...and it will never be a problem, unless of course we get into another Tet or Pusan or Bastonge. Then unit cohesion and effectiveness will be important and men will die when it is not.
I only saw that problem one time – on the Army’s MV Sutton (nicknamed “slutten”) in 1977 when I was on a training cruise. Women had only recently been integrated into the Army’s navy and some skippers didn’t know how to handle it.
When I became a skipper I never saw the problem. Men and women were complete equals, and any that couldn’t hack it were gone. My crews always had a brother/sister relationship. The men wouldn’t even think of dating another crewmember – and sex was definitely out. It wasn’t that I was unaware, we had tight knit crews of about a dozen people. The LCUs only had one berthing compartment and one head.
Maybe that was one of the reasons there was never a problem. With a small close crew everyone knew everyone else’s business.