Oh man. I really shouldnt even write this but here goes...
Retired Army here. Combat Arms. Infantry.
Combat Arms involve more than just the Infantry. You have Tankers and Artillery that also fall within this realm. However, all 3 of the arms of ground combatants are in the dirt, more or less, the same in-theatre.
Women should not be allowed in Combat Arms IMHO for the following reasons (and none of them are because of being raped by their foxhole buddy...)
1. Physical ability. The female endurance in a field enviornment is hindered by muscle mass that are not a concern for a typical male. It is quite common in a field training excercise or combat in theatre to carry a ruck sack with a full combat load. A combat load can be easily in excess of 100lbs depending on ones particular job. Add to that 100lb rucksack the weight of the weapon that person carries. A gunner for an M-60 machine-gun is responsible for carrying the gun itself (23 lbs) and a belt of ammo (8 lbs.) That will be 31 lbs of added weight to the already 100+ lbs of rucksack. Now, she would be responsible for carrying 131 lbs on her back and shoulders for the duration of her movement while keeping pace with the rest of here Platoon, Squad, Team, whatever. If she is a member of an Airborne unit, add 40 lbs of weight for the parachute, standing in the door to jump from 10 minutes to 30 minutes, if the pilot needs to make another pass on the drop zone. So that is 171 lbs of weight which practically doubles the typical female body weight. Btw, there are much heavier weapon systems carried by the typical combat arms soldier. Lets not even get into Mortar Systems
2. Sanitary needs. Argue it all you want, the female soldier has sanitary needs beyond a male. Cleanliness of ones-self is critical in combat enviornments for the longevity of the soldier. It is not uncommon in the field or combat to miss your combat trans (resupply convoys.) A female not being able to keep her body even somewhat clean can suffer infection or medical condition that cannot be dealt with by the attached combat medic. This would require a medivac procedure to take this soldier to the rear and that ability is not always available at the time its needed. So you have now amputated yourself as a unit because it will take 3 other soldiers to make up for the one soldier that is now combat ineffective...
1 to take her crew served weapon...
1 to carry her personal equipment...
1 to carry her by litter of Firemans Carry to the rally point.
3. Special Operations. The benefit of Combat Arms is the ability to join Special Operations Teams. The very nature of a D.O.D. (Department of Defence) team is to be placed in a hostile enviornment with little to zero support from the rear in your mission. Be in the field on an operation for 6 months taking from the enviornment you are placed in. These teams operate in a squad sized element (13 man team) to individual or 2 man teams. You could not possibly have females as members of Combat Arms and not give them the opportunity to strive for that Ranger or Special Forces tab!
4. Sexual Assault. Alright, Lets talk about it. But not from the friendly soldier. Lets talk about the enemy. Lets say that the female Ranger is captured by the enemy. The VERY real scenario of rape as a means of extracting information from the soldier is not a made-up means of argumnent. If one Army is fighting another, one could expect a certain amount of compliance to the Geneva Convention. However, the current battles we fight and will continue to fight in the future are not against a modern Army. They are against bands of fighters (Al Quada, Taliban) who do not follow the doctrine of the Geneva Convention. The female soldier in general, let alone a combat arms soldier, are at risk in this way. Now, put the female in direct harms way as a member of a Combat Arms unit and you have amplified, astronomically, the direct threat to the female combatant. Imagine her on guard duty, snatched, interrogated, raped, and THEN killed and placed in an area for that unit to find the body. Now demoralization will set in to that element (unit.)
There are more issues than this that I could write about. However, it is incredibly close to work time and I have to get ready. I will end it by saying these closing things....
I have been to several Professional Development Schools in the military and the examples that I have written here are part of the standard military doctine taught to senior NCOs (Non-Commissioned Officers) at those schools.
The intelligence of the female to plan and execute the battle utilizing Combat Arms has never nor will ever be the argument. It is the physical limitation of the soldier that is the debate.
I have certainly met and served with ladies that would be termed the "exception to the rule." However, when changing doctrine for Combat Arms, the change will be made for the masses, not the individual. Until the day that the female is recruited on the reccomendaion of her Football Coach, no ladies in Combat Arms will continue to be standard doctrine in the US Military.
Just the opinion of one who served. Be gentle
ReDhAwK
82nd Airborne
Berline Brigade
US Army Infantry School Instructor
3rd Ranger Battalion
2ID
3ID (Mechanized)
