The biggest thing I noticed was not that most of the females would quit both physically and mentally before most of the men, but that when it happened, the best of the men get all chivalrous about it rendering the unit down not 1-2 Marines, but 3-4. These were always the best of the men, incapacitated at the sight of a crying/hurt/panicking/whining female. Heroes neutered.
I completely agree with that. Soldiers are trained to carry out the mission, even as their fellow soldiers are cut down all around them. You continue on with the mission and let the medics deal with the casualties.
However, women change that whole dynamic. Just as women are wired to protect their children at all costs, men are similarly wired to protect their women. I cannot envision a battlefield scenario where I leave a woman behind who has been seriously hurt. My first instinct will be to help and protect her.
I experienced similar weakening of cohesiveness because of women in the engine room while serving in the Navy. We literally ran under billeted the whole 4 years I was in the hole because they couldn’t handle the conditions and/or were out pregnant from fraternization. Except for the bull dykes of course... everyone was scared of them!