Commission to recommend women in combat

The Stars & Stripes reports that the Military Leadership Diversity Commission is poised to make recommendations to the Pentagon that women should be allowed to serve in combat arms roles “without restrictions”.

In the draft, commission members call for a phased approach to open additional career fields with ground combat units to qualified women, saying the current policy limits the ability of commanders to pick the most capable person for their missions.

“To date, there has been little evidence that the integration of women into previously closed units or occupations has had a negative impact on important mission-related performance factors, like unit cohesion,” the draft states.

I actually wrote a piece for the Stars & Stripes almost two decades ago on the subject. My opinion hasn’t changed. If the Army intends on putting QUALIFIED females in combat arms MOSs, they must be qualified in every respect. I’ve seen men who weren’t qualified for the infantry, so I’m sure there’s some women out there who want to be infantry but they’re not PHYSICALLY qualified.

Our buddy, Eve Chase is quoted in the article, and we’ve disagreed before, so the fact that we’ll disagree on this one won’t surprise her;

Chase, an Army reservist who served in Afghanistan, said standards for female combat troops need to be the same as those for men, but also noted that brute strength is not the only qualification. Language skills, leadership experience, and other combat-related specialties can be just as vital to mission success.

Yeah, anyone who says that brute strength isn’t the only qualification for the infantry hasn’t spent a day in the infantry. I look back on my daily schedule as an infantry platoon sergeant IN GARRISON and it seems like a Herculean task to me today. All of those other skills are a nice addition, but if your body can’t get your brain to battle, what the hell use are those other nice skills?

I’m fine with women in combat roles, but if they can’t pull their load, if they can’t carry their weight, they don’t belong. They need to have the same physical requirements as the men because a bullet doesn’t discriminate.

Category: Military issues