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You were actually quite nice on me. No apology necessary.

But I guess from my perspective it makes no sense that women should be risking their lives for the country instead of men. Women should also not be pretending to bemen in the macho role of defending the country.

There is obviously a role for women in service to their country. But integrated units (male-females) has meant degraded training and degraded readiness. Less so for the USMC, but many Army units, with 20% girls in uniform, couldn’t best weak reserve units from the 1950s. The only thing that makes them combat worthy is their technology.

Also, not surprisingly, Army and Navy units (presumably not Marines) with high percentages of women tend to end up with a lot of pregnancies when war approaches. This seriously affects readiness when 1/3 of women are allowed to leave the war zone because, in their hearts, they didn’t want to fight so got pregnant instead. Not only do the statistics reveal this, but a friend of mine was CO of a squadron in Rota, Spain, in 1990 when the first Gulf War was imminent. He lost literally all his women squids to pregnancy. Yes, on the surface all looked hunky-dory but everyone — the men, officers, and women — all knew the truth. A cynical military that can’t speak the truth about readiness is one less equipped to fight.

What breaks my heart, though, are the tear-jerking stories of mothers and children being separated in time of war, sometimes while Dad stays home. Yes it makes for a lump in the throat but honestly, what kind of nation have we become when the men stay home and the women fight?

Some very well researched critiques have been done by Elaine Donnelley and Stephanie Gutmann that document such data. It doesn’t get very far, of course, because of political correctness in the military.

None of this is to detract from you daughter’s desires or accomplishments, or those of other women in the service. And, American girls deserve the opportunity that a military career and national service provide, and the pride they deserve for having served their country.

But the statistics show that things will never be equal. And no amount of liberal writing can prove that a woman in a foxhole, with a dozen men, does not change the entire dynamic of war. Or that a woman’s body can handle the stress of air combat in a high-performance aircraft.

Maybe fellows like me would be satisfied by womens’ corps again. I don’t know.

If I made you more angry, forgive me!

I’m with you tom h

“What breaks my heart, though, are the tear-jerking stories of mothers and children being separated in time of war, sometimes while Dad stays home. Yes it makes for a lump in the throat but honestly, what kind of nation have we become when the men stay home and the women fight?”

Is it any wonder why males are ridiculed and laughed at at strong authority figures?

Name a sitcom that doesn’t malign men?

Also, when women prisoners are taken by the enemy, their plight becomes a psychological tool to be used against us.

Recall the recent episode where the British sailors were taken captive by the Iranians. The lone female sailor among the hostages was highlighted over and over, more than the men combined. The Iranians shrewdly placed her front and center in all the videos and interviews done with the hostages. They correctly surmised that the sight of a female in peril would break the spirit of the British and make them more willing to capitulate.