Perusing all of the blogs this morning, I saw Joe over at Lady Lake had an article about the army developing a tactical bra for women soldiers. When you go visit the site, be sure to check out the pic of the prototype bra.
This got me to thinking about the age old conversation about having women in combat.
Women in Combat: Five-Year Status Update
Personally, I don't see an issue with that. Women can pull triggers as effectively as a man can. And at least in my case, much more accurately. The way my hands shake I'm lucky to hit the wall of a barn even if I'm inside the barn.
Women in combat. Physical strength is certainly an issue with that. But I don't see why the army can't develop teams of women and then train them in special tactics designed to overcome any lack of physical strength. With training designed specifically with women in mind, I believe women can be effective in battle situations.
Psychologically, I think some, if not most, of todays soldiers would be okay with women in the mix. I don't think women and men should be mixed together in the same outfit, but separate ones.
Menstruation cycles could be a problem. But I think medicine can be utilized to regulate and promote synchronization. Or even stop cycles if need be.
Women are already being utilized in many areas. Think about a muslim behind the rocks over there. He realizes he is getting shot at by a measly woman. Without a headscarf on no less. How demoralizing would that be?
Women in groups tend to gradually synchronize there , hmmm, cycles.
ReplyDeleteYeah they do.
DeleteDo tell: What special techniques would you suggest to overcome the fact that the highest performing 5% of women can't tote a pack as well as the bottom 10% of men, because biology?
ReplyDeleteWho's going to be demoralized when all the wamyns in a combat unit drop out on a ruck march, and aren't there?
What about the 66% of them who can't hurl a grenade far enough to avoid their own blast and fragmentation?
How about the 95% of them who'll just avoid combat entirely by getting pregnant at the outset, like they already do now in droves just to avoid peacetime deployments?
Combat isn't a Call Of Duty video game, and women don't have the basic biological ability to hack it IRL, and never have. You can count the women who met the same physical challenges as men in history on your thumbs, and no woman has ever done it in the US military since the Civil War, including everyone of them currently serving.
Otherwise, the Army wouldn't have had to put booster steps in front of the 7' walls on the standard O-courses, and blanket-pass all female applicants, by direction from higher HQ, would they?
A section of tank tread weighs something like 60-80 pounds, and a standard 155mm artillery shell weighs 95 pounds. A 50' damage control hose pack on ship weighs 20 pounds dry, and 80 pounds fully charged. Most women couldn't lift that weight five times in a day, let alone over and over again rapidly, so guess who's going to be pulling their slack load when they can't hack those jobs either?
It ain't just about pushing buttons or pulling triggers, or we could recruit grade-school children too. Physically incapable women are going to get (and probably already have gotten) good men killed.
Re-think this, please.
Just because you think it can't be done, doesn't mean it can't be done. You rethink it. If all you ever do is say you are wrong I am right, nothing will ever get accomplished. Think about the people way back there who established this country. If they had your can't do it attitude we would still be a vassal of england or somebody else.
DeleteYou're not arguing against me, you're arguing against documented facts for the last 20+ years, and basic human biology and physiology.
DeleteTalk all the can-do happy gas you want, but just understand you're not going to punch through a brick wall of reality no matter how hard your head is.
Tank treads, artillery shells, field packs, and hose packs aren't going to get lighter, and women aren't going to bulk up muscles they don't have and can't grow.
The grenade stat was from years of comprehensive testing of female recruits at MCRD Parris Island. Giving women hand grenades, they're a danger to themselves and anyone in range, not including the enemy.
Biological and physical reality isn't going to change no matter how hard you think it will.
I didn't want to comment on this subject but why not. I did 31 years Army. Commissioned officer and aviator with commands and staff assignments. I've seen and flown with a few good ones but that's the rare exception. Most of the time, females want to play Army and whine to get the right schools, patches, assignments, etc. Then they leave after their mandatory service time. Tell me I'm wrong when a chick wastes a seat at the USMA and then get branched in what she asked for...Transportation Corps. Did her time and left. Better yet, the gal who played patch finder and got branched Aviation to fly Apaches, goes to Air Assault, Airborne and Pathfinder courses and then after all that, just leaves. I know, guys do this too but a vast majority stay in the game. Glad I retired in 2011 as it's a different game now.
ReplyDeleteIt is a different game. But if you train women properly it will work. Just as anything will work if you train the people properly. And it's not just women who train and leave. If you don't want women there, don't let them join. If they are there though, why not train them to fight and then send them to fight. They want to be equal let them do the work.
DeleteWomen in combat takes on a different meaning, when they cause a unit breakdown, when wounded in a fire-fight, or come home with a huge hole in their head, and spend the rest of their life staring at the wall, while having their diaper changed every few hours. We have too many centuries of protecting our women, and throwing them at the enemy hurts the soul of our nation.
ReplyDeleteWomen, with rare exceptions, are not meant for combat. They were not designed/evolved for fighting. They were created to raise children. Men were created/evolved to do the heavy lifting of life including fighting. This is a BIOLOGIC reality. Attempting to ignore biology NEVER works out.
ReplyDelete