Roger That: U.S. commandos tell Pentagon — No to women in special ops jobs

The Pentagon’s ambitious plans to integrate women into special operations units have hit a big snag in the form of a survey conducted by the Rand Corp., a government-funded think tank.

In blunt and, at times, profanity-laced answers to Rand’s voluntary survey, more than 7,600 of America's special operations forces spoke with nearly one voice and agreed on the same message: Allowing women to serve in Navy SEAL, Army Delta or other commando units could hurt their effectiveness and lower the standards, and it may drive men away from the dangerous posts, according to a story on the Military.com website.

An overwhelming majority of those who agreed to respond to the Rand survey said they believe women don't have the physical strength or mental toughness to do the grueling jobs.

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The U.S. Air Force plans to triple maternity leave for female airmen, the service's top civilian has announced.

The change would expand the leave from six weeks to 18 weeks and was inspired by a similar move by the Navy, Air Force Secretary Deborah Lee James said on Tuesday during a video town hall filmed at Fort Meade, Md.

"I believe in what the Navy did, I think it was the right thing to do, and we're going to do the same thing," she said.

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Military.com is reporting that the Air Force wants to vastly expand its drone program over the next five years by doubling the number of pilots and deploying them to bases in California and elsewhere to give commanders better intelligence and more firepower.

The $3 billion plan, which must be approved by Congress, was unveiled Thursday after months of study that focused on a drone pilot force that commanders have described as overworked, under-manned and under-appreciated.

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U.S. airstrikes in recent days killed an estimated 350 Islamic State fighters holed up in the western Iraqi city of Ramadi, an American military spokesman said Thursday, suggesting the extremists lost as much as half of their defending force, according to the Associated Press.

Col. Steve Warren, spokesman for the U.S. military command in Baghdad, told reporters at the Pentagon that there had been an estimated 600 to 1,000 Islamic State fighters inside Ramadi, which the extremist group captured in May. Despite this depletion of Islamic State forces, U.S. officials are reluctant to predict how long it will take to reclaim the city, which is the capital of Anbar province and a key to the Iraqi government's hopes of restoring its borders.

This story was originally published December 11, 2015 at 11:39 AM with the headline "Roger That: U.S. commandos tell Pentagon — No to women in special ops jobs."