[Michael121]

According to 3 of the soldiers FOX's O'Rielly had on his show last night they were not LOST. They were where they were supposed to be they were just ambushed. These 3 were in another truck and they had gone about 3 miles in retreat before one realized he was even "hit"

They were just on a path that was not covered every inch by friendly forces. It happens. They had no armor so the attackers saw their opportunity.

As for women in combat I am against and for; Against - because it is the whole male protects female argument. That is how we was raised honest. For - if they can handle the physical parts, they can shoot just as well, remember Russia's female snipers one second only to Vasily in confirmed kills. And we men all know this women can be wholly more cruel that men on some levels. It is also proven that women handle G-Forces better than men in fighters. But it still goes back to do you want your mother, daughter, wife, or sister in a line unit? Jessica did what she had been trained to do, it amazes people that a soldier when all hell is breaking loose never really thinks of their training, it somehow very quickly becomes instinct.

if the standards are not lowered they should be allowed, the problem has been that PC allows the standards to be lowered to fill a spot. I seem to remeber an F-14 pilot who was killed. Can't recall her name, but Patsy Schroeder was a big reason this pilot got "in" she failed an emergancy landing 3 times that is an intentional "flame out" where you lose an engine. 2 times for a male and he is history. She never did pass but was pushed thru anyway again PC popped it ugly head in. Her death was a result of a real "flame out" which for a while F-14's were prone to do, that is why they recieved new engines. Her RIO ejected and she never recovered the plane and went into the sea.

A few years ago a male pilot over a city had a flame out in an F-14 there was a witness to it all. The pilot could have ejected, he chose to stay with the plane and it hit 3 houses. It just missed an office building, the guy who watched it said the plane was headed for the office like 20 stories, and it looked like the pilot fought it and it rolled away and nose dived into a suburb.

The point being is that the male pilot had the upper body strength to fight the plane, the female did not. I give her credit because she tried to save the plane. She had no reason and could have ejected into the sea like her RIO. The male pilot did the honorable thing, cause less destruction by self sacrifice. Two different instances but the one difference is the male took it in, the female went in with it.

[semaj]

"It is also proven that women handle G-Forces better than men in fighters."

Excuse me? That is opposite the truth. Women have smaller and more delicate craniums containing less cerebral fluid then men, and begin to black out under high g force quicker than an average male under similar circumstances. Couple that with a women's lack of physcial strength to perform manual tasks under high G and you have a recipe for disaster.

[usmcobra]

Do you know anything about modern flight controls because I do?

There isn't a man alive that can control a Modern fighter aircraft or helicopter that has lost a total lost of flight controls so the whole argument about upper body strength is mute.

The fight controls on modern military aircraft activate control valves for Hydraulic servos or in the case of Fly by wire flight controls electronic sensors that are used to activate those servos electronically.

The first female F-14 pilot suffered from political correctness at it's worst, she was poorly trained and ill equipped mentally for the job given her. In the effort to ensure her success The Navy under pressure from the very top of the chain of command overlooked her performance as a pilot until it took her life. Had she been treated as any other pilot she would have been grounded for her poor skills. It happens all the time to men with similiar abilities.

[PLMerite]

"It is also proven that women handle G-Forces better than men in fighters."

What I remember hearing is that a short thick neck (a predominantly male trait) was better for high-g tolerances.

I'm not challenging you personally to provide a cite because I can't do for mine, but if anyone *can* I'd really appreciate it.

[demosthenes the elder]

in partial answer: I wouldn't want ANY of my kin to have to serve as a line animal.
on the other hand: I wouldn't care to try to nay-say them if they chose to serve as a line animal.
in terms of the male/female argument: If I was a line animal in a firefight, I'd rather have my mother or my sister with me than either of my brothers - those two broads are SCARY