Whom the gods would destroy, they first make mad.
In particular, about halfway down is her seminal piece: Women in Combat: The Question of Standards, by Jude Eden. I cannot recommend this page highly enough, she served in the USMC in the Middle East, honorably, in non-combat roles, and she knows of what she speaks.
Here, from that article, is the passage that says it all: "...Meanwhile, the argument to maintain the combat exclusion makes itself easily in every aspect. Including women in combat units is bad for combat, bad for women, bad for men, bad for children, and bad for the country.
The argument for the combat exclusion is provable all the time, every time.
Political correctness has no chance against Nature. Her victories are staring us in the face at all times.
The men just keep being able to lift more and to run faster, harder, and longer with more weight on their backs while suffering fewer injuries. They just keep never getting pregnant.
The combat units have needs that women cannot meet. Women have needs that life in a combat unit cannot accommodate without accepting significant disadvantage and much greater expense. Where 99 percent of men can do the heavy-lifting tasks typical of gunners, but 85 percent of women cannot, there is no gap women need to fill..."
And it isn't just the infantry, either. I watched a video of USMC artillery, and they were humping 155mm artillery shells off the back of a truck. They were pulling them off at chest height, duckwalking them over 15 yards, putting them on the ground, then going back and getting another one.
I think they are somewhere around 100 lbs per round.
Sure, there are women who could do that. But the average woman could not.
When in a combat situation, I can certainly imagine times where that nice loader and transporter thingie is not going to be available, or you are simply in a situation where you gotta move the rounds fast using a bunch of people.
To boil it down, my objection to women in combat is twofold: First, simple differences in physical capability and function between men and women, and Secondly, the effect on morale and logistics associated with military activity due to a mixing of the sexes in that environment.
The biggest problems arise during the long periods of boredom when nothing is going on. Women mixed in among 20 yr old males is a recipe for disaster.
THE #1 problem with women in MIL is pregnancy.
Legitimate or not, it is a major hiccup in service. Very disruptive.
Everything else is secondary.
I work in an office with a bunch of women. High School Drama almost every day. Gossip and cattiness galore. Heavy lifting done by me and a few other guys.
In 1990-1993, the Armor unit I was in was all guys. we got the job done in austere circumstances.
Whom the gods would destroy, they first make mad.
Not when the Romney, Sununu and Burr boys are not man enough to serve and fight. I see too many JAG officers among the sons of the political and too few guys like Congressman Hunter and Senator Cotton.