I’ll believe they’re combat equals when they:
1) pass the same PT test
2) have to sign up for the draft
3) get deployed to the front lines in equal #’s
4) die in equal #’s
They’re not looking for equality.
They want the benefits, with none of the sacrifices.
For all the propaganda, most women in the war are “combat tourists”, similar to Paula Broadwell. They dress up, hog easy assignments that men could sometimes have, for some rest. (ask a USN Corpsman with the Marine platoons when he might expect to get an assignment to a hospital on a Navy base)
There are all kinds of qualified biographers who can even WRITE their own books at West Point. Think any of them had the sightest chance to do the Paula Broadwell VIP tour of Afganistan? They get nothing BUT special advantages.
They show up in some assignment, pose for the obligatory “im in a war” photo with an M4 and wearing shiny looking combat gear. There is always a big wall in the background because they are inside the base.
(like that sole photo of AlGore in Vietnam, any grunt could instantly see that it looked like the first time he had ever seen a rifle and his uniform looked brand new)
Another fun part, well known in the military,, is that anytime things really start to suck, or no fun, they can get pregnant and pop a smoke to get outta there. Males have no escape like that. It’s used frequently.
And the rare methods of blowing off steam are all now gone. Liberty call is no longer a good time, far from home, designed for entertaining men at war. Now it has to be done to placate the sensibilities of the women of the sexual harrassment generation. Drinking, bar girls, maybe some minor scrapes with the local law, etc,,all replaced with wholesome things, volleyball tourneys, cultural tours, etc.