Special operations troops doubt women can do the job

Special operations troops doubt women can do the job

We each serve in our own way.

Having served in the Marines with women in combat, I already know there are plenty of good women who can burn “shitters” and setup machine gun positions and man them just as well as the guys. They did get their training during boot camp.

Now the percentages may be low, which is fair enough. Said another way, if our military lowers requirement standards just because someone is female, then that is both wrong and immoral, too. Then we will lose. But a certain amount of women are just better able to do certain jobs than their male equivalent, and to exclude them just because of their sex is just dumb. Now that just seems smart and fair to me. Why they are built that way by their mom and dad and God, I don’t know, nor really care, as long as they can do the job, or just want to try. And most women Marines I know feel and think that way, too.

Now the friction between the sexes is a given, too. Even the Marines get their fair share of male homosexuals, and more than their fair share of lesbians.  And most boys and girls do like to “get together”. But like so many other things, that can be looked at as a leadership challenge for those who have women who do a good job in their unit, too. Those with wives have often heard the argument (directly or indirectly in their mind) about junior women throwing themselves at the more senior men, and that has some validity, too. Temptation is, well temptation. Nobody said being an officer or senior enlisted leader was going to be an easy job, also; and it is not a fun job in most cases. How they sort out that friction to unit cohesion is up to them. The mission remains the same, win.

Last, why this argument focuses on certain ground combat skills where strength is important always still amazes me. There are plenty of good promotable jobs in skills like air defense that women can excel in, and actually do excel in and get promoted in. Even military skill requirements that require good mental acuity and perseverance can be met by many women who submit to the standards, and make it through their training.

Of course many political leaders want to force the issue of women in the American military, to even the extreme of lowering standards for all jobs, including those that require strength.  Again, I think most serving American military women don’t seek the same thing. So for those that fight this political battle in Washington, DC, I thank you very much. It is a battle of sorts.

The only thing I still wonder about, like I have not heard enough info that I trust, is why so many successful women Marines (both officer and senior enlisted) never start a Family of their own. Now some men are that way, too.

Bottom line, it is always a team effort in order to win, and a smart leader will recognize it and reward it and even put up with it at times. After all, half of all Americans are female, so even our military should get enough qualified women assigned to the proper and best jobs for them in order to defend our Country. The same ideas go for our guys, too.

After all, boys and girls are different, thank goodness.

And last, I once attended my kid’s kindergarten graduation, and each kid had to say what they wanted to be when they grow up. Well, my kid said he wanted to be a Marine, and I swear that I never ever recruited him in any way. So on the way home he was quiet in the back seat of the car, and I reminded him that in order to be a Marine, one had to go school and study real hard just to get to go to boot camp. After a period of time he said, “well you know, I can change my mind”.

He graduates from West Point in May, 2015.

PS The bad news is our daughters will probably be equally draft able in the American future, too.