Typically another female moaning and bitching about what males have had to put up with for a millennium....

Now that its equal opportunity time ,women can now suffer the same way men have for centuries ....

I love equal opportunity...

SERGEANT STEPHANIE JAMES, 23
URBANA, IL
"THERE WERE SO MANY THINGS I COULDN'T CONTROL. LOSING CLUMPS OF HAIR WAS JUST ONE MORE THING."

I signed up for the army in June 2001, when I was 17. They were offering to pay for some of my college education. I wasn't concerned about the possibility of going to war; I just kept thinking, This is going to be cool.

Two years later, I was a sophomore at the University of Illinois in Urbana, and I got a phone call from my platoon sergeant, who said, "Your unit has been put on alert." That evening, I went to see The Vagina Monologues at a local theater with friends from my dorm. I didn't say anything about the phone call. On November 11, Veterans Day, I was told I was being deployed. I quit my part-time job at David's Bridal shop and boxed up the clothes in my dorm.

In February, I went to a base in Kuwait, where you had to wait in long lines no matter where you were: in the mess hall, bathroom, shower. You were never alone. At night, I put on headphones and played Norah Jones to block it all out.

One of the most important things I brought from home was a photograph of me and my mom. I'm 1 or 2 years old in the picture, and I'm wearing overalls and a red shirt. My mom is holding me, and she's wearing a beaded necklace. When I was feeling homesick, I'd look at the picture. I also had a bright-orange University of Illinois T-shirt that I slept in at night. As soon as I got to Kuwait, I regretted not packing my flatiron. My hair gets so frizzy when it's hot outside — and over there, it was always hot. I finally had my mom mail me one.

In the military, they try to make things equal. Mainly, that means women are supposed to look like men. You can't wear earrings. Makeup can't be excessive. I didn't wear any, but I always carried ChapStick. Once, a friend sent me nail polish. She wrote, "There probably aren't many times you can feel like a girl. If you have some downtime, have a pedicure party." During off-hours, we watched TV. I got everyone hooked on Sex and the City.

I met another soldier, Sergeant [Ivory L.] Phipps from Chicago. He was in his 40s and had been in Desert Storm. He always had the Bible with him, reading Psalms. I felt calm when he was around.

On the evening of March 16, 2004, I arrived at a base near Baghdad. The next day, my friends and I were standing next to the laundry building at lunchtime. We had only been in Iraq about 18 hours. I saw Sergeant Phipps nearby. Then I heard the explosion. When a mortar goes off, first you hear a thunk and a second later -boom. It's basically just a shell filled with pieces of metal and random stuff. The shrapnel blows up and out, so you have to get down out of trajectory range.

Our squad leader yelled, "Get down!" and he grabbed me. I blacked out. Next thing I remember, I was sitting in the bunker. My heart was beating so fast. I could hear people outside yelling for help.

Afterward, I saw my squad leader carrying Sergeant Phipps's duty cap in his hand. It was covered in blood. I was like, "Oh, my God." Phipps passed on. In my time in Iraq, my squad lost five people.

No way around it — female soldiers deal with issues men don't even think about. I took Depo so I wouldn't have my period; I just didn't want to deal with it overseas. My hair started falling out from the stress — coming out in clumps when I'd wash it. I used to cry on the phone with my mom. She'd say, "Stephanie, do you have your arms? Your legs? Shut up about your hair." But there were so many things I couldn't control in Iraq. The hair was just one more thing.

Now I'm studying for exams and thinking about going to law school. I get money from the military for continuing my education, so I don't have to worry about finances the way a lot of my friends do. But there are things that I can't forget. When I hear a loud noise, I get this chill. You never experience that type of fear except during war, and it never leaves you.

More...

So Phipps gave his life for this juvenile feminazi? I doubt she would she do the same.

I can't imagine enjoying being in any kind of team with this bitch.

" No way around it — female soldiers deal with issues men don't even think about."

What... like having a member of the opposite sex give their life up so you can carry on enjoying yours? Yeah... I guess she has a point.

Well, there's no such thing as a free lunch, lady.
Umm, you're going into a war zone, not a bloody fashion show, I thought that the Army shaved the heads of staff or does this only apply to men?
As I said above this is a war zone, not a ..........
Like what?, men seem to handle things like war and combat "better", as in men are more emotionally stable.
What did this woman expect when she enlisted?, she thought merely about herself and her college education, me, me, me, well the chickens did come home to roost.
And as her mother said:
Exactly.

All I can say about all the crap in this this particular OP is.......typical woman! I've seen it all before.........as my Dad always said...they are all the same, no matter what. Bless 'em or curse 'em. Take your pick.

And men have to deal with real issues that females black out over.

I started reading that and thought, "This is a parody or something, right?"

OMG its NOT!

This is EXACTLY WHY I have always said that the military is NO PLACE for females.

She's worried about her HAIR?! What the hell is she going to do when she has a full-term pregnancy, or loses a lot of weight, or hits menopause and her hair starts falling out in clumps AGAIN? LOL!

This is also a good example of fastracking promotions for women in the army. What the fuck is this female doing being a sergeant and behaving like a wimp..

Fuck that dumb bitch. Her fucking hair was a major issue for her. We didn't have to worry about stuff like that. Thank God the forced us men to shave our fucking heads to save us from worrying about our hair falling out or getting frizzy. Man do I feel so fucking lucky that all I had to worry about was keeping my men and me alive. Or being sprayed with Cycloserin gas. I am so filled with joy that I didn't have to worry about my hair the military was really watching my back with the whole shaved head thing.

Yeah, I wondered about that myself, no combat experience and already a Sgt??.
Good God!.