Posted on 05/11/2002 12:21:01 PM PDT by Garegaupa
I've been reading many interesting discussions concerning women in the military on these boards, but there is one subject that has been little mentioned. I'd like to get some comments on that.
Just so that's clear: I'm against women in the military (in combat positions, at least, but I suppose most positions in the military will become combat positions during a conflict). I agree what has been said about women lacking the necessary physical strength and endurance, being more prone to injuries, disrupting unit cohesion, not being mentally suited for combat and so on.
But, many people say, if a woman can perform as well as a man, shouldn't she then be allowed to serve where she pleases. I still say no. And now we're getting to the point of this post:
I am (both as a Christian and as a man) thoroughly convinced that men should protect and cherish women, and that any man who would willingly send a woman to fight in his stead is a criminal.
Since this view (as far as I can see) hasn't come up too often in the debate over whether women should serve in the military or not, I'm starting to wonder if I'm the only person left on the planet who thinks this is a good principle. Ladies and gentlemen, what are your opinions on this matter?
Best regards, Garegaupa
First of all is upper body strength. I don't care how big and strong some she-male is - they don't have the ability to haul an M60 machine gun with 400 rounds of 7.62mm ammo and a spare barrel from firing point to firing point through an offensive engagement. They fall out, leaving the platoon's heavy machine gun out of action. In an Infantry platoon, that means death to your buddies instead of the enemy. This is a tough assignment for even the toughest of the guys, much less the ladies. Like I said - even the strongest females can't even begin to do it. In a rifle platoon, everyone is expected to be able to perform everyone else's job - without exception. When the machine gunner dies, someone else has to pick up that weapon and drive on - plain and simple.
Next comes combat first aid. Just how would you feel if that female in your squad takes a round or a chunk of shrapnel through the chest - resulting in a sucking chest wound - and now you are faced with cutting off her uniform top and plugging the hole? Not good. Infantrymen in general, are the last bastion of gentlemen in the Army. We hold open doors for women, we treat them with chivalry. We don't want to see them dying in combat, we don't want them getting our buddies killed out of their desire to erase the lines of gender. We don't want to have to put their guts back inside them in a combat scenario. We don't want to have to shove an ink pen into their throats to restore their breathing when their throat has been crushed by an AK round. Feminists - think REAL HARD about that one.
The next thing is odor. What? Odor? Yes. After being in the bush for a week or so, a human's sense of smell becomes finely attuned to the surroundings. You can SMELL a woman (even if she has no perfume) for miles in the woods. Especially if she is menstruating. (Hygiene is difficult at best in the bush.) I've run night patrols where we would find units that had women in them purely by our sense of smell. What would we do then? Invariably, we would move forward slowly near the unit, and locate their perimeter. Their perimeter defenses would then be mapped, and the fighting positions located that had females in them. These we would watch until the ladies would nod off (which they ALWAYS DID). This gave us our opening through the defenses. I'd send one fire team to that position - they'd crawl up to the firing port of the hole - and observe the women asleep. Two soldiers would then go around to the back side of the position, and two would stay in front. Simultaneously, the two to the rear would jump into the hole, grab the women by the top of their helmets, and draw a red magic marker accross their throat just as they would have with a bayonnet - while at the same time their guns would be pulled through the firing ports by the soldiers in front. The position silenced, we'd search through the women's written notes - which would contain the passwords for the unit, and then head to the Tactical Operations Center (TOC). Since women were in the unit, there would be the sound of generators near the TOC. (Gotta have the essentials of electricity for the women, you know. Sorry - it is true.) If we were ever challenged inside the wire, we had the password. Imagine the look on the faces of those Colonels and Majors as we walked into their briefings and proceeded to hose them down! It was always priceless.
This didn't happen just once. My platoon leader (the LT), would let me take the platoon out for "free lance" training such as this whenever we were in the field. The units we would attack in this manner were just other units in the field, with no idea that they were being attacked. Just as it would be in real life. In six such training exercises, we would manage to destroy the TOC of higher units - to include the Division Command once. I've caused the firing of more than one commanding officer due to the ineptness of the perimeter defenses. Generals don't like the idea of having some grunts step into their little world and killing all of them. Real world training doesn't fit in their view - not when it applies to them.
Are these required times being altered to allow for a PC Navy? A ships very design makes it a single sex existance. The berth is often located away from the head. To be exact some berths especially on a carrier are below the mess decks. Officers country may be a little more suitable for some modifications. But soon the design to make the ship suitable for the sexes becomes more important than making it Damage Control functional.
As you can see this is a set up for potential career ending situations where a sailor can be charged for among other things exposure and sexual harassment when a few years back the situation did not exist fo it? Remember I am talking about deployed combat ships and not tugs or tenders who do in and out that day missions. There is too much potential for uneeded problems.
Oddly enough, the military already has this feature; it's called 'up or out' promotions.
American culture is going to hell in a handbasket.
What is next? 200 pound men tossing women backwards in their stampede for the life-boats on sinking ships? I hate modern culture. No manners. No honor. No more golden rule. Everyone has an attitude, is "in your face", is "dissing you" and says, "Everybody does it." Certainly I am showing my age but US culture is going to hell in a hurry. I am NOT pleased.
The military is a sorry place for social engineering and "what if" wishful thinking.
Well, there might be an exception for very manly women, but I even doubt that. Even manly women are still too emotional and physically weak, except, of course for my own mother, who still wears army army boots at 85! ;0 (Just kidding, for the humor-impaired.)
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