If all our soldiers fought as individual soldiers, I would agree with you. However, our armed forced don't fight as individuals; they fight as a team. The survival and success of a unit, squad, platoon, brigade, or regiment may depend on whether a few soldiers...or one single soldier...can get the job done effectively. In infantry, spec ops, recon, armor, and so on, this effectiveness requires having a big, strong, ugly, testosterone-laced grunt in place to do the work.
Gender equality is for arenas where the genders are, in fact, equal. Combat isn't one of them.
Fighting for your freedom is.