Women in combat arms MOS's

[crusader377]

I served in an infantry unit in both Afghanistan (2002) and Iraq (2003) and I think this is a terrible idea that will surely ruin the effectiveness of our infantry, special forces, armor, and artillery units. Here is the link and what are your thoughts?

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/41083172/ns/us_news-life

[Belmont31R]

Its like a liberal parade of degenerates right through the gates of Ft. Bragg.



Wait til you see a dude in a woman's uniform because he got his tid bits chopped off.




Edit: And no I dont think women should be in combat arms. Just medical, clerical, staff type positions.

[BAC]

As a civilian, I have questions about whether this will measure make our fighting force more effective. Yes, we know women have fought. But I don't know how well they fought. Do they bring some new capability to combat arms units? Can they carry/drag someone however many meters? Pull someone up over a half-wall? Can they carry the required loadout the required distance?


-B

[MarkG]

Women in combat is a bad idea and everyone knows it.

Just like in law enforcement and fire departments, the physical standards for entry will have to be lowered for women to even get to the selection phase let alone get through the training.

When will women, within 3 months of their 18th birthday be required to register for the selective service? When Jimmy Carter re-established the Selective Service program, there was a recommendation that it be extended to include women but of course it failed. There was a subsequent challenge to the law as unconstitutional that went to SCOTUS. The court held that since women couldn't serve in combat roles, they couldn't be drafted. Guess its time to take a new look at selective service.

[mr_smiles]

Yet the standards won't be the same, bunch of hypocritical pc bullshit is all.

[Armati]

Most people have a very short attention span and lack the ability to put anything in historical context. Whenever this subject comes up, I try to point to movies and shows that I think illustrate the life and times of your typical dog faced Earth Pig.

A lot of people look at this current war and the average life of the fobbit (which is 80% of the force) and assume that is what it must be like in Combat Arms.

Check out the movie Hamburger Hill. How would women fit in that sort of combat environment.

Look at the Band of Brothers series or The Pacific. Same question.

Or, look no further than Restrepo to see how different life is at one of these COPs over a nice FOB like BAF, KAF, or Salerno.

[jklaughrey]

Women are intelligent and have their place per se in the military. But they lack the requisite all around strength and endurance to undertake the arduous task of prolonged combat. Combat is tough on men for Christ's sake. Many men have difficulty at times adapting and performing duties in a trigger puller capacity. Adding women would just put a greater strain on those men already in that unit. Not to mention the whole psychological bullshit that men will run around stupid to protect a woman. It has been seen and proven. Female gets hit, men will continue to get killed and wounded in their attempt to save her. Granted we do it for our brothers, but we lose our heads and throw caution to the wind when it comes to a female.

[RogerinTPA]

This is a really bad idea. I'm not say woman can't defend themselves when in certain combat conditions, but all this will result in, is "gender norming" or lowering the standards of performance to make a political statement, just like allowing Gays in the military. It will be a tremendous challenge to men who were raised to protect women and children at all cost, which is instinctively embedded in most men, to not coddling/protect them and compromising the mission or endangering themselves unnecessarily. Until they can perform to the same standard, it will not truly be same same, Keif Keif. Besides, it will never attract the hot women anyway. :)

[HES]

The only way this might be a good idea is if they had the same physical standards for both men and women. Even then it would be uber iffy. Sure there are some dynamic butch women out there who could hack it, but they are a huge minority.

[GermanSynergy]

I agree, but this will never happen. Females have no place in Combat Arms MOS's for the reasons stated above.

Additionally, how many females actually WANT to serve in the Infantry?


The only way this might be a good idea is if they had the same physical standards for both men and women. Even then it would be uber iffy. Sure there are some dynamic butch women out there who could hack it, but they are a huge minority.

[LowSpeed_HighDrag]

I spent 2 years as an 0331 before I lost my hearing in my right ear. Grunt life is hard and extremely physical. A 30 mile forced hump with a 240 IS NOT SOMETHING THAT 99.99% OF WOMEN IN THE WORLD COULD DO.

Having had two lioness' attached to us when I was with 1/1 in MWTC, I can tell you that patrols slowed down by at least an hour or more, we had to carry their gear, men constantly tried to **** them, and bitched moaned and groaned all the time.

There is a difference between performing well in an ambush or a random attack, and performing well in a line unit. Lioness teams were just fine, but this is outrageous and just another liberal attempt to turn a killing machine into a tolerance machine.

[LowSpeed_HighDrag]

Additionally, how many females actually WANT to serve in the Infantry?

Surprisingly, many. They dont understand just how hard their life will be, they think about being a grunt the same way a prospective recruit thinks. Id say give every female that wants to be a grunt 3 months to do it: 1 month at MWTC Cold, 1 month at Viper, and 1 Month doing the day to day activities of a Combat Arms MOS aka police calls and field days and constant denegrating hazing.

Problem solved.

[Heavy Metal]

The number of women who could meet a realistic physical standard for combat arms is so low, it isn't worth considering the logistical overhead necessary to accomidate the miniscule number who could squeak by the minimum standard.

[Heavy Metal]

Someone at that MSNBC article mentioned that women can pul the trigger as well as a man. Combat isn't a shooting match where you pull up to the firing line in a golf cart on a sunny spring day.

Firing a weapon is but the end event in a long chain of individual and common tasks that brings one to that point. Being able to take the fight to the enemy on his home turf is a world different than defending a fighting position in a fixed installation somewhere. Shooting is the only thing these two events have in common.


First, one must be able to carry a hundred pounds of shit over many miles of irregular terrain in extreme climatic conditions, live like an animal in the mud for weeks at a time and them still be physically and mentally cognizant enough to effectively pull the trigger at the end of the chain. Not to mention the ability to extract your wounded 200lbs teammate while under fire.

The number of women who can do that is infinitesmial.

I would be shocked if there were 10 women in the entire CONUS who could pass an SF Q-course or Ranger School.

The only way to accomidate women in combat would be to dumb down the standards and put more of the burden on the men.

To hell with that. That will mean dead soldiers where none needed to die and mabey even lost battles and wars. Time to put and end to this PC fantasy. It is not worth the lives of one American fighting man.

[Caeser25]

They sure as hell coudn't make it in Arty, 155 anyways. Everyone must be able to hump those rounds. Firing off a 15 round fire mission isn't hard for a 200 pound man until you start getting into the larger illum rounds, 150ish pounds IIRC. Loading 36ish rounds by hand into the Paladin is harder. Loading 96ish dummy rounds into the FAASV when resupplying is grueling. Picture clean and jerk, 96 times inside a phone booth in under 5 minutes, then you have a few specialty rounds as well that ride in their own area, Copperheads are upwards of 200 pounds, those take 2 for loading though for special reasons with it. You better be done when the fuel is done. Hell there's 150 pound men that have trouble even opening the breech let alone the above.

[crusader377]

They sure as hell coudn't make it in Arty, 155 anyways. Everyone must be able to hump those rounds. Firing off a 15 round fire mission isn't hard for a 200 pound man until you start getting into the larger illum rounds, 150ish pounds IIRC. Loading 36ish rounds by hand into the Paladin is harder. Loading 96ish dummy rounds into the FAASV when resupplying is grueling. Picture clean and jerk, 96 times inside a phone booth in under 5 minutes, then you have a few specialty rounds as well that ride in their own area, Copperheads are upwards of 200 pounds, those take 2 for loading though for special reasons with it. You better be done when the fuel is done. Hell there's 150 pound men that have trouble even opening the breech let alone the above.

Big +1 with Arty. I was an PL/XO in a M198 battery and the longer fire missions are definitely alot of work along with firing out of azimuth missions or high angle missions as well as emplacing.

Serving as an FSO is also demanding especially when your fire support team is under manned which is quite often and alot of the FOs are carrying their own radios as well as your standard infantry equipment.

[theblackknight]

http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a56/mxer1/magazinebackward.jpg

[variablebinary]

I'd take a female battle buddy, treat her with the same respect I would treat a male battle buddy, and would back her up 100%.

I think there are many women that would make fine combat Soldiers.

However, everyone needs to put their army values first and keep them there if woman are in combat arms.

Last I checked, ****ing, flirting, sucking, infidelity, pregnancy and rape don't appear in LDRSHIP.

There are already women out there doing their thing. Give them a little more room to show what they can do and we might all be surprised.

http://newsblaze.com/pix/2007/0801/pix/Spc..jpg

[NoBody]

I train my sons to be godly men with a warrior's spirit. However, my wife and I train our daughter to be a godly woman that will be a great wife and mother. My boys may see the battlefield one day, but not my daughter.

[Littlelebowski]

I don't care how many motivating pictures of females in spotlessly clean uniforms there AR on line, for the overwhelming vast majority, females cannot ****ing hack it. I've been in charge of female Marines and physically, my best female was equivalent to my worst males.

[Hmac]

The only way this might be a good idea is if they had the same physical standards for both men and women.

Just as in law enforcement or firefighting, I wouldn't want anyone working next to me unless I knew they had met the same physical testing standards as me, and would be capable of dragging my ass out of harm's way if I go down.

[jklaughrey]

Lil Lebowski summed it up pretty much. When we get women who think they can piss fire and do a man's job on SRT. We give them a small test. Drag a 200lb dummy 50yds. I can honestly say only 1 was able to accomplish the task in 14 years. Then the real testing began. We have had male deputies and officers try that can't do things, why would we expect a woman too. Standards are here for a reason. To give the members of a unit a baseline of expectation of whom they serve with. If someone comes to your unit, you expect them to meet the minimum needs of said unit. If not they wouldn't have graduated and be serving along side you.

Putting women in Combat Arms is like the Navy using dolphins as combatants! A fool's folly.

[Army Chief]

I train my sons to be godly men with a warrior's spirit. However, my wife and I train our daughter to be a godly woman that will be a great wife and mother. My boys may see the battlefield one day, but not my daughter.

Thank you for this.

AC

[Belmont31R]

I'd take a female battle buddy, treat her with the same respect I would treat a male battle buddy, and would back her up 100%.

I think there are many women that would make fine combat Soldiers.

However, everyone needs to put their army values first and keep them there if woman are in combat arms.

Last I checked, ****ing, flirting, sucking, infidelity, pregnancy and rape don't appear in LDRSHIP.

There are already women out there doing their thing. Give them a little more room to show what they can do and we might all be surprised.




Even under ideal conditions there are still problems like female hygeine.



I posted a report a couple months ago in another thread but huge numbers of females end up pregnant, they go on sick call 3X the rate men do, ect.


While I think we can all recognize there are a small numbers of females who could do the job pretty well the vast majority can't. There are a lot of mans who cannot. You'd be effectively lowering the bar, and infantry/combat arms would become less effective.

[variablebinary]

Even under ideal conditions there are still problems like female hygeine.



I posted a report a couple months ago in another thread but huge numbers of females end up pregnant, they go on sick call 3X the rate men do, ect.


While I think we can all recognize there are a small numbers of females who could do the job pretty well the vast majority can't. There are a lot of mans who cannot. You'd be effectively lowering the bar, and infantry/combat arms would become less effective.

I think the female hygiene issue is overstated.

Change underwear, give yourself a baby wipe bath, bury tampons and pads if needed, and drive on.

In my unit we are broken into two parts; strategic and tactical. Woman are not currently allowed to deploy in tactical roles, only strategic. However, we have had FTX with females, and they tend to have their own tricks of the trade when it comes to hygiene.

The implementation and execution are what will determine success or failure for combat arms females. It may not make sense for females to be 11B or 18C, but what about 19K, 14T or 14J

[Armati]

I was a 19D in the first Gulf War. I spent 45 days on a screen line in the open desert waiting the war to start. No shower, no bathroom, no internet, no TV, no MWR, no gym. Running water consisted of your buddy pouring a 5 gallon water can on you from the top of the tank. Out of a combination of necessity and boredom, we dug a slit trench latrine in the bottom of a 6 foot deep fighting position - all with hand tools. It gave you some privacy, blocked the wind, kept sand from blowing up you ass, and was pretty hygienic. In most cases, privacy was nonexistent.

Back in the old days, 45 and 60 'field problems' were the norm and soldiers learned how to actually live in the field like a wild animal. If someone went to the rear for some reason, you could smell the soap on them for over 15m away. In most cases, Combat Arms soldiers did not get to go to the rear. In REMF units, going in for a shower every few days was pretty much the norm - especially if that unit had females.

Again, in this current war, most females are doing a fine job. But they are leaving the wire on a convoy and return to the FOB by night fall. They are not spending days on end in 'field conditions.' I cannot stress enough how different life is for soldiers who have a permanent address at a FOB and those who are living at one of these remote COPs.

Seriously, check out the movie Restrepo to see what I am talking about.

[Thomas M-4]

What happens when the female gets captured everybody that we fight has no Idea what the Geneva convention is or even how to spell it . Is the American population ready to see a female dragged necked through the streets beheaded on TV? Or the other nasty shit that would happen?

[Heavy Metal]

Strap another 70 pounds on those two and road march them 20 miles in a day and I will be suprised if they make it.

Operating out of a mechanized vehicle in an urban area is a world different than operating on foot on an Afghan mountain range. Combat arms has to be able to do both.


I'd take a female battle buddy, treat her with the same respect I would treat a male battle buddy, and would back her up 100%.

I think there are many women that would make fine combat Soldiers.

However, everyone needs to put their army values first and keep them there if woman are in combat arms.

Last I checked, ****ing, flirting, sucking, infidelity, pregnancy and rape don't appear in LDRSHIP.

There are already women out there doing their thing. Give them a little more room to show what they can do and we might all be surprised.

http://newsblaze.com/pix/2007/0801/pix/Spc..jpg


but what about 19K

It takes a lot of upper body strength to be a Tanker. There are lots of heavy chores on a Tank when it comes to maintaining the beast. Tankers are part mechanics and an M-1 is no Yugo in the size department. It all ain't just riding into battle and firing the main gun. There are a lot of other non-glory tasks that lead up to that point. Now, I was not a tanker but I was assigned to an ACR so I do know a bit about what they do from observing and discussing things with the Tankers. Universally, the most cussed thing I remember is the pain in the ass of fixing fubar tracks in a shitty environment. Lots of heavy tools, bogeys and links that required a lot of strength to work.

I cannot imagine an all-female tank crew doing the job and a mixed crew would be patently unfair to the male members.

I have met women who were fine servicemembers but they had their limitations that motivation simply could not overcome. As long as their job was within those limitations, they did about the same as the males. Physics is a bitch and ultimately, reality will win any argument you have with it. Better to be allies with it than beat your head against a wall. A lot of men are not cut out for Combat Arms assignments for that matter. Not everybody is born large enough to be an effective pack mule.

[variablebinary]

What happens when the female gets captured everybody that we fight has no Idea what the Geneva convention is or even how to spell it . Is the American population ready to she a female dragged necked through the streets beheaded on TV? Or the other nasty shit that would happen?

Therein lies the biggest problem.

America is not ready. More importantly, male soldiers aren't ready.

1 female soldier screaming for dear life will motivate men to do very strange "chivalry" like things.

Biology, nature, sexual roles and culture will make it damn near impossible for men and women to fight together. More so than female capability.

[Belmont31R]

I think the female hygiene issue is overstated.

Change underwear, give yourself a baby wipe bath, bury tampons and pads if needed, and drive on.

In my unit we are broken into two parts; strategic and tactical. Woman are not currently allowed to deploy in tactical roles, only strategic. However, we have had FTX with females, and they tend to have their own tricks of the trade when it comes to hygiene.

The implementation and execution are what will determine success or failure for combat arms females. It may not make sense for females to be 11B or 18C, but what about 19K, 14T or 14J



Ive been on plenty of FTX's with women, too.


Thats not the same as actually being in the field for months during combat conditions.


There is no way a female could stay clean for a few months without bathing.


With the ones who are physically capable of doing the job they still have to keep clean for months if needed, not end up pregnant, not let PMS affect their judgment, somehow males need to treat them the same (documented males will take risks to save females), ect. All in all its a stupid move because the vast majority of the time its going to cause problems that don't currently exist. I don't think the small percentage of women who could do without causing any extra issues is worth allowing the majority who will have issues.


I was in a mixed gender unit so Im fully aware of what problems female bring to the table. In my unit around 3/4ths of the females ended up pregnant from the day we got deployment orders to the day we came back. Its just not worth having females in MOS's like combat arms our mine (signal) where they can't lift equipment bags, ect. In my entire time in I knew of maybe 2-3 chicks who could pass a PT test to an 18-21 year old male minimum standard. We did have a couple chicks who kicked ass and didn't play the typical female but they are rare, and even then they are not as physically capable as the average male.


I also was attached to combat arms units during large exercises and while deployed. Our signal company had six man teams that were then attached to the combat arms units. Based on my experience I do not think there is any way allowing females in combat arms is going to work out. Its going to lessen the effectiveness of these units, cause disruptions, and there are VERY FEW females who can do without causing an issue. Even then they are going to be on the bottom end of the totem pole when it comes to being of benefit to their units.


Prior to moving into Iraq on my 2nd deployment by brigade was held in Kuwait for a few moths so we were out at the ranges, MPRI classes weekly, and out doing mass field exercises constantly. We'd move around the desert for 2-3 weeks at a time. Just based on that all our "out teams" (six men) none of them had males. All the females were kept around the company area. We were shitting in cat holes out in the open in front of other people, ect. I also took part in our scout unit's Spur Ride which was 50 miles in 50hrs. I was attached to the scouts for a bit, and we were PT'ing for 1.5hrs everyday, and an 6-8 mile run was normal at a pace that would be faster than maxing the female PT test.


While in Kuwait the MP's unit was like half females, and it was well known they were all whores and ****ing like crazy. All in all Ive come to the conclusion females in the military cause more problems than having an all male force. The only thing they should be doing is the 'medical corps' like we had in WW2, and they were kept pretty much separate from the line units unless someone ended up in the hospital. They can also be kept stateside or OCONUS fixed bases doing paperwork or supply.

[dookie1481]

In Desert Storm, IIRC, Task Force Ripper moved over 50 miles in 2 days on foot...how many females could manage that with a combat load?

In Scout/Sniper school, I stepped off on our final exercise with a loadout that weighed more than I did (about 130# not counting my M40). How many females could do that?

I recall having to fireman carry my 235 pound roommate across LZ Bluebird in Camp Lejeune when I weighed about 135 pounds. How many females could do that?

I would love to see one them bear crawl 700 yards down a rifle range...

Jay

[variablebinary]

Speaking of women in combat, anyone know what gun this is?

http://img46.imageshack.us/img46/6118/carl20bromaning202fc3b6.jpg

http://img411.imageshack.us/img411/6130/18s10frida92mn1309781w.jpg

I thought the Swedes used an FNC variant, while the gun in the above pics look like an ACR/SCAR/ARX160 competitor.

http://img97.imageshack.us/img97/7914/sak57zg.jpg

[chadbag]

Speaking of women in combat, anyone know what gun this is?

I thought the Swedes used an FNC variant, while the gun in the above pics look like an ACR/SCAR/ARX160 competitor.



look here

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ak_5

read down to the Bofors AK5C stuff and see if that is the same

[dookie1481]

That chick on the right is gorgeous.

[chadbag]

That chick on the right is gorgeous.

welcome to Sweden.

I am sure they have ugly women there. But when I was in Stockholm a few days 20 years ago, I did not see any (at least that were native Swedes...)

Of course, Denmark was even better (and more distracting -- it was raining and I was stuck in the main train station and all these young females walked by without the help of upper body women's underthings...)

[NoBody]

Thank you for this.

AC

I would encourage all fathers (and any young man that wishes to marry and become a father) to read "What He Must Be...if he wants to marry my daughter" by Dr. Voddie Baucham. While Dr. Baucham does not address the "warrior" spirit, he does talk extensively about our roles as fathers in raising our daughters. By default, it also addresses our raising our sons how to be godly husbands and fathers.

[C-grunt]

During the 03 invasion of Iraq I was a SAW gunner. Between my SAW, 900 rounds of ammo, my vest, water and other extra shit I had to carry my load was just under 100 lbs. Being 6'1" and 200 lbs this wasnt that hard for me. A 5'5" 130 lb chick is not going to be able to carry that kind of weight around.

On top of that I was also a Javelin gunner. Every night I had to bring the CLU and at least one missile up to wherever our OP was where we were sleeping.

We did ride around in Brads most of the time but whenever we got to a city we dismounted and foot patrolled through them. There were plenty of days where we were walking through towns, clearing houses and bunkers, for several hours.

On the outskirts of Baghdad we took arty fire and that whole objective turned into one big cluster **** as our whole company became seperated. That was a very long exhausting day of small skirmishes, long walks and even a good mile run with all my equipment on.

On top of all the exhausting work, we did not bathe for over two months during that time. We ran out of much of our hygeine stuff from useage and several rucksacks being destroyed from enemy fire or being crushed between the Brad and a building/tree.

Im not trying to say a woman cant fight. I have served with a few true female warriors who I wouldnt mind having in a fighting position next to me when the mongol horde comes over the hill. But there is a lot more to being an infantryman than just pulling triggers.

[ICANHITHIMMAN]

I was in a mixed unit and in 11 years I have met 2 woman who could hack it, they were not whores or winers but like all of you have said its a very small %.

In my MOS they where a force multiplier but you had to choose very carefully which one you requested as most of you said allot got pregnant and where sent home.

[GermanSynergy]

I did a week long exchange with the Swedish Army in 1998 while in Bosnia. Interesting to say the least. From my observations, there didn't appear to be much emphasis on combat/warrior ethos, national pride or a sense of military bearing. I was shocked to see enlisted address their Captain by his first name, etc. I was happy to return to my unit and back to disipline. :cool:

The Swedes have done a very good job of remaining "neutral" in major conflicts (WW2, refusing to join NATO), and only recently deploying forces outside of UN peacekeeping missions (OIF).


Speaking of women in combat, anyone know what gun this is?

http://img46.imageshack.us/img46/6118/carl20bromaning202fc3b6.jpg

http://img411.imageshack.us/img411/6130/18s10frida92mn1309781w.jpg

I thought the Swedes used an FNC variant, while the gun in the above pics look like an ACR/SCAR/ARX160 competitor.

http://img97.imageshack.us/img97/7914/sak57zg.jpg

[SteyrAUG]

Speaking of women in combat, anyone know what gun this is?

http://img46.imageshack.us/img46/6118/carl20bromaning202fc3b6.jpg

http://img411.imageshack.us/img411/6130/18s10frida92mn1309781w.jpg

I thought the Swedes used an FNC variant, while the gun in the above pics look like an ACR/SCAR/ARX160 competitor.

http://img97.imageshack.us/img97/7914/sak57zg.jpg

It is a FNC variant, called the AK5.

[Littlelebowski]

Looks like all of the grunts are saying the same thing in this thread.

[jklaughrey]

I will go one further. During Desert Shield/Storm the hospital ships Mercy/Comfort were known as the "floating whorehouse". Go for supplies as a grunt doc get a BJ. Get injured, get a girl pregnant. There was a high rate of pregnancy and actual deliveries on those boats.

[chadbag]

It is a FNC variant, called the AK5.

Specifically a new updated variant called the AK5C

[Redmanfms]

Were women held to exactly, exactly the same standard as men, I actually wouldn't be averse to the idea. Other militaries have successfully integrated women into combat roles, but they are held to phenomenal standards. The problem is that most women can't meet those standards, which is why there is a separate standard for women in the American military.

Given current regs, I don't think women belong in the military AT ALL.

[Redmanfms]

I will go one further. During Desert Shield/Storm the hospital ships Mercy/Comfort were known as the "floating whorehouse". Go for supplies as a grunt doc get a BJ. Get injured, get a girl pregnant. There was a high rate of pregnancy and actual deliveries on those boats.

Women on ships has always equaled bad. My floater brethren told me how many women typically came up pregnant right before a deployment, bottom figures were in the 1/3rd range. I know of at least one ship out of Mayport that couldn't deploy on time, they didn't deply until they early transferred some shore duty guys (royally ****ing them out of their "family time").

Now they're putting women on subs (glad I'm out). I don't frankly see how they'll do it from a logistical standpoint (not enough bunk/head space), but I wonder how long the PC police will cling to the folly when several boats aren't able to get out and cover their target packages because a third of the females on board decided to avoid patrol by getting pregnant. It was "doable" in the float Navy because a lot of divisions are 5+ sections deep, but I've been port-and-starboard for entire patrols more than once. You throw women with all of their regulatory "easy outs" into the mix and there are going to be boats sitting pierside that should be out in the big blue puddle.





Don't get me started on single moms who suck up shore billets. Men get sole custody = goodbye, parenthood discharge. Women have out-of-wedlock children (and nobody to care for them while deployed) = hello permanent shore duty.

[Armati]

I agree with all of that. That has been my observation and I have been working a joint world for a while.

There is simply no getting around the problem of biology. There is no regulatory fix for this.

Women get pregnant, menstruate, have breasts, and every swinging dick in the force is trying to poke them.

There are a great many women that do a very fine job at what they do. However, Combat Support is not Combat Arms even though they both might be in a gun fight from time to time. Large national militaries are built around the norm for that society. While special cases will always exist, we structure the force around the typical individual in the force and, for better or worse, not around exceptional individuals. The military is a govt bureaucracy like any other.

Anyone who is really interested in the issue of women in the military should read "I Love My Rifle More Than You":

http://www.amazon.com/Love-Rifle-More-Than-You/dp/0393060985

I think it is a very accurate account. Check out the reviews on Amazon. It is a MUST READ if really think girls and boys are interchangeable parts in our military.