no a woman is not a man and combat is not something women are cut out for physically or psychologically. Now if you were talking about investment managers women are Superiorly equipped physiologically but few exploit it. As far as gay marriage I object to the way any pairing will be seen by the courts as equal when it comes to child rearing and family law.
We will see the same plan orchastrated that has happened in the school system, sports, etc. If they don't lower the standards for women then there won't be enough women in combat units to claim what a success the program is. If they do lower the standards just for women then they'll be taken to task for it. What to do? Lower the standards across the board, just like we've done in the schools and youth sports. Everyone makes the team. Everyone gets a passing grade. Trophies and dilpomas for all. Just show up, go through the motions, and you're a winner. It won't happpen overnight, but 10-20 years from now, we'll have a much weaker troop on the ground, men and women.
Yes they have, but in support units. Transport units get hit. People die. Aircraft engage and get shot down. People die. Rear areas get hit. People die. That's not the same as being out in the thick of it, days or weeks on end, on foot, engaging the enemy toe to toe. Whole different game and there aren't many men let alone women that can hack that.
In the rear with the gear went out with Vietnam, CO. Modern warfare teaches that there is no front. The enemy can get you from wherever you are. If women want to fight and die for their nation, they should be allowed to do so.
There wasn't any real rear area in Nam either, but I get your point. However, it's one thing to be willing to fight and die in service to your nation. It's quite another to be able to perform in a capacity that gives you and your brothers in arms a fighting chance of NOT dying. Call me what you will, but when I'm in the shit I want a man fighting by my side. One that can live like an animal, sleep and eat like an animal, and most importantly, kill like an animal. Like I stated earlier. I admire and repsect their courage and they can serve in many useful areas, but the overwhelming majority of women just don't belong in a grunt combat unit. The political aspect of this is what I'm trying to address. We all know that they want to have several hundred women in front line combat units so they can claim what a great success the program has been. I'm saying they won't get those kind of show and tell numbers without lowering the standards. Lowering the standards not only puts them at risk, it puts everyone close to them at risk. That's unacceptable.
Having graduated at Benning, my visceral side agrees with you. I flinched with the gay lifting too, but I knew that was just conditioning on my part. Things are changing CO. There is no turning back. Someday soon, women will be in the 3rd Infantry. I had a convo with a drill back in 99 about this very thing. There is no getting around it. In this nation, the civilians control the military. For better of for worse, you don't have to like it, but it is what it is.