I did numerous combat tours, the first being OIF1 and 2 where I went in with 3ID and stayed with 1AD in Baghdad for 18 months.
1AD lost more soldiers from pregnancy that either could not deploy or had to be sent home early than from all hostile activity combined (IEDs, RPGs, mortars, snipers). Roughly 1/3 of the females either did not deploy or were sent home early. Put that in a Hollywood female super macho hero film (LOL).
Yes, it’s a farce. But, shhhhhhh don’t say it to loud. You’ll be a bad guy. Watch some Star Trek or GI Jane, Hollywood will set you straight.
That said, women can and do serve a function/role in the military. Where they can serve and do serve well is in non-combat roles, i.e. medical, strategic intel, air traffic controllers... Many of them are smart, and they can do those jobs well. There are a lot of jobs they can do, but because we are trying to “force” this equality and “force” statistical representation in areas where physical attributes/performance matter, they end up with a limited usefulness. A mortar base plate doesn’t get any lighter if if it’s a woman carrying it. Nor does a 155 shell or Javelin missile. So what really ends up happening is that they wear the patch and get told they are equal but the guys do all the heavy lifting, quite literally.
The real problem is that society lives in an industrial and information age (post industrial). Most people as they have their teaching job, sit at a desk, work in a bank, or operate a register, do not realize that there still are jobs in this world where being bigger and stronger, being able to carry lots of shit on your back cross country and then still dig a hole and fight is what it’s about. A loader in a tank is taking 45 pound rounds and flipping them, stuffing them into that breech after pulling them from the ammo bunker in the turret rear. If he’s a bad ass loader, he’ll do the trick in 3 seconds (and he usually has an upper body). Sorry, it’s discriminatory, but it’s reality. But no one has the guts today to come out and say that.
Spot On.
Can’t find the video of some female in an arty unit loading rounds - I was going to post it to you for your comment. Don’t remember if was US or some other army. May have been some staged footage - I have no way of knowing.
I’m a retired Field Grade Army Officer. All you say is spot on correct. And yet not a thing has been done to correct the lunatic Obama era experiments forced on the military. Mattis sits on his hands and allows the destruction from within to proceed at pace.
No correlation, I'm sure !)
Good insights, and similar to mine as a Naval Aviator when women were starting to be assigned to the fleet replacement (training) squadrons, but not yet to ship’s companies or fleet squadrons. They worked hard and overall had better attitudes than the men. The problem is that they had high fail-to-deploy rates due to pregnancy, higher injury rates, and struggled as plane captains to shoulder the heavy tiedown chains, lug metal chock bars, and position tow bars. Also trouble hauling replacement electronics boxes from the shops below up to the flight deck; the men usually did. None served as ordnancemen or engine, structural, or hydraulic mechanics — just too physical. Don’t know what it’s like with women now integrated into ship’s companies and fleet squadrons, but assume the readiness and effectiveness problems have just been extended to more ratings (MOS’s).