As integration unfolds, the surveys have brought home the reality that there are "some reservations or misperceptions in the force in terms of why we're doing this," Bland said. Defense officials have stressed that they will not reduce standards in order to let in women.
And this:
Studies that surveyed personnel found "major misconceptions" within special operations about whether women should be brought into the male-only jobs. They also revealed concerns that department leaders would "capitulate to political pressure, allowing erosion of training standards," according to one document.
I wonder who has the misconceptions--the men who are actually doing the work and know what it is like or the desk jockeys who are doing the planning?
4 comments:
Women can do an enormous number of difficult military jobs, including some that men predicted they couldn't. Sometimes they are generally better.
But they can't lift enough weight, run fast enough, or throw grenades far enough to meet standards. They will either have to lower the standards for women or accept that the number who pass will be very small. Both are possible. If women do some things slightly better, relaxing the physical standards might not be mere political hopefulness. If the standards remain firm, then why not?
You just can't have it both ways.
Physical standards....Meh. They might find a few who could qualify. The elephant in the room that always goes unanswered in Light Infantry world is what it does to unit when (to put it as delicately as I can) there is a romantic involvement within the squad. Putting women in with men makes men compete for their attention, and vice versa. This is particularly true with the Alphas that tend to populate special operations. Anyone who thinks you can get around that is simply a fool.
And all you have to do is ask somebody who is actually responsible for such a mixed unit; your description isn't a prediction but an observation. And it turns out the physical standards matter too, because the men wind up carrying extra load.
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