The Case Against Women in Combat

Feminists coud entertain such joke argument as women being capable of leading men or fight alongside men or better deal with emotional stress, etc. etc, because even the Iraq quagmire notwithstanding, the US force is so much superior than any oher forces in the word, maybe even all the rest of the world combined. When things really get bad, and not much room left for experiments in social engineering and diversity, there is no time to put girls in combat aircraft or naval ships and having feminist feeling good about themselves. This kind of argument is a luxury that only superior forces like US can enjoy.

almost 4000 pregnancies in iraq now. When the going gets rough the females do what they can to go home. Besides what is this stuff about Female soldiers being affected more by PTS? The feminists have been saying for years that women can take more strss than men and still deal with it effectively. Was that a lie?

I would listen to the combatants who are actually in the war zones and have witnessed women in combat first hand. If they say that women don't belong there, then I would take their word for it. What man would not want another soldier to fight side by side with and to trust him or her with his life and vice-versa? If men soldiers can not put their trust to women soldiers then that just puts everyone from the fields to the basecamp in danger.

I have a nephew and a very good friend who are in the Navy and they both say that women should not be in combat. I know these two as very caring men who love, respect and provide for their wives. I believe that they say women don't belong in combat out of respect and love for our women and not out of chauvanism.

Having trained hundreds of female soldiers I can say that very few are capable of performing the mission of a combat soldier. Few can shoot , I have never seen a female soldier that could throw a hand grenade the minimum save distance , It would take 2-6 female soldiers to carry what 1 male could. A female soldier charging a M-2 was not going to happen ditto having one carry a M-2 or Mk-19, load a 155mm howitzer rd.
Add to that the large numbers of pregnantcys before deployments AND after they get to the ME! In the first Gulf War the major problem we had with females was prostitution! Jessica Lynch didn???t have a weapon when she was captured as it was locked up in a connex!

Having trained hundreds of female soldiers while serving as an XO of a BT Co at Ft Jackson and 2 years as a Company Commander in Germany. I can say that very few are capable of performing the mission of a combat soldier. Few can shoot worth a damn (sometimes felt I would be safer in front of them an behind them), I have never seen a female soldier that could throw a hand grenade the minimum save distance (most threw them less than 10 feet downrange), I would often have to assign 2-6 female soldiers to carry what 1 male could carry ( I often carried a case of .50 cal ammo without any problem and that was a minimum of a 4 female soldier carry), a female soldier charging a M-2 was not going to happen ditto having one carry a M-2 or Mk-19. Carry or load a 155mm howitzer round (98 lb???s) ???forget it. I even had one female who couldn???t pull the lanyard to fire a 155.

Add to that the large numbers of females who get pregnant before major deployments AND after they get to the ME! In the first Gulf War the major problem we had with female troops was prostitution! Jessica Lynch didn???t even have a weapon when she was captured because it was locked up in a connex they were pulling! Females have a place in the army its just not in combat.

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FATJOEY - Can a 130 lb man carry a 220 lb man in full body armor...? If not, then I guess we need to start eliminating smaller men, too, eh?

What a load of hogwash! Women perform heavy duties such as firefighting and lawenforcement work here in the US just as well as their male counterparts. Israel regularly trains womens in its military with no biased gender complaints. What I hear from Browne is a lot of old wivetales and myths, but no hard evidence to back up his rhetoric.

If Browne had his way, women would be back in the kitchen baking cookies and pursuing careers that didn't go beyond the classroom, keyboard or healthcare profession.

barefoot and pregnant.....barefoot and pregnant chasing butterflys

I disapprove of the anaolgy between African American integretation and female integration in the military. We have to stop kidding ourselves, there are significant biological diffrences between men and women, particularly in areas related to combat. Men are much fast than women, and signficantly stronger. The pc daycare idea that "everyone has their own abilities" does not apply to the battle field. In war, strength, aggresivness, and speed are paramount and without them one is simply an inferior soilder. Where the obvjous bioligcal diffrences do not apply, allow women. Where they do apply, just don't.

asd

I could care less if women want to get their legs blown off in combat like the men. good for them

I'll buy that men and women are often socialized differently- but military training is about overcoming your socialization and capitalizing on your ability. Everyone brings different capabilities to the battlefield... there's no one-size-fits-all warrior. You deploy as a member of a unit, not a lone commando with ammo belts strung around your neck and a K-bar in your teeth. This is the macho, Rambo fantasies of an armchair anthropologist, not legitimate, scientific research. If Mr. Browne really wanted to know how women perform in combat, he could have asked any military police officer who has deployed to Iraq at any time in the past four years.

Is this guy a law professor or a military expert? Neither! He's an arm chair quaterback who wants to sell his book because it is a good debate subject and really has no clue about the front lines as in todays war, there are no front lines. Fighting can erupt on a moments notice wherever you are! I was in Desert Storm and Operation Iraqi Freedom 1 and let me tell you, I saw some guys who just froze under the stress of a fire fight and some who fought like champs. As for the women there with me? I would definately trust them with my life as many times I did as we shot bullets down range at the enemy and the enemy returned fire unlike targets at the shooting range whom did not fire back. There is no stress like a firefight and thats when your true colors show and the women, definately showed their true colors!

Bring the women home :) that will put an end to the Iraq (soon to be Iran) wars. We can send Browne and Bush instead.

Actually, Co-ed Combat devotes a couple of pages to the mid-air collision that led to the emergency landing of the EP-3 on Hainan island. "Forced down" became "shot down" through inadvertence in the interview.

His argument for the case of women that should not be allowed in combat aside, Mr. Browne has a significant credibility issue that he needs to overcome. He mentions that the EP-3 that went down over the South China sea was shot down. It was not. It was an accident. Mr. Browne needs to get his facts straight before he enages in public discussions that he is not qualified for.