🚀 go-pugleaf

In article <50pdbv$294@choctaw.wildstar.net>, egburr@kiowa.wildstar.net 
says...

>The average woman may not have the necessary physical requirements.  That
>is no reason to exclude ALL women.  The women that do meet the requirements
>should not be prohibited.

Let's not forget where the disparity in standards came from.  At one time, 
women in the military *were* required to meet the same physical standards as 
men.  However, the feminist movement complained that it was unfair to apply the 
same standards to women as women on average were less capable of meeting those 
standards.

So, we now hold women to a lower standard than we do men, and we put men who 
can't meet the higher standard out of the military.  This would seem to be 
discriminatory to those men, also.

However, getting away from the physical standards a bit, and to the actual 
practicalities of women in combat units (the military calls this "logistics").

As background, in the mid-70's I was assigned to one of the first combat units 
in the army that had women assigned to it in a non-combatant role.  Here are a 
few details I remember about deploying with this unit ...

First, seperate tents were required for the women's sleeping quarters.  Of 
course, since the women were physically incapable of putting them up, this task 
fell to the men.  Add an extra hour or so per tent for each time the unit was 
required to move.

Second, latrine (restroom) and shower facility schedules were required to be 
adhered to ... that's right, men and women alike were only expected to feel the 
call of nature during certain hours throughout the day and night.  Of course, 
this didn't work for long and it became necessary to build separate facilities 
for these, as well ... another task for the men.  Add another couple of hours 
for these facilities each time the unit was required to move.

Now, since the women were non-combatants, they couldn't be expected to 
participate in the defense of the position - now much larger than it would have 
been for the same number of men because of the extra facilities - should it 
become necessary.  Result - more men were required to perform guard duty around 
the clock, making fewer men available for their primary combat duties, and 
increasing fatigue (and thus reducing the effectiveness) of those who were 
available at any given time.

I will say that I don't recall a single incident of conflict on the basis of 
sex that occurred, however, I must also qualify that with the statement that 
the men and women of this particular unit were exceptional when compared to 
those of the majority of the people in other military units I had the occasion 
to be associated with at various times, and that I don't believe this would 
have been true in most of those other units.

Anyhow, I just thought I'd toss out a few comments as a person who has 
experienced a few of the realities of the situation.  Note that we were lucky 
enough to never be involved in actual combat within our position, so I have no 
idea how the presence of the women would have affected that particular 
eventuality.