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Thanks in all respects for your comments and you sons' service. This sin't the first itme I've encountered such ridiculous comments on this legitimate issue. Often I ask the most disrespectful how many son's-nephews-grandsons of military age they have, and find out the have little to say afterwards. I have had soldiers of the 1-24 in Mosul tell me they admire my girl, and their opinion holds far more weight than any critic I could ever encounter here.

When my unit of 300 people deployed to Iraq out of 30 females 8 of them decided to get pregnant with in 3 to 4 months prior to our deployment, it makes me furious that they can just skip out on the risks that all the rest of us assume on this deployment and when we return they will be more eligible for promotion then me simply because they are female.

Sir,

Let me begin with some qualifiers in order to avoid potentially emotional retorts to my point: I am retired military, my sister is retired military, my son and my nephew are both currently serving on active duty. I have earned campaign ribbons from two different combat theaters and served as a support unit commander in one of those combat theaters (Additionally, without being too specific for security reasons, one of those theaters was very hot and sandy).

Now to my main point: Based upon my personal experience, women have absolutely no place in a combat unit or combat support unit that is potentially subject to enemy action.

Let me emphasize that my comments are not based upon the lack of desire for success, mental ability or particular job competence on the part of any female. Rather, my comments are based purely upon practicality and human nature.

The first consideration is obvious but, apparently, often over looked. Practically any land combat scenario (except, perhaps, a missile silo environment) is subject to degeneration into a physical confrontation between combatants (remember, even pilots get shot down and potentially have to face physical combat). Consequently, in the interest of victory, if no other interests, the relative physical capabilities of potential combatants must be considered. On average, females are not as large, as strong or have as much endurance as males. Therefore, on any given physical confrontation between equally trained and motivated combatants, the contest will statistically belong to the combatant who is larger, stronger and most able to tolerate endurance stress, i.e., the male. No amount of politically correct balderdash is going to change that fact.

The second consideration is unit morale and cohesion. As the support unit I commanded had females assigned, I saw the impacts of females on these organizational issues directly. Furthermore, none of these impacts were positive. I was forced to discipline male enlisted subordinates for fighting among themselves for “rights” to approach females (even though the females concerned had ever shown any interest in the situation). I had to send some (both male and female) out of the theater under disciplinary sanction for sexual conduct issues. There were serious impacts on my unit’s relations with allied units on the same base because of females assigned to my unit not observing standing advice about off-duty dress and locations. These and similar events occurred in spite of my published command policies and service polices not withstanding as well.

While there have always been exceptions to the “males only” rule in combat, e.g., Joan of Arc, Molly Pitcher, etc., the generality stands that combat, especially success in combat, is a male dominated arena. While your daughter’s performance along with a number of other females in the current combat environment is laudable, the generality continues to stand because of human characteristics. Only fools think that success achieved while ignoring basic human nature.

I have included some references for you below just bolster that my comments are not purely personal bias.

Of the three critical components of endurance performance, the only one that is clearly and consistently depressed in females is the maximal oxygen consumption. Even after accounting for differences in bodyweight and body fat percentage, a gap of roughly 10- 15% remains.

Maud and Schultz compared 52 men and 50 women, all about 21 years old using a maximal power test on a bicycle ergometer. Peak power was about 60% lower for the females when comparing absolute values.

" Normally, women have less strength than men due to their body structure. The differences in strength are more pronounced for the upper extremities than for the lower extremities. Women’s strength measurements for their upper extremities ranged from 35% to 79% of men’s upper body strength (Laubach, 1976). The strength in the lower extremities of women was 37% to 70% of men’s.

In centrifuge training, necessary for all fighter pilots, at Holloman AFB, NM, women have performed just as well, if not better than men (Hover, 1999). However, experience has shown that women have more trouble than men with acceleration tolerance in the actual tactical arena – i.e., having to turn the head, fly, and pull G’s at the same time.

The biggest medical concern that female aviators face is pregnancy. Areas of concern deal with the effects on the fetus and the performance ability of the pregnant pilot. The possibility of damage to the fetus during flying operations is the largest concern in allowing females unrestricted access to all military flying missions (Lyons, 1992). Radiation exposure is always a risk when flying (for males and females alike), especially at high altitudes. Radiation can cause congenital malformation and mental retardation in the fetus at very early stages in pregnancy. Heat might also be a problem for pregnant aviators. However, body temperatures must reach 102o F before damage will occur to the fetus.

Research has shown that pregnant women have a reduced G tolerance, due to the stresses placed on their bodies during pregnancy. Weight gain is also an effect of pregnancy which can hinder a pilot. Some females may also experience psychiatric problems that can occur during pregnancy which would obviously affect a female’s ability to fly during this time. Thus, there have been some restrictions placed on women flying certain types of missions. First, female pilots must be on birth control when not specifically trying to have children. Also, women may not fly during the first 13 weeks of pregnancy or during the last 16 weeks. Women may fly, if they feel comfortable and safe, between the 13th and 24th week of pregnancy (Schwietz, 1999). Female pilots must follow certain restrictions if flying while pregnant, but pregnancy is not disabling to a flying career for the entire 9 month period.

Another health topic of concern is the menstrual cycle of females. It is questionable whether or not the cycle is interrupted by, or that irregularities are caused by flying. According to Schwietz (1999), there is no medical research that suggests the menstrual cycle is affected by jet lag or other flying related experiences. Conversely, females must be aware that they might experience effects from their menstrual cycle that could disrupt a flying schedule. For example, over- exhaustion (physical and mental), different eating habits, sore muscles, and headaches. However, these effects are not a problem all women face. Effects of the menstrual cycle depend upon the individual.