Regardless of qualification and capability, women operating in male dominated environments and situations are always a distraction. You think the military is expensive now? Think of the increased scope in logistics involving placing women in these 14,500 positions that have just opened up for women. Every move in the decision making and placement process is going to be highly scrutinized. Suddenly the powers they be will be focused on not only making the right decision, they will then be on the hook to ensure the success of that woman in that role, no matter what the impact on the support personnel involved in that activity. Some congresswoman will make this her pet project and demand an investigation and accountability for every single woman killed in a combat situation, more so than your average grunt.
I don't care how much acceptable criteria you can come with to support this cause, guys will accept rational arguments and live with the situation superficially. However, any true male who has ever loved, protected or cared for a woman knows deep down inside that this is wrong on so many levels.
I am not a guy and so cannot argue from a male point of view.
Bottom line - the only thing keeping me out of joining the military as soon as they work this shit out is that I'm 31 and it would mean an enormous income hit that isn't in my family's best interest. That is my main responsibility in life right now, my family, not me.
But... if that were not the case, I'd only go in knowing I could 300 the male 17-21 PFT standards. There'd be no if ands or buts about it.
I'd also go in knowing
exactly what the job entails... not because I've been playing CoD for a few years, but because I have friends that have done the job and lived to tell about it.
Would I ever be the 11B or 0311 tasked with humping the SAW on patrol? No. I'm 5'4" and that's just an unlikelihood. But God knows there have been small statured infantrymen before, and will be short infantry men after women are there. Your size doesn't determine your fight. And if I had to hump a SAW a few miles, or a water can, or a fallen friend, you can bet your ass I'd do it. Because it'd be my job to. And I'd have signed up, voluntarily, because I
wanted to be there and
knew that was my job and this is what my job entails.
At the end of the day if the guy in a foxhole next to the girl is more worried about her
individual health and welfare than his
unit's overall health and welfare, that's his failure. Teams are teams. Its always team before self or any one individual. Thats why there's bootcamp, that's why there's advanced training, that all emphasizes "team" over self or any one individual.
Canada has had women in combat roles since 1989. Israel since 2000 (they've taken it a step further with an entirely
female infantry battalion). New Zealand since 2001. And these most recent wars, particularly, with their amorphous 'front lines' have made the notion of who is and who is not in a combat role more a matter of title and paperwork than experience.
It has already happened.
It is already happening.
And it will continue... especially now it the era of an all volunteer service.
Once this is pushed through, I think we'll see it was all much ado about nothing - because for all the uproar the number of women who
volunteer for such duty will be infinitesimal relative to the number of combat troops there are in the US military. And the number that make it through, from that, will be even smaller.
Let them serve as they feel led to serve.
