I am a former Army Officer and combat veteran. I was commissioned from the University of Arizona’s Army ROTC Program. As a Cadet and as a young Lieutenant I believed that women should not serve in combat units for all of the same reasons we are used to hearing; physical ability, unit cohesion, rape, capture, etc. However, as most of us know, actual experience vs theory often changes one’s opinion. Once in combat my opinion changed as I witnessed all of my seemingly legitimate reasons fall to pieces one by one; they just never materialized. I expected to see combat units fall apart once a woman was attached, I expected to see women fail physically on the combat field and get men killed, I expected to see women raped when captured, I expected to see men flee a post or duty because a woman was in danger ... none of it happened, none of it. Experience trumps theory every time, and when it does intelligent humans must begin to change their mind.

October 14, 2004

Mike Reagan: Most Americans can reasonably agree that Bush's May 1, 2003, declaration was premature and in error; however, what is getting lost in the always politicized debate over Iraq is the fact that the end of major combat operations is now actually upon us. 

Your throat feels a little sore, then the sneezing starts — along with the body aches and congestion and low grade fever. You know what is coming, something we all dread, the common cold. 

Anthony Ameen admits he used to be a little wild in high school. Now 30, with eight years of military service and two tours overseas on his resume, those days have been left behind.

Talk about the road to hell being paved with good intentions. The strong message Mesa City Manager Chris Brady sent last year against city employees using taxpayerfunded e-mail to circulate sexually explicit or racist messages was thrown out in court last week, on the grounds he usurped the authority of the department heads that city rules hold responsible for meting out discipline.

The women in the Matrix Model drug treatment program know about meth on the reservation. The drug took away their children, brought crime and death into their homes and threatened to take over their lives.

The women in the Matrix Model drug treatment program know about meth on the reservation. The drug took away their children, brought crime and death into their homes and threatened to take over their lives. But the Gila River Indian Community residents are working to regain control and to reach out to others. On Wednesday, they volunteered at the Gila River Behavioral Health Authority’s first methamphetamine conference. And they are speaking out.

As is natural, the No. 11 Arizona State women's basketball team experienced a bit of a letdown in the first half against winless Florida Atlantic. And like good teams do, the Sun Devils eventually found that extra gear to get over the top.

It's time once again to remember those who have sacrificed their lives in the service of our country so that the rest of us can argue over the details and then go home to dinner with our families.

NEW YORK - A global women's rights treaty completed 30 years ago has a better-than-ever chance for U.S. Senate ratification this year, yet the hunt for the needed 67 favorable votes is likely to incur the wrath of activists on both the left and right.

Stress is your husband losing his job when you have two children to support.

It appears that President Obama, Leon Pinetta (Def.Sec) and Gen. Dempsey (JCS) are excited over instituting a Combat Infantry Roll for our Women in the military. I certainly hope these men did not make their their decision on “Band Wagon Appeal” only?

The unofficial motto for the U.S. men’s basketball team for this year’s Summer Olympic Games is “Road to Redemption.”

WASHINGTON - U.S. troops killed seven Iraqi women and children at a checkpoint Monday when the Iraqis' van would not stop as ordered, a military official said.

Think about the last time a friend said something that upset you.

WASHINGTON (AP) -- U.S. troops killed seven Iraqi women and children at a checkpoint Monday when the Iraqis' van would not stop as ordered, a military official said.

Indy Couch was in for a tough battle. In the span of 60 minutes, the 35-year-old sales associate from Tempe fiercely kicked, blocked punches and came close to being choked — twice. Exhausted and sweaty, the intense fight scenarios she was thrust into at the Krav Maga Center in Chandler on a recent Wednesday evening may have been only a test.

At the last minute and with little debate, a House Armed Services subcommittee has added to a defense bill a ban on women soldiers in combat support and service units.

WASHINGTON — The Justice Department is ordering prosecutors in 33 states to step up efforts to combat crime on Indian reservations, particularly offenses against women and children.

"Have you noticed that there has been no ‘looting' in Japan. That is because the poor people and out-of-work people haven't been ‘brain-washed" by a ‘socialist/entitlement' welfare system like we have here in America. They ‘take care of themselves' not ‘take from others,' looting, stealing and setting fires like we see after our natural disasters."

So, women voters are being courted via the political conventions, as they should be. If you’re interested, note which party believes women can be suckered through fear and freebees. Expect massive efforts towards manipulation.

Part of police training ordinarily consists of exercises in when to shoot and when not to shoot in certain tense, quickly developing, potentially dangerous situations. Get it wrong in real life and the consequences can be fatal — to the officer or to an innocent party. In the end, absolute certainty cannot be possible, just split-second judgments that are professionally defensible or not.