Anyway, on to the gallery, (Respect): [Image Credits: rediff.com, pinterest.com, alo.rs, yeeeeee.com, warfare.ru, moddb.com, desura.com, beautifulrus.com, news.xinhuanet.com, IDFblog.com, businessinsider.com, izismile.com, userfriendlyetc.blogspot.com, theatlantic.com] "Daughters of the attitude that produced them, certain women will not appeal to us without the double bed in which we find peace by their side, while others, to be caressed with a more secret intention, require leaves blown by the wind, water rippling in the dark, things as light and fleeting as they are." --- MARCEL PROUST, The Guermantes Way "The fear of women is the beginning of knowledge." "For the female of the species is more deadly than the male." Some links from the web: 8 Female soldiers who shattered barriers in 2013 (IDFBlog) Women in the Armies of the World, 70 pictures Most Impressive women in the military 2013 (businessinsider) Related links from this site: Captivating - Unveiling the mystery of a woman's soul - Book Review God's Message to Women
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Another "Sci-fi in the here & now" moment No doubt playing on the fictional comic book anti-hero (or maybe its just coincidence)… It is the future of war for soldiers in the field of battle. It’s an exoskeleton that aids in endurance and strength. Whilst researching my book, as well as following up on an article I wrote a couple of months ago on “Killer Robots: when sci-fi meets reality today” (click on the "Killer Robots" link in the archives), I stumbled upon this piece on a futuristic exoskeleton by Lockheed Martin (there are competitors). It’s practically a precursor to the full self-actuating body armour you see in many science fiction war stories. ONLY, this is not fiction… For a while the role of the foot soldier has been debated, what with the wave of modern war machines and the video-game-like drones, where pulling a trigger means pressing a button on a hi-tech device in a remote location. However, Special Forces regiments continue to illustrate their effectiveness. All modern covert operations involving the apprehension of a high profile international criminal/terrorist has been carried out by men of unparalleled training. You’ve probably by now heard of SEAL Team 6 and the Osama Bin Laden operation (now the subject of an award winning film), or the Special Forces originals, the SAS… but virtually every country in the world has an elite force that doesn’t get the publicity of the two mentioned here. They’re always small in number and fight odds well out of their favour. However the HULC (Human Universal Load Carrier) project has been developed to improve the capabilities of soldiers – enabling them to carry bigger loads for longer distances, with the ultimate goal being to eventually develop super soldiers… the journey does not end there though. The HULC exoskeleton may be an external addition to the conventional fighting force, but for a long time, governments have been at work trying to develop the perfect soldier, using any and all methods… including mind control, or hypnosis, specific scientific drug use and anything falling within the realm of mental conditioning. The latter just so happens to be a facet of my next book. Here's a look at the Lockheed Martin HULC promotional demo: It was while researching the topics of mental manipulation, mind control etc that I explored TMS or "Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation". This is literally involves using magnetism to temporarily improve higher brain functions. In the field of neuroscience, it's particular use is targeted, in this instance, at the military, specifically at improving soldiers cognitive resources under duress or extreme fatigue. Apparently some subjects demonstrated "Rain man" type capabilities when under TMS. This is all in the quest to develop the Super soldier, mind you, bringing two concepts together - that of numbing the human brain's responsiveness to stress, effectively making them more like a machine than ever before; begging the question: when does it stop, and at what point do we regard this sort of thing as forfeiting our humanity. Here's the link to the article on Super Soldiers which was published a little over a year ago on The Independent. Are we moving from this: To this: |
[Banner illustration by Joel Kanar]
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