Before you get all upset about the title of this article, read the byline. This isn’t LTC Allen West writing, it’s a woman.
I completely agree with this assessment from female Marine Iraq vet Jude Eden that women should not be on the front lines in combat alongside men. As Eden says,
It’s not all about qualification. I’m speaking as a female Marine Iraq war vet who did serve in the combat zone doing entry checkpoint duty in Fallujah, and we worked with the grunts daily for that time. All the branches still have different standards for females and males. Why? Because most women wouldn’t even qualify to be in the military if they didn’t have separate standards. Men and women are different, but those pushing women into combat don’t want to admit that truth.
I shoot. I can do 50 man-style push-ups in one set. But I’m 4’10’ and weigh 95 pounds. There’s no way in hell I could fireman-carry a wounded 180-pound male soldier off the battlefield. I absolutely do not believe standards should be “relaxed” to allow pipsqueaks like me to qualify in the name of equality and fairness. If I can’t do everything the average male soldier can do in combat, I shouldn’t be in combat. Simple as that.
Because every time we relax or change or reduce the standards for our soldiers, we reduce the efficacy of our military. Combat is hell. The objective on the battlefield is to break things and kill people, not make people feel better about themselves and their sexuality.
Once again, I concur with Eden:
Women have many wonderful strengths, and there is certainly a lot of work for women to do in the military. But all the problems that come with men and women working together are compounded in the war zone, destroying the cohesion necessary to fight bloody, hellish war. We are at war; and if we want to win, we have to separate the wheat from the chaff. And the top priority should be military readiness and WINNING wars, not political correctness and artificially imposed “equality” on the military.
But I have another few thoughts on this whole “separate standards” thing, which I put into the same bucket as “affirmative action.” To me, it’s sexist and racist.
When I went through my training to become a PADI scuba instructor, I was at least 10 years older and 75 pounds lighter than just about everyone else in the course. But I would have been absolutely insulted if my course leaders had essentially patted me on the head and said, “There, there you old bag. We’ll make it extra easy for you to qualify because we know otherwise you couldn’t do it.” Heck no. I’ll compete on the same playing field, or I won’t compete at all. I don’t understand why women and minorities seek out special treatment when the real message behind it is “you’re not able to do this without extra help.”
Changing standards in the name of “equality” diminishes the achievements of those who truly are exceptional, and falsely rewards those who are undeserving.
America is exceptional because we have always encouraged exceptional achievement. We must not lower those standards and accept mediocrity.
The end result of engineered equality of achievement is always lesser quality overall. It may not matter in kid’s t-ball, but it surely matters in the middle of a firefight.
Read Jude Eden’s full commentary here.
