Combat and Women

Recently the ban on women being allowed to serve in combat specific units was raised. This poses some serious questions that must be addressed. Are women capable of doing the SAME things as men, in just a equal level of satisfaction? What is the next step? Is it really a matter of can they or SHOULD they?

I am a Marine veteran. I have lived the life and know first hand the rigors of training. All though I never deployed to a combat zone (Iraq or Afghanistan) Marines train as if it were real - every time - all the time! I served on deployments to South Korea, Japan as well as local training deployments within the Continental U.S., in which I was expected to uphold and be just as tough as my male counterparts. One exercise in particular I was the ONLY female. Sleeping in your own tent may seem ideal, but it wasn't. It was December in 29 Palms - it was COLD and I had no other bodies in this massive tent to help generate more heat! It was tough! Then there was another training exercise in which I was placed at a distant site - 50 miles from the main camp - again the ONLY female. I was lucky this time and was allowed a small area inside the tent with the other Marines, but this created more problems - I had absolutely NO Privacy! I did the best I could and created a wall with some Pancho liners and 550 cord (small but durable rope).

Here are my reasons why women should NOT be placed in, permanently, in combat units.

Point 1: Physical differences

Carrying over 100 lbs of gear on my 140 lbs frame was no picnic. At the end of a forced march (between 10 - 20 miles) my hips, knees and ankles were extremely sore. I could barely walk the next day or even the day after. Three days of recovery is not ideal! I knew several women with fractured hips because of the rigors of the training. Many of them refusing to seek medical attention for fear of being labeled as weak. Now put these females in a combat zone with their 100 lbs packs, a male counterpart gets shot and goes down. The person who can get to him quickest and safest is the female. She must now pull a 180 lbs man loaded with his gear (weighing over 100 lbs) to safety - all while carrying her pack too. Is it possible - maybe. That really depends on the woman. Pulling almost 300 lbs is no easy task. I can't imagine doing a fireman's carry with and additional 300lbs.

Our Physical Fitness Test (PFT) differes only slightly. It consists of a 3 mile run (timed) and 2 minutes to crank out as many crunches as possible - while the men were to do at least 3 dead-hang pull-ups (20 for max score), we females were required to do a flexed arm hang for at least 35 seconds - to achieve a max score you must hang for 70 seconds. The combination of all three parts are scored together for a possible 300 points. Most male Marines I knew could barely do the 35 seconds, while most (if not all) of my female counterparts could barely do 2 pull-ups. I could barely do 1 and that was assisted! My body physically could NOT do them! I hated myself for it! This style of PFT was changed just recently, now women are required to do the dead-hang pull-up as well. I know that I would have failed my PFT if I were still in the service. A good PFT score is imperative for promotion and a bad or fail score would be detrimental to a career. Failing to complete ANY part of the test and it results in a total PFT fail. These are hard to make up. Without going into specifics about promotions policies, as a Non-Commissioned Officer (NCO) a failed PFT could be career ending.

Let's face it - women are not built the same as men. Yes, some women can perform at a higher standard than others. I recently read an article written by a current female Marine. It was her opinion that while yes a certain woman can beat a specific male but even the best woman cannot beat the best male when it comes to physicality. And she's right. We aren't suppose to beat them.

Point 2: Nature

First I would like to address a factor that everyone seems to forget when talking about women in combat. It is instinctual for men to help women in trouble. Number one goal of any military operation is MISSION ACCOMPLISHMENT! It will be almost impossible for women not to get into some sort of situation in which they are hurt or pinned down under fire. It happens to the men, we cannot assume that it won't happen to the women. It is an inherent trait in men to protect and secure women. What will happen when that instinct kicks in while under fire. Will he sacrifice mission accomplishment, risking his own life to save her? These are questions that I don't have the answer for. I just know that men are designed to protect women.

Let's move onto the nature of women. It just so happens that most women have a menstrual cycles on average of every 28 days. Now if this is something that some guys get grossed out by, but let's face it - it happens and is perfectly normal that it does. When it doesn't happen there are problems! What on earth is a woman to do during this time in the field. Well from experience it isn't fun, nor is it always easy. At least when I deployed there were facilities that I could use, this isn't always the case in combat. You have to go where you can. Disposal of such items would be significantly more complicated. Sure women can stop their cycle with birth control pills, and are even advised to do so. This can cause more problems with women than I am able to go into here. It can be toxic to them. Yet more and more women opt to forgo personal health and safety for career.

Personal hygiene is imperative for anyone but it becomes increasingly difficult in combat situations. When I was on my training exercises stationed 50 miles from main base I relied on baby wipes. Needless to say I wasn't as clean as I would have liked to be or needed to be for that matter. If women are to be in combat units that would mean additional facilities would need to be provided - more tax payers dollars that - to allow for the hygiene that is necessary! Hygiene is even more paramount when it's a woman's time for her cycle.

Men and women attraction is also a force of nature that is bound to be a key factor in this situation. You cannot deny the simplest of attractions between the opposite sex. It is highly discouraged and even prohibited to engage in sexual relations while deployed, yet more often than not, that doesn't happen. I have seen several women returned states side because they got pregnant. This is not only a waste of tax payers money but a detriment to that person's career. I guarantee that she received low promotion scores because of HER actions, but she didn't get pregnant alone. More often than not the male counterpart will "get away" with it!

Point 3: Unit Cohesion

Unit cohesion is the backbone of every unit in all branches of the service. Developing a sense of camaraderie and trust is paramount to mission success and troop welfare. Each member of the unit must be trusted by the others to fulfill their end of the mission, complete their tasks. As a female Marine - NOT in a combat unit - I had to fight tooth and nail to even be viewed in the same playing field as my male counterparts - and I was a simple generator mechanic. The male ego tends to get in the way of things. It is harder for them to trust women to do what is typically a male role. That's not saying women aren't capable of being mechanics or even as good of a shot as men, we can, but to make the men believe that and have faith in our abilities only impedes unit cohesion.

Sexual assaults are extremely prevalent in the military. In one unit I was attached to there were 3 incidents of assaults. That is only one unit and I was only with that unit for a little over a year! I do not know the circumstances behind those cases but the fact that they happened is the proof positive. How is it possible to trust someone who has assaulted you in such a way? You can't and won't trust them again. On the flip side there are those women that are extremely vindictive and report an assault when none occurred. Yes, this does happen! It's an unfortunate reality of what happens when women get ticked off at a man! I have seen first hand a woman falsely accuse a male Marine and he is sitting in a jail and will have to register as a sex offender for the rest of his life. It happens, it is NOT right, but it happens.

As you can see I'm not a strong proponent of women in combat zones. I do believe that women can do MOST things that men can but we are physiologically different in many ways that limit us. Several of my female friends from the Marines were attached to combat units for specific purposes and their experiences have taught me that we don't belong there on a permanent basis. Females are needed in the areas of person searches. The Arabic women will not and cannot talk to men other than family or their husbands. This is where a woman must be used - temporarily. I see no need for her to be permanently attached to the unit.

Lastly I propose the following questions. First if women are now allowed to serve in combat units what's stopping a national draft, like the one for the males? Second, if a woman enters the military without choosing a job specialty, or open contract, what's stopping the military from assigning them to an infantry unit to fill a need? We cannot say "that will never happen" because a few short years ago we were saying it wouldn't happen about women being in combat units.

There are many factors that need to be considered when it comes to issues such as this. We as a society need to stop asking if we can and start asking if we should!