Women in Combat

Disclaimer: The following posts may be offensive and I apologize if you feel that these statements are sexist or prejudice in anyway.



So I had a very interesting conversation with my brother and future sister in law last night at dinner. And before anyone even begins to think anything negative about him or say that he is being sexist; every point he made was actually from a very rational position rather than an emotional one.

I do not remember exactly where the conversation came from, but we ended up discussing wom in the military, moving into possible combat roles, and relating to that, other occupations that women really do not fit in well. My brother is a police officer in the area and even though many people have only seen one side to him, I have had the opportunity over the last year to really get to know him better.

Can you carry this man out of the line of fire?

Anyways, our discussion involved the double standard that many (like 99% of) jobs have for not only women but all minorities in one form or another, whether gender, race, sexual orientation, age, etc. This is an argument I have been making for years. I hate the fact that women are not held to the same standards as men in the military. "Equal rights" does not simply mean equal privileges but quite literally means there should be equal treatment, responsiblity, punishment, and rewards. This is not the case in our society. So many people want equal privileges without the responsibility.

What aspect of combat distinguishes between whether you have internal or external genitalia? I know that bombs does not blow up any slower simply because the people around it are women. So why are women given an additional three minutes to run three miles? Even given the exact nature of our physical fitness test, women are systematically being told that they are inferior to the men they work with. Men have to do pull ups, an exercise that is designed to simulate the ability to pull your own body weight up and out of a bad situation, like up off a ledge. Women are required to do the flexed arm hang. An "exercise" that has women simply hold their body weight long enough for help to arrive, but not to pull up their own body weight. Does this not blatantly state that women are not expected to take care of themselves?

Yes, I know that there are a few, and I do emphasize few women who can keep up with mid level men physically, BUT they are few and far between. In addition to the combat application of our physical fitness tests is the immediate distortion of promotion points. Our PFT has a possibility of 300 points towards ones promotion for non NCOs; Privates, Private First Class, and Lance Corporals. Crunches are the only aspect that are fair, 100 points for 100 crunches in 2 minutes regardless of gender. The part that I believe is the most unfair and biggest difference between genders is the pull ups versus flexed arm hang. For a man to pass, he must accopmlish a minimum of 3 dead hang pull ups, and 5 points per pull up- maxed out at 20. This is not the easiest task for the majority of men to accomplish. Women on the other hand, are only required to do a flexed arm hang for 15 seconds on the pull up bar. The best part about this (please note the bitter sarcasm) is that it is not even required for the woman to keep her chin above the bar, but that only "some degree of flexion at the elbow is maintained." Therefore as long as there is the slightest bend to your elbow you are still accumulating time. To get the maximum points for this evolution, a woman only needs to say up on the bar for 70 seconds. I can not comprehend how a person who has passed a military boot camp is unable to support their own body weight for a mere 15 seconds.

Look, so easy a child can do it.

I asked a friend of mine to contribute his take on the issue as a sergeant in the infantry. I feel extremely confident that I can generalize his responses to the majority of the male population of the military, especially those in combat units.

When asked how he feels about the "equality" between genders in the military he replied with that there is no equal treatment, none at all. Females meet lower standards across the board and generally receive special treatment in nearly all aspects of military life, from housing, to performance expectations, to interpersonal relationships.  I find that I am in complete agreement. I already explained one aspect of performance expectations, but as far as interpersonal relationships women tend to get away with more than men. It is easier for women to get away with talking to a superior in a more casual manner. I can personally attest to this, I know that I got away with having a big mouth more than most people I worked with. I talked back to people and yet never received official repremands while I know a lot of Marines who didn't say anything too different than I did get written counceling statements.

I asked his opinion on whether women should be permitted to attempt the training for actual combat MOS-s. He full heartedly agreed that the training is important. That we should be allowed to fullfill the same training requirements as the men, but not sent to combat units. Besides our 22 days of "combat training" after bootcamp, we never really do any training aside from going to the rifle range annually. But what happens when a support truck in Afghanistan is attacked and the women there are expected to defend it, themselves, and make it back to base? They end up like Jessica Lynch, a woman who never fired her weapon when her truck crashed, dropped to her knees and prayed instead of fighting, got captured and after putting the lives of additional soldiers and Marines in danger to rescue her, was awarded a Bronze Star.

This friend also described how on multiple occassions while deployed he had females that were unable to complete patrols and physically had to be carried back by other Marines. An occurrance that didn't occur with any males, even non infantry ones. Reactions are also a major aspect on where we differ. Through his experience with combat, he witnessed that most (but not all) women do not attempt to close with the enemy (get closer to and engage) and also tend to break down under the stress to the degree that it couldnt be shaken off. This is a major liability to other Marines and Soldiers because someone has to take care of them.

When asked what the most physically demanding aspect of being a grunt was, he replied with the combat patrols wearing over 130 pounds of equipment in 140 degree heat for 4-12 hours. I'm sorry, but I was in relatively good shape but I know there is no way in hell that I would be able to carry nearly my own body weight for 4 hours, let alone 12 and definitely not in 140 degree heat.