In my Blackhawk unit, we had one female pilot and one female doorgunner. Both did excellent jobs, but that is different than going out on a foot patrol with an M-16. OIF vet.
Just like ship duty, females on helicopters is fine, until the game changes, then having females instead of males, means lower capabilities, for instance when the helicopter crew has to become infantry.
And when I was with the 101st in Gulf War I, we had several females in the HHC.
My experience is otherwise. . .
The HHC commander was a typical useless whiny female. She made one set of field showers totally enclosed so the men couldn’t see them showering, but the male field showers were open on the sides except for a few planks here and there. . .you know, so you can see what is happening around you for defensive purposes while you shower. . .not so for the females.
She complained about the 50-gal $hitter$ we had. . .you know, when you sit down the walls only came up to your shoulders. So, she had several build up to enclose the toilet and made them female only. The male facilities remained open. . you know, so you can see.
A female Second Lieutenant would not go out at night and drive from one side of the base (Dharan, King Fahad) to the other side because, well, it was dark outside and it wasn’t safe for women to be out at dark alone (dad raised her that way, she told me).
We had a female private that never did her job because Sammy Solider would jump in and do it for her because he hoped for a little “special” time with her. And conflicts arose when she would change “boyfriends.”
Those were the women that were in the HHC.
A few days before we jumped into Iraq, S-4 was briefing beans, bullet and water, he was interrupted when the commander asked about “female items” in case we were in Iraq for an extended time. . .so. . .had to kick off a few boxes of beans, bullets and water to accommodate.
Maj Rhonda Cornum abandoned her post in a combat environment, left her regiment without a surgeon, invalidated the concept of combat medics by jumping on a SAR mission and got herself shot down. . .all because she was “bored.” And yet, she is a hero. . .why? Because she was female. If a male doctor did the same thing there would be no way he would be a “hero.”
Oh, and the good doctor DENIED being sexually assaulted. . .why? Because she knew such an assault on a female would have hurt the push for women in combat roles because people would be forced to confront real-world examples of the dangers females face. She was never going to admit she was sexually assaulted until she was publishing her book and the other survivor of the shoot-down threatened to go public and call her denial a lie. He related that event to me, personally.
Like I said. . .my experience is different than yours.