women in the military

This is one of those things I used to have long conversations about with one of my male buddies who is an 11B and a few of my female friends who were in various other MOS'es. If it was an all female unit, then I personally would have less of an issue with it. However, if it wasn't, there would most likely be males putting themselves in harm's way to assist a female because some of them like to be chivalrous like that and things like that would not fly in a combat situation. Of course, there's the issue of hygiene as well. Missions can run for long lengths of time and more often than not for my 11B buddy, this meant no showers quite obviously and not much time for personal hygiene care. I personally have not ran into a female who could go more than a month without a shower and of course, there's the matter of that time of the month to be taken into account as well which could make for a rather nasty time. Asides from all of that, I do think females should be allowed into the military and honestly medics often have it the worst when it comes to combat situations from what I've heard since a lot of what they see can effect them--and the 90lbs. ruck sack doesn't help matters in my opinion, though I understand it's necessary. As it stands, the closest a female can get to a combat MOS at least in the Army is as an MP. So if it was an all female unit, then yes, females in the infantry would be fine though my vote would be for a more intense BCT for them due to the fact that the role would be more strenuous. Yes, there are jobs that are usually better off left to the males as much as I hate to say it. And yes, females have a place in the military.

I'm going to be different here and say..."no". I don't think women should be in the infantry and here's why: safety. When that one soldier was captured as a POW during this Gulf War, the media was all over that news and the soldiers did everything they could to get her back. It's not that too much time is spent on her, it's just something that could be avoided. With the fighting going on, the soldiers do not need to have a female's life on their hands to worry about. Macho or not, they will do more to protect her and might slip and mess up...and end up getting themselves or someone else shot or killed. Again, the media...there are many other POWs and MIAs that aren't in the news...all they are are numbers and statisics. I think the women should be behind the lines where it's not only safe for them, but for the rest of the soldiers around her. *Pleiades