The Volokh Conspiracy is having a discussion of women in combat. Here is my 2¢.
I remember reading where being a woman in combat had a number of positive effects (in the current environment).
They connect with the females in the population better. Very helpful when fighting an insurgency.
They also shame Iraqis who are nor performing up to snuff. I mean seriously. What guy wants to be outshone in a masculine pursuit by a woman?
Or suppose the shoe is on the other foot? What does it do to the morale of our super masculine foes when they get beaten by a woman?
I understand the costs – what are the benefits? To the military. In our current war fighting situation.
It the current environment I think it has a lot of advantages that outweigh the disadvantages. The main one being that it gives women ideas. Our most important weapon.
H/T Instapundit
Cross Posted at Power and Control
Our Most Important Weapon
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4 responses to “Our Most Important Weapon”
I think the article at Volokh focuses on the effect of women in the army on the effectiveness in actual ‘kinetic’ warfare. I agree that in COIN operations women can add value in certain aspects. But this advantage can also be realized by adding them as auxilaries to the combat groups (much as is done for interpreters). So the questions remains, to what extend should combat capabilities be compromised in order to achieve some (mythical) equality?
Thinking wishfully this morning?
It is not about equality. It is about combat effectiveness in the current environment.
For that to be most effective women have to be in a position to give orders.
The deal is: men taking orders from women breaks their culture. Which is what we have to do to win the war.
IN Iraq, several key personnel I worked with, especially translators, were female Soldiers. We couldn’t have done the mission without them. They went places where combat was a possibility, basically anywhere in Iraq. They weren’t primarily trigger pullers though.
While I disagree with some of the assertions on Volokh’s post regarding a woman’s mental abilities regarding combat, I do agree that the physical demands of combat are more likely to overwhelm women due to physiology. It wears out even the strongest of men.