Women in combat:

This is a very delicate situation that I think should be left up to the individual and should not be mandatory.

There are 1000’s of women that join the military for their own personal reasons. Some to get away from home or everyday routines, some being the incentives the military offers for education, traveling around the world may appeal to some of the ladies and then we have the more physical type that do want to go into combat to help defend their country.

Let’s face it. Being in combat is not a walk in the park for any gender and is very physically demanding; to the point that there are some men that are not capable of filling the combat role.

There are different opinions as to how much a fully loaded combat pack/gear weighs. The spread is between 70 to 130 pounds, depending on what unit or mission the solider is undertaking. Some of these ladies don’t even weigh 130 pound themselves.

I think it should be optional for the ladies to be on the front lines. There are hundreds of positions they can fill that are not combat related and still feel goods that they served their country.

It would be foolish to say that ever hand doesn’t count in combat because it does. On the flip side of the issue, it may be more detrimental and a hindrance to the unit/squad to have someone on their team that is an anchor and needs special attention.

First consideration should be the ladies decision if she wants to go into combat and then she should be evaluated by a competent person to make sure that she is qualified for her role. It is dangerous enough out there that a combat solider shouldn’t have to pull his little sister around with him to make sure she doesn’t get hurt.

QUOTE:

SAN DIEGO (AP) — The commandant of the Marine Corps said the infantry side of the most male of all military branches is skeptical about how women will perform in their units, and some positions may end up closed again if too few females meet the physically demanding standards of combat.

Semper Fi General