Combat roles being opened to women
 

Source: CNN

As a woman who has served in the US armed forces: I think this is problematic. Not knocking my fellow females in uniform, some of whom are perfectly capable of performing every one of those tasks, but there are bigger issues here.

First, some (perhaps all, not sure) of the armed services have different physical standards in place for men and for women. Number of pushups, time in which one must run a mile, etc. And of course, standards are more lax for women than for men. When I was in, women could elect (and many did) to meet the higher male standards, but it was not required. As long as the physical requirements for women are more relaxed, the perception will be that women may not be capable of pulling their own weight (NPI) in a crisis.

Second, it's a mistake to underestimate normal human urges, or the degree to which they would affect a mind that was subjected to great stress for long periods of time. Men do behave differently toward women, and women toward men. While I acknowledge that any given person can choose to ignore their natural instincts for any given period of time, stress, fatigue and prolonged intimate interaction - all of which combat units face - have a documented effect on instinct-regulating mental techniques such as willpower.

Both of those - the perception that female soldiers are weaker, and the fact that each sex is at least marginally distracted by the presence of attractive members of the opposite - are serious problems that no amount of "sensitivity training" can overcome.

There's nothing inherently wrong with having women in martial roles and many of us would be brilliant at it, as anyone who has ever had PMS (or a spouse with PMS) can attest. But there are so few women who both (a) physically qualify and (b) would choose to work in a combat zone that having all female units - a potential workaround - is probably not feasible.

All in all, I don't approve.

Re: Combat roles being opened to women
 

I don't either, for all the same reasons.

Having been in combat zones twice as an embedded civilian, I've seen what this will do. It won't be pretty. Women do not even have to be attractive in the US to provide distractions for men or be sexual conquest targets. There's the "desert scale". It's real no matter what anyone says.

The other issues are mainly logistical, but nonetheless important. The four that come to mind are women that have breasts that are large enough to inhibit proper wearing of body armour and their agility, hair, fitness (as you mentioned), and emotion. Combat is emotionally stimulating, and one must quell the reaction to events occurring around them such as explosions, gunfire, death, etc. I'm not saying that one has to become callous to war, but one must be able to keep their wits about them and finish the mission. Granted, not all men can do it well either, but it's much more difficult for women. From personal experience, when under attack, most women were freaking out and hiding whilst the men were collectively securing themselves and the base.

I fully support women in the military as there is a lot they can do and they add a lot of value in our current theatres of operation, but there is no reason for them to be full combat troops.

Re: Combat roles being opened to women
 

I don't agree with it either. Kathryn's post pretty much sums it all up perfectly.

Re: Combat roles being opened to women
 

Another voice in agreement... Totally.

Re: Combat roles being opened to women
 

I am old school and do not agree. I think it is the Democrats trying to be politically correct and not offend anyone.

Re: Combat roles being opened to women
 

Re: Combat roles being opened to women
 

Actually women have been in combat for centuries. In WW2 nurses were killed and captured in the Pacific and killed in Italy. The change is that they will be given weapons and told to shoot back in an offensive instead of defensive mode.

I am not sure if I agree or disagree but if women want to go then you should let them. On the other hand the Kardashians should be drafted and put in harms way before they reproduce.

Re: Combat roles being opened to women
 

Too late. LOL