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In 2014 Britain finally allowed female royal navy soldiers.this was because in 2009 Kate Nesbitt MC was awarded the Military Cross for her bravery in Afghanistan. This lead people to question the naval services and there all male soldiers.

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"For example, in 1987 [before the WRNS was integrated], 21 per cent of the total number of people joining up to the Navy were female. Now, the inflow of women into the organisation is not even at 10 per cent."

Cdr Ellie Ablett, the Head of the Naval Servicewomen's Network (front and centre), with volunteers (left to right) CPO Heather Johnson, Lt Laura Wellington, Lt Cdr Rachel Smallwood, Lt Cdr Donna Flanagan, Cdr Fi Shepherd and LWtr Sam Coxall

She hopes the network, through a series of events making senior women more visible and available, alongside positive male role models, will show the women lower down in rank how they can get to the top, that it's not an impossible dream once children come into the equation and just how valued women are in the Royal Navy.

Cdr Ablett is at pains to stress just how included women are already made to feel in the Royal Navy. It is something I can personally verify being close to a successful woman in the Navy, hearing regularly about her exciting professional life.

It is because of this inclusive nature of the Navy, that Cdr Ablett knows some women may balk at the idea of a 'wimmin's network'.

"Joining the forces is an unusual career choice regardless of gender. It's a very inclusive environment. We women do feel very included in the Royal Navy. This is why I expect some women will question the rationale of having a women's network. However, the figures do really support what I am saying and you know you have an issue when only 45 commanders, out of a total of 890, are women.

"This network is a positive step for women in the Navy to try and keep more of them in for longer, so they are at least competing with the men for the top jobs."

On duty in the Operations Room on a ship at sea in the Arabian Gulf, women routinely operate on the maritime front line alongside their male counterparts

The network couldn't be launching at a more pertinent moment. A major report out two weeks ago showed that the number of women in senior levels of all areas of public life, is plummeting. And there is much talk of different industries having "taken their eye off the ball" when it comes to ensuring a decent number of women are in the top positions.

Interestingly the drop in the number of women coming into the Royal Navy, Cdr Ablett attributes largely to the wider Defence cuts. "When resources are a priority, the Royal Navy has to target its advertising at the pinch points. And at the moment those are the submariners and the royal marines - which have been traditionally male only parts of the organisation. However, the first female submariners are starting later this year."

The catalyst for Cdr Ablett, who began life as a logistics officer, to create a proper women's group, was an inpromptu meeting she attended last year.

"A fellow female commander was leaving the Navy and she drew all of the women commanders into a room to have a discussion about why there were not more women of this rank. It was powerful seeing us all in one room together and a bit of a wake-up call that we could all easily fit into one room too!

"It was the real catalyst to actually put a network together to try and tackle some of the issues stopping women from getting to the top."

Unsurprisingly the issues all mainly centre around relationships and the family. How do you balance a relationship with someone when at any moment you could be called away to sea? How do you care for children when you have to relocate at a moment's notice or get called to an emergency 6am meeting?

And ultimately, although babies and relationships shouldn't be solely a women's problem - they by and large still are. And the Royal Navy is no different to the rest of the world. If you are serving in the Navy and you are a woman - having children makes life extra complicated. Not impossible. But it's a major logistical challenge.

That's probably also why Cdr Ablett, with her logistical background, was drawn to this tough issue - which causes hurdles in all types of jobs.

"I want to show women, by using positive male and female role models, how they can make different decisions they may not have considered, to still have a personal life and a great career in the Royal Navy.

"I also want to demonstrate to naval women how valued they are so they do stay the necessary number years it takes to get to the point where they could compete with the men for those commander jobs."

Commander Ellie Ablett and Lieutenant Commander Rachel Smallwood

Lieutenant Commander Rachel Smallwood, who works in the Navy's personnel department on its diversity desk and helped Cdr Ablett to set up the network, admits the organisation still needed to do more to help support those who had families.

"We do have a Navy families network which is being reinvigorated at the moment. It's useful as people need examples of how others have made having children work, especially when getting deployed to sea."

Fascinatingly the families network, which was set up in 2011, is now being run by a single father of two, who is committed to helping others juggle being a parent.

"We pair Navy parents up so they can help each other learn how to manage. And we also have the Naval nannies, who provide emergency care for children if parents are suddenly sent away and have no other provisions," explains Lt Cdr Smallwood.

Ultimately Cdr Ablett believe the Navy is on the right track, as it takes around 18 to 20 years for people to become commanders, so more time is still needed to see more women come through to achieve this rank. However, she also feels more could still be done - which is why she is so enthusiastic about the Naval Servicewomen Network's future potential.

"Ultimately I want to use the network to launch a full-blown mentoring scheme that can help take women from the start of their careers right through to the top," she passionately explains.

"We are only at the beginning of this and have a lot to learn - but we can do so much more to keep women in the Navy and I am excited about what the future holds."

So am I.

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Meet the commander giving the Royal Navy a female touch

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"For example, in 1987 [before the WRNS was integrated], 21 per cent of the total number of people joining up to the Navy were female. Now, the inflow of women into the organisation is not even at 10 per cent."

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In ancient Greece and Rome, homosexual behavior was encouraged among soldiers because it was thought to increase unit cohesiveness, morale and bravery. However in today's modern society we have only recently been able to except homosexual soldiers. In fact we only passed this law in 2000!

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The Homosexual Army of Liberation or Rainbow Army, officially known as the Armed Forces of the Gay Lesbian Bisexual Transsexual Transgender Intersex Questioning Committee for Freedom Tolerance and Equality for Jews and Muslims ( AF-GLBTTIQCFTEJM) was founded in 1970 as an underground movement by German gay rights activist Heinrich Shtubenbacher and his American born lover, Ernie Crash, in San Francisco.

In the wake of the Stonewall rebellion, Shtubenbacher reasoned it would be possible to create - via assistance from leftist movements such as the Weather Underground, the Vietcong, and Soviet Union - an armed force of homosexual men. This army, he reasoned, could take over a region of northern California and encourage homosexual/bisexual/questioning men in the US military forces to turn against their superiors, thus creating a country wide "gay revolution" and eventually overthrowing the Nixon regime.

Shtubenbacher, styling himself as "General Major" and his companion "Colonel Crash" organized a team of 200 California men and began training exercises at Big Sur under the slogan of "The Sunshine Men's Health Club". In the following months, the team steadily grew to 2000 homosexual men. Bisexual men were "not to be trusted" according to Cash, neither were lesbians or transsexuals.

Shtubenbacher made contact with Soviet diplomats who originally expressed interest and managed to requisition several dozen World War II era machine guns and several dozen World War II era bullets. However, when premiere Leonid Brezhnev heard of the idea, he was rumored to have vomited in the presence of the Central Committee (which, according to sources, permanently damaged Molotov's $1000 East German suit) and banned any further support.

Shtubenbacher's first assault occurred in the Civic Center in downtown San Francisco. Due to a lack of weaponry and the last minute pullout of the allied Pancho Villa Front, the city police and national guard managed to crush the "Sunshine Division" (as it was then called), leaving many of its soldiers to flee to the Fisherman's Wharf (where the sea lions saved several men from recognition by police) or flee through the BART and trolley stations.

Realizing the errors of the Civic Center Assault, Shtubenbacher gathered the remains of the "Sunshine Division" and formed the "Homosexual Army of Liberation". He had decided to try a different idea - capturing a prison and enlisting the liberated convicts (many of whom he expected would have gay tendencies) into his army.

The ploy worked, on September 13th, 1971 two prisons were raided. What the press reported as "prison riots" were, in fact, the direct actions of the "Homosexual Army of Liberation" (abbreviated as HAL). From the liberated convicts Shtubenbacher founded the "Rimmers" and "Fisters" battalions, the latter earned a reputation for savagery and often wore German helmets (to the tremendous protest of several commanders).

By this time, Shtubenbacher opened the "HAL" to bisexual men and a few transsexuals were reported to be officers, but was still virulently hostile to lesbians. The Northern Vietnamese government became Shtubenbacher's sole sponsor, which finally attracted the attention of the previously ambivalent Nixon, who ordered San Francisco mayor Alioto "Take care of those clowns" (Some have rumored that Nixon had actually said "Take care of those ass clowns", thus introducing that term to the English language).

A launch of another attack was slated on the dawn of December 31st, 1971, called the "New Years Surprise". A failure occurred, however, when the Rimming battalion rebelled, claiming that they learned that Shtubenbacher's father was previously involved in the Nazi SS. Shtubenbacher called off the attack, at the same time denying the allegations, and planned a special meeting at Big Sur to resolve the question.

At the same time, Shtubenbacher's companion Crash had been found in bed with a transsexual, leading Shtubenbacher into a rage. Two nights before the Big Sur meeting, Shtubenbacher conspired with the Fisting battalion to murder all transsexuals in his army, as well as disarm the Rimming battalion. This became known as the "Night of the Pink Knives". Crash made an attempt to escape, but was murdered by a Fister as he ran to the ocean. Five more men were murdered when suddenly a Rimmer soldier began playing the lambada, which had an immediate pacifying event on the raudy crowd.

Peace and love finally overcame the HAL, and strategies shifted. Instead of large armed assaults, small skirmishes with local police were common (which the police only referred to as "hooliganism" by "random criminals"). A common recruitment center for the HAL were pit stops on highway stations, thereby becoming a common "pick up" point for homosexual men. An initiation procedure was invented at that time by some Fisters, requiring a man to perform anal sex with a hot motorcycle exhaust pipe. This caused a new friction between the Rimmers and Fisters.

A new decision came by way of Shtubenbacher, which was to form a navy. "Sailors were our number one asset, and we never even thought of them till now!" said Shtubenbacher in a February 1973 meeting in San Jose. However, with support from the Vietnamese wavering, and the increase of FBI infiltration, the only naval expedition was an attempt to take over several Hollywood luxury yachts which proved unsuccesful.

Lesbians finally made way into the HAL via the Weather Underground, when Bernardine Dohrn met with Shtubenbacher and discussed the need to include women in his operation. Shtubenbacher initially protested, claiming "My men have cojones and style, dykes don't", but then after heavy pressure from the Rimmers, who were getting increasingly stronger in numbers and close to forming a cue, buckled (according to some sources, Shtubenbacher was alleged to have had a sexual experience with feminist Gloria Steihem, which introduced him to bisexuality).

On July 4th, 1976 during the Bicentennial, the Gay Lesbian and Bisexual Committee for Liberation and Freedom was formed in Nappa Valley. The army was nicknamed the "Rainbow Army", and several new battalions were introduced: The all male "Sissy Battalion", the "Bi-Battalion", the mixed "Trannie Battalion", the female "Butch Battalion", and the female "Lipstick Battalion", the latter which grew into a specialized intelligence unit used for infiltration into heterosexual circles.

This period also saw the final rise of the Fisters again, they became "top" and this resulted in the persecution of the "bottoms", the Rimmers. This prompted the Committee to force a breakup of the Rimmers and Fisters, reforming them into the "Dick Battalion", jokingly referred to as the "Penal Battalion" since it was often given difficult and dangerous assignments.

The first joint assault was scheduled to be at a Rolling Stones concert, as allegedly some of the Rainbow Army's men had a secret desire to see Mick Jagger kidnapped. When the lesbians protested, the assault was dropped and rescheduled to happen on Veteran's Day that November, coordinating it with an assault on the US mainland by the Vietcong. The Vietcong backed out at the last minute, as they lacked the desire to start a new conflict with the United States in the wake of their victory in Vietnam, prompting Shtubenbacher to claim "This is the second bay of pigs!"

Nonetheless, an attack against San Francisco veterans went underway. Veterans, perceived as "in born homophobes" by Shtubenbacher, were attacked by means of fake floats (disguised tanks). The assault failed within the first two hours, prompting many to escape via the trolley (favored by the gay men) or the BART (favored by the women).

Shtubenbacher, traumatised over the Veteran's day disaster, attempted suicide twice. He was saved both times by his new lover, Peter George, a British author who wrote a book of poetry dedicated to the HAL's/Rainbow Army's history called "Under the Pink Triangle Rainbow Banner".

Desiring to "come clean", Shtubenbacher confesses his father, Otto Shtubenbacher, was a bisexual man who was a colonel in the Nazi SS. Otto Shtubenbacher was in charge of an exclusive all gay SS armed group known as the "Leather Lightning", given secret sanction by Himmler. The unit, according to Shtubenbacher, saw much action on the Eastern Front, but was crushed under Stalingrad, having been pushed into harms way from behind by the 3rd Romanian army (Romanian captain Mihai Tudescor described them as "A leather clad band of perverts").

This revelation caused a scandal in the Committee, calling for Shtubenbacher's resignation. However, Shtubenbacher continued to press for peace and understanding, and proposed to widen the committee (his first such ever move) to include the "Questioning" as well. After a debate that lasted for 4 months and included delegates from around the world, a decision to keep Shtubenbacher and reorganize the committee was made on New Years Day, 1978.

The committee thus became known by its current acronym, the Gay Lesbian Bisexual Transsexual Transgender Intersex Questioning Committee for Freedom Tolerance and Equality (GLBTTIQCFTE). The Rainbow Army was subsequently renamed the Armed Forces of the Gay Lesbian Bisexual Transsexual Transgender Intersex Questioning Committee for Freedom Tolerance and Equality (AF-GLBTTIQCFTE), in order to "...stay away from the established stereotypes of the Rainbow Army" according to Lieutenant General Madeline Albright.

A new "Good Will Policy" was instituted by the Committee, keeping armed resistance on the down low and focusing on a new strategy of "public integration". The Lipstick battalion's intelligence department, the Lipstick Bitches, became vital in encouraging heterosexual males to become "Pro lesbian, even if anti-gay" as Colonel Hillary Clinton controversially formulated in her last Committee meeting (she subsequently entered mainstream American politics).

After undergoing a period of tranquil activism since the 1978 "Good Will Policy", in 1992 the GLBTTIQCFTE began seeking alliances with Saddam Hussein, although due to former Committee member Hillary Clinton being the first lady, activity was kept "hush hush".

The buildup of contacts tremendously intensified with the election of George W. Bush to the presidency, indicating that the "Salad days of the Clinton years are over" as Committee senator Michael Jackson exclaimed. Consequently, president Bush declared war on Iraq, feeling that the GLBTTIQCFTE could be best wiped out this way. In the wake of this, several GLBTTIQCFTE units migrated to Iraq and have made an alliance with various insurgent groups, causing a split within the GLBTTIQCFTE.

The "patriotic" faction of the GLBTTIQCFTE called the "Gay Eagles" decided to send its troops into the American army. The pro-Iraq resistance GLBTTIQCFTE forces called the Eagles "traitors", and claiming that by joining the American armed forces they were trying to legitimize their image in the eyes of the conservative American establishment.

A member of the Bush administration, which has been very hesitant to admit the existence of the GLBTTIQCFTE (due in part to the "Gay Eagle" alliance), has privately admitted that North Korea may give the GLBTTIQCFTE nuclear capabilities.

Hillary Clinton - Colonel of Lipstick and Butch batallions, three term GLBTTIQCFTE senator.

Elton John - Captain, Rimmer Battalion and one time ensign of the short lived HAL Navy.

David Duke - Fister corporal, denounced the HAL after the "Night of the Pink Knives" and became a member of the Ku Klux Klan.

John Lennon - sympathiser and honorary member, did not take part in any military actions. Is believed to have been murdered by Fister Mark David Chapman.

Barney Frank - GLBTTIQCFTE vice president, 1973-1974.

Janet Reno - Colonel of the Butch Battalion, led the Veteran's Day attack.

Madeline Albright - Chairwoman, Lesbian Committee, Lieutenant General, Butch Battalion. Vetoed the Rolling Stones attack and masterminded the Veterans Day Massacre.

USSR - first to show support for a period of 3 months during the Brezhnev regime.

Vietnam - the Northern Vietnamese, till the Veteran's Day massacre.

The Weather Underground - an ongoing alliance through 1978, then ceased upon the "Good Will Policy"

The Black Panthers - periodically throughout the 1970's.

Iraq - since 1992.

North Korea - allegedly since 1992 (sources needed).

Turkey - in return for Rainbow Army support during the war with Cyprus.

Chechnya - GLBTTIQCFTE units were used in Grozny and were involved in the personal security of Shamil Basayev.

Pakistan - since 1992 (sources needed)

NAMBLA - was started by several Sunshine and HAL veterans, who continued support until 1998, when they were dropped because of "public relations concerns" as per the Committee's joint decision.

Gnu Klux Clan - since 2003.

George Soros and his Open Society Institute - since 1992.

Masturbaction

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The Homosexual Army of Liberation or Rainbow Army, officially known as the Armed Forces of the Gay Lesbian Bisexual Transsexual Transgender Intersex Questioning Committee for Freedom Tolerance and Equality for Jews and Muslims (AF-GLBTTIQCFTEJM) was founded in 1970 as an underground movement by German gay rights activist Heinrich Shtubenbacher and his American born lover, Ernie Crash, in San Francisco.