What do you think about women in military?
94597
A woman can fire a gun or a rocket just as well as a guy.  Some studies show that a womans body can take the stress of high g force flying better then men.\n\nMy only issue is one of fairness.  If women are going to be part of the military the should also be in combat and have the exact same requirements as men.  No more gender-norming of physical requirements.  The current system alows a woman to be promoted without combat experience and I do not see how that helps the military.
619588
NO!...Go ahead  I'll take the heat..call me a chauvanist if you choose.  I was in the Marine Corps in combat...I just would never want to see a woman there.  I can't justify it.  I have a daughter in the Air Force (medic) and I'm very proud of her...but infantry...absolutely not.\nThere is only one really practical reason I can offer for not allowing women in the combat mos's.  While I know that women can demonstrate significant levels of physical fitness I don't believe they have the upper body strength and size to engage in combat against men.  I believe that for them to train side by side with men would cause standards of training for men to be lowered.  Only those who have trained for infantry can appreciate this.
671246
Women have MANY, MANY strengths.\n\nHowever, their weaknesses are critical and legendary.\n\n\n1)  Women want to be like men too much. They feel insecure when they appear to be "weak" and then over-compensate when they feel powerful. They want what men want....instead of re-inventing the world of business and culture to make it truly better.\n\n2)  They enslave themselves in debt, bad choices and bad relationships so that they strangle their ability to be self-sufficient at a younger age.\n\n3)  They coerce their daughters into being the same helpless victims that they, themselves, have become. They do not lead by example. They whine and cry......the daughters have to recreate the "revolution" every new generation.\n\n\nWomen are not ready for equal rights until they accept the responsibility to enter the draft in wartime. Female politicians act so much like their male counterparts it makes me sick. Women sacrifice the very family they say they NEED/want so they can work all day for money.....just like their "missing" fathers did when they were growing up.\n\n\nI trust women to fix this screwed-up world.....but I see pathetic leadership and an agenda that is so PC or gay/feminist it makes me shudder.\n\nWhere has NOW been, lately?????\n\nThey're scared as crap to be asked about women being able to vote in Afghanistan and Iraq. They're scared as crap to be asked about the logical "next step" in the abortion rights arena......India and China aborting 95% of their female babies......using cheap ultra-sound technology to target fetuses with no penis. They are afraid to comment on the women in the draft issue during a war on terror. They haven't stepped up on Fox News to debate young girls' rights to drink, gamble and do drugs in Aruba for high school graduation.\n\n\nCome on girls !!!!!!!!\n\n\nPlease help me out here. The men have screwed around and messed things up long enough. You can do a better job than your bra-burning predecessors did in the 60's. You CAN learn by their mistakes.\n\nChange the world. You have the strength and internal compass to do it.
363089
Women should be drafted.  As much as it would be a drag for my daughter to be drafted, if I expect her to have equal rights and opportunities everywhere, then this should be no exception.\n\nIdeally, there should be NO draft at all, but I worry that an all-volunteer force won't be enough for another four years of a republican president.
1035292
Acutally the military is better for many women than civilian life. The training and advancement oppertunities are the best they have ever been for females. There are restrictions on serving in Special Forces, Submarines, and most ground Combat units. But they are females on most ships, flying planes, and holding command ranks through out the world. How many Fortune 500 firms can say that???
55592
Honestly, you are right.  The number of concessions and exceptions the military has had (and continues to have ) tomake just so females can serve is counterproductive and detrimental to the mission.  I am all for equal rights, but if you can not do the job, you should go elsewhere- the standards should not be lowered just so you make it.  The fact that female Marines I was in Iraq with (numbering 5) has an entire 30 man tent for themselves because they needed sperate billiting shows the preposterous nature of the system.  I have never met a female Marine (who are the toughest the US has got) who could perform physically as well or as long as a male Marine, or maybe more importantly, had the emotional or phychological strength to handle sometimes normal occurances.  Everyone in knows this and simply ignores or covers up for the discrepancies.  I applaud the females for their willingness to serve, but they do not and (except in rare cases) cannot equal a male in the same postion.\nGay men are a little different, though- the only problems I see logistically would be the same as females- seperate billiting and head faculities (baths/showers for you non DevilDOGs or squids) would be required, but they still could be expected to perform at the same levels physically as the other males.\n\noh, and sorry for the Jedi remarks- just kidding!`\n\nKsuccubis-  Being an able mechanic or a driver is not at all equal to the ability to endure physical and mental pain for weeks or months on end and still be counted on to complete the mission.  And PFT scores are essentially worthless in judging strength between individuals-  your ability to do pull-ups or sit -ups (your weight being the resistance) can not be measured to my ability using my weight.  and running is a great measure of endurance and cardiovascular strength, but the ability to do so with ruck and flak and kevlar under combat conditions is something all together different.  I am in no way trying to demean you or your service to the country, but emotional responses and personal investment are not the issues- combat effectiveness is.  I promise you no Male Marine could get away with the things the females do all the time- they use the full arsenal fo womanly guile to get out of the heavy lifting, barracks duty, deployments, etc- from PMS, to emotional issues, to sexual suggestiveness, with all the tears,pouting, preening, huffing and puffing that goes along with it.  It silly, wasteful and countertproductive, and has no place in the military as it should be.
903356
This is my humble opinion, take it as you will\n\nAmerica overall is not ready to see women POW/MIAs, and they are especially not ready to hear about hundreds of them dying.  This said, there are many women who physically could do the fighting, but there are many women who could not.  The same goes with men, and the less strong men are used to drive vehicles or fly airplanes or do other non combat roles.  Women could do these roles.  Medical roles, cooking, flying and driving and doing whatever else non direct combat roles are available.\n\nI am not trying to be sexist, but the fact is, no one would want to see their daughters drafted and sent to war.  Some may society has yet to evolve, some may agree that it should never happen.  Either way, at this time and place, women should not take place in direct combat roles, nor be drafted in the conventional sense.\n\nIf the need is great enough, and Iraq will not creat that need, but hypothetically, a special draft could be used to get women into jobs that are needed for them to do.  But I repeat, they will not, nor should no, be sent into direct combat roles.\n\nYou know I'm not sexist, but thats my rambling for today\n\nEDIT - CandyCane is right, a man would probably be distracted in worrying about his fellow female soldier's safety
495175
You can thank the intergration of females into army ranks for the reduction of readiness amongst recruits.\nHave you noticed, the Marine Corps refused to allow women to tarnish its training regimen.  Women in the Corps, are trained seperately, and that's the way it will stay.  So Pelosi, Boxer, and Clinton can whine all they want, this one they will not change.
975712
Here's the Truth...that gal brings out their shame.  The VFW are full of posers (I mean a lot em) and they know it.  In the military, they have "combat personnel" and the "support guys"...the VFWs are full of those "support guys".  \n\nDon't be fooled, that gal took enemy fire and left body parts on the battlefield.  Combat vets who seen or been through something like that can't explain that their experiences in words...but those VFW posers who talk a lot but will never know what that experience is like.  \n\nI am a combat vet myself from the Vietnam Era, who has so much shrapnel stuck in my body, I can't get through a metal detector.  And trust me a lot of time has passed and I'm still not quite right.   When I go to the VFW locals, I never see any amputees.  I see a bar full of flag waving veterans in jackets and hats, who never got a whiff of combat. \n \nThey're motor pool mechanics, clerical and other administrative support guys pretending they won the war.  Most combat vets aren't flag wavers...they keep their experiences to themselves. \n\nSo seeing a gal who actually took enemy fire must really invoke a deep resentment. They wish they were her, but didn't have the courage.  Plus those VFW parties are just a networking thing where guys are looking for the next local business deal.  And for the guys who mad about my letter...deep down you know it true.
525452
I'm guessing here... but I have to go with the number of enlisted (both officers and enlisted personnel) females. Pretty smart eh?
793368
I think you should think about a story involving women serving in the military, whether it is placed in the time of WWII, Korea, or Iraq. \n\nI don't think enough people are aware of the contributions women make in war efforts.\n\nJust a thought.
1034442
It is because it is predominantly a male occupation.  Also, we have read about women who are being harrassed in the army when they join.  I guess it is because men, in general, are egoistic that they dont see how female can be their counterparts in an area that mostly uses strength, endurance and wit.  That wont hinder us from joining the army, though...
752262
DURING AN ACTUAL FIRE FIGHT I DON'T CARE WHO IS IN THE FOXHOLE WITH ME AS LONG AS THEY KNOW AND CAN ACCOMPLISH THEIR JOB . I'VE SHARED TENTS WITH GROUPS OF BOTH MALE AND FEMALE , PROFESSIONALISM IS THE KEY . AS FAR AS COMBAT ARMS GO HOWEVER IT IS A LITTLE TRCKIER , NO OFFENSE TO ANYONE ,BUT CERTAIN FEMALES CANNOT HANDLE THAT TYPE OF SITUATION . ( SOME MALES CAN'T EITHER ) IT IS NOT AN EASY THING TO BE INFANTRY . ALWAYS MOVING AND NOT A GREAT AMOUNT OF "FACILITIES" WOULD MAKE IT VERY HARD ON MOST WOMEN , AS WELL AS THE FACT THAT YOU CARRY A LOT OF WEIGHT CONSTANTLY . TO BRING THIS TO A CONCLUSION , IN THE HEAT OF BATTLE YOU DON'T CARE ABOUT SEX , ON A PERMANENT BASIS THOUGH ... MOST WOMEN CAN'T HANDLE IT . \n\nJUST A VETERANS POINT OF VIEW
1137652
Ok... realistically. Not driving a vehicle: people we are talking all out combat. No women cannot hang, and even if they could they cause to much of a distraction, Atleast in our army. The united states has a strong value of women and kids, it's how the majority of us have been raised. To have women in danger fighting beside you would feel the need to protect her over any of your battle buddies. I know I've been involved in a few good complex attacks in Iraq. Infact I'm still serving in Iraq now, I have seen more females freeze up under the detonation of ieds, an get scared in the midst of gunfire. I'm not saying that men don't but I have never witnessed a female take charge, when engaging the enemy. I'm sorry I'f you feel differently but it's the cold hard truth. Another thing that irritates me about serving along side women, is that we have and every day job to do. Their is a female sergeant in my unit, and every day she ask's a male to pull the king pin' (which releases the trailer from the truck). I mean she can't even pully back 40 lbs of pressure, and it is constantly like this day to day with other females soldiers. I am tired of pulling their dead weight. If you are a GI Jane, Please enlist in the service, proove to us men their are women out there that can do the basic fundamentals to their job
169178
Other than the President, the federal government has little control over the policies of the United States military.\nMore equal?  How?  Many women cannot meet the physical standards set by decades of study.  Do you want to meet the physical standards the males have to meet?\nCombat?  Is this what you want?  Females are accepted as combat pilots.  They make very good ones.\nAdvancement?  The military seems to be on par with the rest of our culture.\nChange the attitude of the culture if you want to change the military.
46883
If you check around there are many country's where there males are obligated to spend time in the military, I have never heard of females being obliged to serve in the military
737810
As a Veteran Woman Marine:\n\nI am invited to job interviews because they know I will approach the tasks assigned to my position with a discipline and a level of confidence most lack.\n\nI endured basic training at Parris Island. I can do anything.\n\nI have a title for life: United States Marine. People are surprised when they learn there are women Marines.\n\nI am one of the fewer and prouder: a Woman Marine\n\nThe time I spent in the Marine Corps was one of the finest experiences of my lifetime. It taught me so much about calling upon inner resources I never knew I had. It taught me how to work independently and as a team member. \n\nI was 27 years old when I went to boot camp, following a failed marriage. Boot was harder for me than it was for those right out of high school. But the pride I graduated with is unsurpassed in any other thing I have accomplished in life - next to motherhood.\n\nIf you have the guts, become a Marine. If you haven't, we don't want you.  \n\nSemper fi