NO. Women DO NOT belong in combat! before any of you start screaming at me about being sexist...I AM A WOMAN! If women in the military want to be seen in the same light as the men, then how about women being held to the same PT standards as a man? If a woman is not able to do as many push ups or sit ups as a man (like my husband for instance), then am I to believe that the same woman will be able to carry his 230lb body out of the middle of a fire fight if he is ever wounded? Forget the physical aspects...how about the emotional issues? I'm not talking about affairs or chesting (although that has been shown to be a problem), I am talking about a normal man feeling protective of a woman! If a man and a woman are in a combat situation together and the female is injured or taken captive, please tell me what man would not go out of his way to further risk his own life to ensure that he is the one in harms way instead of the woman? I have too many issues and or concerns to get further into it in this forum, but suffice to say...women DO NOT belong in combat!!!!
You are sexist...I don't care if you are a woman! Look ladies do we want to be stuck in the 20th century forever. Well by acting and saying such things is what is going to get us there. I was on active duty for 5 years as a military police officer. I fought in OIF. And when I hear that women are not stronger than men I get sick to my stomach because I didn't realize that it took so much strength to pull a trigger. Think about it, and just so you know I did pull the trigger! My husband also served with me on active duty and he has seen my struggles. For the length of my 5 years I did nothing but prove myself being just as sufficient as any of those guys. And I hear you saying that women can keep up with men on the PT field. Well hunny new flash...I did and I could also give you all the name of the other women in my unit that did as well. So personaly I feel that the only reason that you don't think women should be in combat is because you don't want to go to combat yourself. So please don't speak for all women cause there is more than enough of us out there willing to do our jobs just as good as any man!
How is it sexist to recognize an average? While I agree with you, some women are capable of combat and many men are not that doesn't make the fact that the majority of women are incapable of combat. It is not a stab at the "power of women" but leave the fighting to the men. But, just like the old saying "A man is only as good as the woman that follows him," this is even more true in the military. Women can serve their country JUST AS MUCH behind the lines. There is plenty to be done in the area of logistics and such that women are much more capable of doing, on average of course. And I'm sorry, but your argument that you only have to "pull a trigger" is flawed. You were a military policewoman. You were not a frontline infantry women. Frontline combat patrols are much different as I'm sure you know about how long they are, 14 hours on average. It takes serious endurance to get through those patrols, even more so if one of your buddies is hit and you have to carry him back to base.
I'm not saying that women are incapable of combat, but they should not be purposely placed in combat. You and the others in your unit were able to keep up with the men, as I'm sure many others have, again I'm not saying they can't. However, the average women IS weaker then the average man. Its proven. Anomalies are present in every statistic.
Your argument is fueled with resentment for this woman that wrote this article and to the first responder. That proves to me that the only way you think you can serve in the military is to fight on the frontlines. Whether that means you like it (which is sadistic) or you are too blinded by the equal rights mumbo-jumbo to see that unless the woman is capable of doing everything asked of them just as well or better then a man, that she is putting EVERYONE around her in danger.
Prolly capped a few camels coming into kuWAIT from Iraq... yeah I saw you!
quote:
Originally posted by 4540623: You are sexist...I don't care if you are a woman! Look ladies do we want to be stuck in the 20th century forever. Well by acting and saying such things is what is going to get us there. I was on active duty for 5 years as a military police officer. I fought in OIF. And when I hear that women are not stronger than men I get sick to my stomach because I didn't realize that it took so much strength to pull a trigger. Think about it, and just so you know I did pull the trigger! My husband also served with me on active duty and he has seen my struggles. For the length of my 5 years I did nothing but prove myself being just as sufficient as any of those guys. And I hear you saying that women can keep up with men on the PT field. Well hunny new flash...I did and I could also give you all the name of the other women in my unit that did as well. So personaly I feel that the only reason that you don't think women should be in combat is because you don't want to go to combat yourself. So please don't speak for all women cause there is more than enough of us out there willing to do our jobs just as good as any man!
I am going to put this simple and to the point. If a female (notice I did not say Woman) wants to join the frontline combat she must be ready and willingto endure the same hardships and task as anyone else. Speaking as a veteran of 7 years in the Infantry, I have seen a few omen who can max the PT test on the 17 - 21 year old mens scale. I have also seen those who use I am a female and can not do that much physical stuff. Now with all this said, If a female can meet the same standards and she has the desire to fight on the front lines then all the shovenistic men should swallow their pride and not stand in the way of a female following her dream or goal. I support and salute all who fight for this great country, THE UNIED STATES OF AMERICA.
We are the first society, not the first one to have women in combate, but the first society where we openly let our women defend our men and children. Other militaries have cancelled or limited women's roles because of their inability to do the work that is required of a soldier by themselves. You can look these up and read to educate yourselves on the psychology, the physical to include hygiene and emotional toll on women not only in the military but also in combat. There are plenty of jobs a woman can do in the military but we forget that first and foremost we are grunts, and must perform those dutys to standard for the other soldiers sake.
I disagree with this notion of women not being able to perform as well on the so-called front lines. We all know that there is no such front line to speak of. True, females are physically different, not better, than females. But what they lack in physically, they make up in BRAINS, ATTITUDE, and DETERMINATION. As a medic, I have personally carried a 250 lb. litter to safety. But wait, is that combat? Could a male have done that better? Let us remember what combat means these days. Driving a supply convoy IS COMBAT.
Originally posted by defendAmerica: NO. Women DO NOT belong in combat! before any of you start screaming at me about being sexist...I AM A WOMAN! If women in the military want to be seen in the same light as the men, then how about women being held to the same PT standards as a man? If a woman is not able to do as many push ups or sit ups as a man (like my husband for instance), then am I to believe that the same woman will be able to carry his 230lb body out of the middle of a fire fight if he is ever wounded? Forget the physical aspects...how about the emotional issues? I'm not talking about affairs or chesting (although that has been shown to be a problem), I am talking about a normal man feeling protective of a woman! If a man and a woman are in a combat situation together and the female is injured or taken captive, please tell me what man would not go out of his way to further risk his own life to ensure that he is the one in harms way instead of the woman? I have too many issues and or concerns to get further into it in this forum, but suffice to say...women DO NOT belong in combat!!!!
I would agree with you, but not necessarily for the same reasons. I've always taken the slant that women by genetic nature are care givers and could easily loose sight of a role in combat if one of their own was wounded or killed. Yes, men tend to want to protect women and could loose sight of the mission perhaps, but less likely to happen than in the previous thought.
Beyond that, we have seen women in the Reserves or National Guard called to serve in active combat zones. Many of these women have small children and like their male counter parts some of those women have succumbed to hostile fire, leaving those children motherless. We have to be realistic here, women do a better job at home with small children than men. It is a travesty to send women into combat zones when they have small children. Additionally, no one will ever convince me women in combat zones who have small children at home are not constantly thinking about their children, which makes them a liability to everyone else in their unit.
Yeah, guys think about their children and their wives at home, but for the most part are able to separate their military responsibility from those at home. Guys tend to look a their military service as being the protectors of the homeland and thus a responsibility, even if the responsibility includes the risk of death.
okay. so for those that think that women should not be in combat, what ever happened to the equal rights amendment? Personally, I know a lot of females that would definitly pass the male version of the physical test, and not all women are as "emotianally unstable" as some might presume. I for one, would love to be in the front lines, protecting my country. No, Im not a murderer, but you have to do what needs to be done for our country to be safe. I take a lot of pride in my country, and if I had the chance to stick up for it in the combat or special forces unit, I would definitly be there. I am appauled that so many people are opposed to letting women being in the infantry. I don't think it's fair to those of us that would want to be in this sort of thing. However, if there is one thing I agree on, is the testing part of it, I think that as long as they can pass what men do, they are entitled to do what ever position they choose.
