Posted on 01/24/2013 9:41:00 PM PST by Red Steel
With little discussion or fanfare, Defense Secretary Leon Panetta lifted the ban on women in combat that has been in effect for as long as there has been a U.S. military. Feminists and some women serving in the military are applauding the move as a victory for equal rights. They claim that justice requires nothing short of opening all positions to females, regardless of the consequences to combat effectiveness, unit cohesion, or military readiness, factors whose importance they minimize in any event.
What is perhaps most striking about Secretary Panetta's action is that it reverses the combat exclusion policy that was last reviewed thoroughly during the Clinton years -- and which even Democrats embraced.
There is little question that there are a number of women who might make good combat soldiers, provided they could pass the same physical, endurance and strength tests with the same acceptable scores that current combat troops achieve. But whether a handful of exceptional women might succeed -- or opt into infantry units for that matter -- is not the relevant standard. The question is, would women's presence in combat situations enhance military effectiveness or compromise it?
One study of a brigade operating in Iraq in 2007 showed that women sustained more casualties than their male counterparts and suffered more illnesses. Female soldiers experienced three times the evacuation rate of male soldiers. And of those evacuated for medical reasons, a shocking 74 percent were for pregnancy-related issues.
The high rate of pregnancy among female soldiers is one of the best-kept secrets in the military. The various military branches are loath to publicize the figures regarding female soldiers becoming pregnant while deployed. However a study released just this week shows that military women have a higher rate of unplanned pregnancy than the comparable general population -- some 50 percent higher. And the unplanned pregnancy rate for deployed women was as high as it was for those serving stateside.
And, of course, many of the pregnancies among deployed females involved sexual activity between soldiers in the field -- which brings up one of the chief objections to women serving in combat roles.
Feminist ideologues have pooh-poohed the notion that sexual attraction is a major problem when you put young men and women together in close quarters for long periods of time under the stress of combat situations. They act as if both males and females will resist temptation and if they don't that there will be no significant consequences anyway.
Funny, those same feminists seem to believe quite differently when it comes to putting other young men and women together under similar, if less life-threatening situations. Most college campuses these days take it for granted that students will have sex during their years on campus. Many schools provide condoms in the dorms, access to other forms of birth control, lectures on sexual activity (even classes for college credit whose subject matter is the study of sexual activity in various forms). It's just assumed, you put young people together and sex naturally follows.
But the consequences for love affairs gone wrong, rivalry among suitors or even the distraction that sex can provide from other duties are very different in a college setting than they are in the middle of battle.
Unit cohesion is a major factor in the success of any military objective. Inject sexual rivalry and tension into a small group of soldiers whose decisions mean life and death, and you are likely to get more of the latter.
Yes, men and women can bond in non-sexual ways, but sexual attraction is one of the most powerful human emotions. To ignore it and pretend that it can be overcome without great effort is foolhardy. And jealousy is nearly as powerful an emotion as love. What happens when a couple in a unit breaks up but must still work side-by-side, facing an enemy whose sole purpose is to kill them? And when pregnancies occur -- as they inevitably will -- what happens then? Do you allow a physically fit pregnant solider to risk not only her life but that of her unborn child, too?
It is unfortunate that the Obama administration acted unilaterally without putting this issue up for open and honest debate before Congress and the public. By acting unilaterally -- no accident I'm sure, right after the president's re-inauguration -- the administration has done a disservice to the American people and the finest military in the world.
Where was I? Staying warm!
I was in a heated shop. But that isn’t really my point.
You were where you needed to be.
For that, you deserve The Medal of HONOR.
The support brigade stationed the same place I was in Iraq was sending home and average of seven per month pregnant. That won’t happen in combat arms though.
We’ll place males and females, at the peak of their biological drive years, in close proximity under stress, but nothing will happen because we will tell them not to.
I’ve spent 26 years in combat arms, but no one’s interested in experience or logic today.
I couldn’t imagine the military even considering accommodating those conditions, but don’t worry: This country will never have a draft again. Nobody would show up.
Think of the motivational speech an enemy commander can give his troops knowing we fights with women soldiers. Not to mention the extra benefits the enemy gets by winning a battle. To the victory goes the spoils.
No, not in this wicked generation.
But that is precisely the point to which we as a Christian missionary family are determined to testify.
All of those points are very important to the practice our Biblicist Christian faith. They are sincere, and can be seen in our family life for the past 37 years my wife and I have been married. We did not "create" religious practice to avoid anything.
When I was in the Air Force, I had to attend an NCO Leadership School. The school commandant arranged for the graduation ceremony to be in a setting where alcohol was being consumed even as the ceremony took place.
I told the commandant that I do not attend any function where people are consuming alcohol. He threatened not to graduate me. I told him, "That will be fine, Sir." I did not attend.
My squadron commander, however, went to the base commander, and I was awarded my diploma anyway. My CO handed it to me in his office, and told me that the base commander had been very concerned about the level of alcohol consumption on the base, and asked my CO to thank me for taking the stand I took.
It is called "diversity matrix" in the Pentagon ; that is actually the expression used by military commanders today to bring sodomites and females to the maximum numbers possible in direct ground combat units---bringing their numbers to "critical mass" in those units.
"Diversity matrix" now trumps history, logic, and veteran combat experience in the U.S. Armed Forces.
“Diversity Matrix”. Yes, I can see the commander’s briefing chart now...and integrated into the monthly Unit Status Report as a measure of readiness. Another social engineering block to check on the NCOER/OER.
It sounds as though you were in the AF during the time of the draft; as such I see your point about the alcohol. Nowadays with a volunteer military I’d imagine they have policies for it where one can choose not to join if those policies are an issue.
I’ve personally never understood the “dry” position taken by some Christians; Jesus worked his first miracle in public changing water to wine so people could whoop it up at a wedding. Some Christians have told me that was grape juice, but I dismiss that as absurd. There are many reasons to oppose alcohol consumption privately and publicly, but in Christianity there is no theological basis for prohibition/abstinence. In excess there is (damaging the temple of the Holy Spirit), but otherwise I just don’t see it.
“Well, I guess there IS an upside to this, eh?”
Absolutely!!!
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