Re ”Thanks for the Honest Polling About Women, Gays in the Military”
Why do you want to be an infantryman, Seal, Ranger, Recon Marine or Special Forces soldier? Why should they want you?
First, the military is not about what you want but what will allow the country to put the best combat boot forward in ground combat and in dealing with foreign armies and guerrilla forces. We learned early that simply because an individual was an outstanding aviator did not always mean he could lead troops on the ground.
“Why are you here?” Pilots answer too many times, “Well, I need ground time as an infantry officer to get promoted.”
Not a good reason for that male to be assigned to an infantry command – and certainly not a good enough reason to assign women to the combat arms. Time and again it is reiterated by the media and too many times by females in the military that it is unfair to deny them access to infantry combat ground assignments and special forces because this will make them more “upwardly mobile.”
Again, this has nothing to do with the mission or needs of the service but just getting into a better career position.
Many males stayed their entire careers in logistics or maintenance because that was where they were needed, that was where they could best serve the war effort or peacetime readiness. Nobody ever said they “deserved” to switch to the infantry because foot soldiers were getting promoted faster. The U.S. Army would have laughed in their face and said: “You will stay where you belong and are qualified to be.”
Infantry soldiers get promoted faster because those up the line are dying at a higher rate than any other branch.
Regardless of Army standards, it is a fact infantry and special operations troops are held to a higher standard physically than other soldiers. What happens when a five-foot tall female infantry soldier weighs 180 pounds, her belly is bigger than her chest and hanging over her belt? Will she be given a short period consisting of a couple months to meet height and weight standards.
You say “Sure, same rules for all.” Not if she is pregnant. You can't order her to “lose that baby, Sergeant Jones.” Nor should you be able to. Regardless of what the Army says, all soldiers are not the same. The Army knows it. Neither are males and females, but the Army makes accommodation for this in the supporting arms.
Common Rules, Please
The infantry and special operations are different in that regard. There must be the same standards for all, but the Army is now going to have to start grading infantrymen(persons) on a curve because of females? Are you people out of your minds? The standards are set based on the minimum to get the job done in battle. These people are not going to sell shoes. They are going to fight. Every class, trained infantry soldiers applying for special operations training are sent packing because they cannot meet the physical standard. But you want to send females who are not required to meet the basic requirements for the infantry to be rangers and special forces?
This does not only spell the mission being denigrated, it is unfair to male candidates who can do easily what the female candidate is required to do but cannot meet the male standard. The problem in all of this is clear. These standards are dictated by the battlefield based on a wealth of experience and real world knowledge. No general or President can change that. Period.
How has the presence of women already cut the effectiveness of the force? For years, staffers carried the .45 pistol because it was easier to get around their desks and in and out of vehicles with them instead of a rifle.
Confronting Pressure the Wrong Way
It also became a status symbol. Their complaints, based solely on their firing five rounds for familiarization per year, were that it was “too heavy and you can't hit anything with it.” If staffers could not shoot it, it was assumed that small-handed females could not shoot it. The United States Army subsequently abandoned the big Colt, brought to the fore by its ability to sit down on hopped up Moro’s wearing bamboo armor in the Philippines nearly a century before, in favor of the nine millimeter. This decision was made on behalf of girlish male shooters and the girls themselves. The mission to get your enemy off his feet was lost in the din of whining and the weapon that could make the most motivated North Vietnamese sapper do a back-flip back over the wire he was hurdling was cast aside. Only the Special Forces and 1st SFOD-Delta complained because they actually carry the weapon to stop the enemy and put him down in close quarters. The staffers and females wearing the pistol as a status symbol more than a true weapon liked that nine millimeter just fine.
Was the ability to engage the enemy effectively degraded based on personal desires, social issues and, in the end, gender? Did this impact the overall ability to accomplish the mission? Yep!
Will female special operations troops be left behind at headquarters when on their period for more than a backache? You had better leave them behind even if they can overcome the backache if you are on a dive or tracker dogs are present in the enemy areas where special operations troops ply their deadly trade. Flesh-eating fish are drawn to the scent of blood. Tracker dog handlers love to go after a female during her period. Is there actual combat precedent for this? Yes, and here is one among too many. One of the opening shots of the Tet Offensive of 1968 was the blowing up of the 1st Infantry division Officers Club by a team of sappers, including women. How were they caught and killed/captured? One bomb-setting female was on her period. That old male Labrador made a straight line charge directly into the camouflaged bomb crater they were hiding in north of Ben Cat. That one sweet lass cost them their lives.
Easy to verify by merely watching how every male dog around gathers to the smell of blood when a bitch is in heat. They do the same when a human female is having her period.
When the Race Turns Ugly
The Laotian resistance, long in the jungle with only males, decided to bring in six female guerrillas. For 179 days in 1989-90, the race was on. Even when they could not keep up, carry their share of the load, they caused dissension in the ranks by pairing off with only six of the 180 troops the worst was yet to come. The tracker dog teams arrived. No longer did they need to differentiate the odor of your basic
woodcutter from a guerrilla because we had girls, and their job was a piece of smelly cake. Men died needlessly lying in wait for Pathet Lao/Vietnamese units they would have normally evaded because they had to kill the girl-seeking dogs to save the entire unit. This was no report you can debate. I was there. I ate what the Lao ate and bathed without scented soap. But the dogs were not after the white boy because they very clearly smelled the girls.
Upper body strength plays a dominant role in the life of the foot soldier. The difference between males and females is striking. Medical studies show that a trained average male can be expected to bench press 106 percent of his body weight while trained average females can be expected to press 65 percent of their body weight. This difference makes the incorporation of women into the infantry and special operations to be downright life-threatening to their male warrior counterparts.
Have You Thought This Through?
If you cannot pick up my wounded soldiers, I do not want you. That goes for weak males and ‘most all females alike.
The most surprising aspect of this debate is about the much-quoted statements about gays and females bringing some “humanity,” making the battlefield a kinder, gentler place. Anyone believing that never has dealt with a drunk female.
Seventeen percent of all incarcerated females are in jail for violent crimes. “Bloody Brigitte” of the Nazi death camps in Poland should have given pause to those perpetuating this lie long before that English soldier showed up with her dog leash at the prison in Iraq. Maria Mandel was described at her trial for war crimes in Poland against men, women and children as “smart as a whip and mean as a snake.” Women have a long history of violence when placed in the dominant role. But this is ignored as the propaganda rolls on. Why even bring up the Manson women when history already is so clear? Men are predictable in their violence. Far too many times, women are not predictable at all.
Perhaps those talking about women in combat have focused too much on hygiene and lack of amenities in ground combat and not enough on those women who show a penchant for brutality and cruelty against the defenseless. That gal driving her beautiful babies into the water to drown should have been an indicator to someone.
Are you sure you guys really thought about this?
Maj. Smith may be contacted at majorzippo@yahoo.com
