Government Based Upon Natural Law - (Part 16) - Women in the Military

Introduction

Recently, the Military Leadership Diversity Commission, established by Congress a few years ago, has said that women should be allowed to serve fully in combat.  "It is time to create a level playing field for all qualified service members," the commission said.  They went on to say, "Minorities and women still lag behind white men in terms of the number of military leadership positions.

"Defense Secretary Robert Gates said that he expected women to be let into special operation forces eventually.  A Pentagon spokeswoman said that the department would review the recommendations when the report is delivered. 
Opponents have said that most women lack the necessary strength and stamina needed for battle.  They have also said that it could harm unit cohesion, and that Americans won't tolerate large numbers of women coming home in body bags.

Some facts about women in combat

1) It is certainly true that most women don't have the strength and stamina that men have.  And in almost all military physical-fitness tests, the requirements for women are lower than those of men. So if women were allowed into combat units, the men would know they weren't as physically capable as their fellow males.

2) Men and women think and react differently, because their brains are wired differently.  In The Male Brain by Dr. Louann Brizendine, she says that men's brains are wired so that they become protective of their mates, and this generalizes to other women, as well.  Thus, in a combat situation a man might unconsciously or consciously be more concerned with protecting the women in his unit than with the mission.  Related to this is that because a young woman could be pregnant, a man may again be more protective of a woman in their unit, and thus be distracted from the overall well-being of the unit.

3) Because of the factors mentioned above, unit cohesion would almost certainly be affected.  We don't want men to be worried about protecting the women in their unit at the expense of accomplishing their mission.

4) Men are distracted by attractive women at via the most primitive parts of the male brain.  This distraction could prove to be a disaster in some situations.

5) Both women and men get pay more attention to an angry man than they do to an angry woman.  Thus, in a command and control situation, an angry male commander is more likely to be obeyed than an angry female commander.  This could negatively affect the unity of the group, which could weaken the accomplishment of it.

6) Women who are pregnant can harm their fetuses when firing in a gun range or in combat or even in an aircraft carrier with loud noises. Children have been born with burst ear drums because their mothers shot guns while pregnant. It could be mandated that pregnant women be removed from combat or combat training if pregnant, but, of course, women are usually pregnant for a certain amount of time before they know that they are.  If women were allowed into combat, almost certainly, some of the children they bear will suffer developmental deficits of one sort or another because of it.

Furthermore, a young woman who is injured in combat may well injure their child-bearing organs — or experience post-combat distress syndrome, either of which could negatively affect their  capacity to be a good mother.

7) It used to be that women who became pregnant were discharged from the military.  Now, they are not only not discharged, but they receive medical benefits, receive full pay, and even are given uniforms to conform to their pregnancy.  And they get child care once their child is born.  This is a waste of tax payers' dollars, since at some point in their pregnancy, they are not longer able to be productive members of the military.  And if women are allowed into combat, a pregnant woman would have to be removed from their unit immediately.

Women stationed on ships and even those who are in small, close-nit units have a very high pregnancy rate.  A Time Magazine article stated that about 13% of the women in the military are pregnant.  Nearly 40% of females in certain Army units are pregnant, according to a report from the Air Command and Staff College.  Aside from the dangers to their fetuses mentioned above, if a woman gives birth and stays in the military, mother-child bonding and certainly father-child bonding can be adversely affected.  This would certainly lower the chances that the child be breast fed for the optimal amount of time. Is this good for our country?

8) If women were allowed into combat, it would not be long before they would be required to register for the draft, and therefore get involuntarily drafted into the military during a war-time situation. They could be assigned to a combat unit.  You might think that the law could allow women to opt out of the draft or being in a combat unit, but the individuals who want women in combat would make sure that such "discrimination" does not occur.  How many fathers out there would encourage their daughters to join the military if they could be put into combat?  I wouldn't.

9) If women were required to register for the draft, a woman who qualified for combat would be required to do so. How many women would intentionally get pregnant just to get out of joining the military?

10) For those who think that being in the military is a right, this is just not so. There are many requirements to be able to get into the military, including age, health, intelligence, etc.  There is no right for anyone to be in the military. 

The most important consideration

My most important concern is this - that idea that women should be treated as men - is culturally degrading.  It is the duty, responsibility and honor of men to protect women (and children).  It is built into our brains, and cannot be removed.  To place a woman - who may at any time be pregnant, into a combat situation - goes against the very being of most men.  My suspicion is that any civilization that does this cannot last long.

Only a woman can bring a new soul into the world -- the most important single thing that anyone can do.

For those who think that such thinking is sexist, their definition of "sexist" must be much different than mine. To me a sexist is a person who believes that their sex is inherently superior to the opposite sex.  My view is that God made all of us as His children and that both sexes are equally important.  Of course, men and women are different in many ways, otherwise there wouldn't be men and women.

If I said, "Men are very, very bad at having children," would this be considered a sexist statement?  Clearly not, since the truth cannot be sexist.

The differences between men and women are expressed in many ways, such as with the yin/yang concept, positive and negative, male and female.  And such concepts express not only that there are differences, but that both are equally needed.  God has created the male/female duality for a purpose, and we would be wise to not attempt to ignore or eliminate it.
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Tim Farage is a Senior Lecturer and Graduate Adviser in the Computer Science Department at The University of Texas at Dallas. The views expressed herein are those of the author. You are welcome to comment upon this blog entry and/or to contact him at tfarage@hotmail.com.