With the recent decision by the Pentagon to allow women to be placed in front line combat units, I have been chewing on what I wanted to write regarding it for weeks now.
First, let me state that I firmly believe that women are just as capable as men of defending their lives in the face of danger. Thank you Samuel Colt, John Browning, and the many other pioneers of modern firearm design for bridging the strength and mass gap through applied science and ingenuity.
Second, let me state that I firmly believe that the idea of placing women in front line combat units will be met with disaster. Disaster in the combat unit integrity, mobility, combat effectiveness, casualty rates, and cohesiveness because women are not as fast or strong as men in nearly every case. Disaster in readiness as women have been proven to break down faster under the stresses of forward deployment than men and require many times more the number of medical evacuations from the battlefield from noncombat injuries and medical conditions. Disaster culturally as the protected status of women will be forced to change to accommodate this politically-motivated maneuver.
Paula Bolyard did a great job digging into this issue. I recommend reading her article Raising Boys Who Grow Up to Be Men Who Go to Combat With Women.
