In small elite units, like the SEALs or Combat Controllers, there is not a woman in the world that can pass the course. They simply don’t have the muscle mass and strength.
Thing is, you open these units to women and THEY will pass, and I can’t recall a single MOS where the introduction of females was not accompanied by a reduction of standards.
Read Brian Michell’s “Weak Link” for countless examples of lowering standards.
If you can’t find the book, just read up on the females that “graduated” Ranger School. Lots of compromise to accommodate them (strength and sharing of hard tasks), and dd that their training records went missing when requested by Congress.
Heck, back when females were first introduced into USAF pilot training (and were restricted to flying heavies), the usual class had 3 to 5 females in a class. Usually one, MAYBE two would graduate and that was because the “strongest” females traineee would be identified and they would staple a Samsonite handle on her back and she would received extra rides and a soft look during check-rides. When I asked a check pilot how can he give her a pass when a guy would have failed in the chocks, he said he was told to ensure she passed and besides, she was going to a crew aircraft.
Training standards were compromised, and when they were introduced into fighter, recall Hultgren of the Navy, also, when I was flying in an F-15E squadron and we all collected in the base theater where we were told Jennie Flynn was to be the first female to fly fighters in the USAF and she WILL pass MR check, she WILL upgrade to two-ship and 4-ship flight lead on time, and so forth. Lowering of standards, of course because we were told to pass her regardless of her meager skills. We had all heard from the RTU instructors that said she cried during de-briefs, CRIED. Post flight debriefs would lat longer than the flight and they would rip you a new one. . .and she cried. Imagine if a guy cried during a de-brief, that guy would have been washed out immediately.
For the Army, the 12 mile ruck march at the end of Air Assault training, women only had to carry a ruck that was at least 10-lbs less than what the men carried.
So forth and so on.
“End of military?” Not really, but compromised standards, definitely.
Back in the 1980s I was assigned as an NCOIC in charge of a night navigation course when I was a military police platoon sergeant in the Illinois National Guard. It was a relatively simple dead reckoning course consisting of following a series of azimuths for a specified distance, retrieving a specified object at each destination, and returning with them. The battalion commander had ordered every field grade officer to complete the course. One newly commissioned female second LT., was a military police platoon leader in our 19-77 TOE military police Company. Amongst this unit’s duties was the task of rear area security in the light infantry role. We were expected to tackle SPETSNATZ airborne and airmobile units attacking rear area communications and Headquarters units. She refused to take the course. When I asked her why she she did not want to take the course, she told me that she was afraid of the dark. I repeatedly asked her to complete the course and she repeatedly refused to do so. I marked her sheet as a failure to complete the course.
Later the officer in charge of the course called me aside and requested that I give the errant butter bar a passing grade. I refused to do so, citing the fact that this woman was expected to be able to lead her troops into combat, EVEN AT NIGHT. The officer blew his stack and threatened me with disciplinary action for refusing to obey his order. I told him that if he wanted to pass her, that was up to him but I would not do so. He subsequently calmed down and apologized to me explaining that he was under terrific pressure to pass all of the newly acquired women through all the training whether they qualified or not. I sympathized with him because he was actually a pretty good officer, and I was already aware of the background political machinations behind the integration of women into our outfit. I understand that the second lieutenant in question was assigned another administrative position within the battalion
Believe me I understand what you’re talking about.
MG Miller was lying through his teeth when he said there were no special favors for women at Ranger School. One, I have a file on my comp that shows how 50 women at Carson trained for Benning for 4 months before even pre Ranger school. Only one was sent 1LT Haver who failed land nav repeatedly at Carson but was passed at Benning. It was a con from the beginning. Congressman Russell has still not received the green cards from Ranger School which are a transcript of the girls performance there. The army has stalled for two years after shredding most of their records. Total set up.