Officers with "stars" never "retire", whether Generals or Admirals. They are only eligible for transfer to the "reserve" element of their particular service, always subject to recall in time of need, as their "country" sees fit. Whenever a General or Admiral "retires" you can bet they're no longer physically or mentally competent to fulfill their duties.
That being said, your secondary remark is correct. The top brass make "policies" that the NCO's have to figure out how to implement, and this boondoggle is no exception. It's a really bad idea, because "men" have a natural instinct to protect "women" who are the givers of life in the world of mammals. No man can bring forth a new human being. That's an area where only women can produce...
Martin Dempsey, the Army general who's now chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, was a division commander when he got to Baghdad in 2003 and climbed into a Humvee for his first trip off base. "I asked the driver ... who he was (and) where he was from," the general remembers, "and I slapped the turret gunner around the leg and I said, 'Who are you?' And she leaned down and said, 'I'm Amanda.'
"And I said, 'Ah, OK.' So female turret gunner protecting division commander."
One of the things that makes a good commander is the speed with which...
Thank you, Captain Obvious, for a "lesson" I didn't need. Everybody knows that generals "never" truly retire. But he will draw a big, fat paycheck for the rest of his life, having kowtow'ed to the Obama Admin to feather his own nest. The "writing is on the wall with these flag officers: "do what Obama wants, or be forcibly set aside".
Women have many opportunities to serve in our military, and they do. What they should NEVER do is put themselves in a position to distract those who are in a life or death struggle and some mission is critical. That's exactly what "women in the trenches" will do, through no fault of their own. Our so-called "Leaders" in the Pentagon have obviously lost their minds...