Quote:
Originally Posted by Locobot
He doesn't seem to be paying attention to other people's experiences which negate his assumptions about how gay service members ARE assimilated. He also is apparently unaware of the past 5 years of women in combat roles (and 17+ years as combat pilots). Israel is a different culture, their military has a largely different purpose, and Israeli soldiers are conscripts. His concern seems to be focused on the platoon level where, yes, non-conformity can be dangerous and erode morale. It's already been pointed out that military conduct codes wouldn't allow for someone to be a flaming pansy regardless of sexual orientation. Interestingly, some of the more stereotypical lesbian personality traits would be ideal for military service.
I think with Obama, unlike Bush, at least we'll have a military Commander in Chief who will prioritize individual's vital skill sets for combating terrorism over excluding people based on their sexual identity. http://www.nytimes.com/2007/06/08/op...amin.html?_r=1 |
Dude, you don't want to get into a discussion about women in combat roles. Just because females sometimes come under fire does not mean they are, by and large, physically/culturally prepared for full blown combat. My experience with women in actual firefights is limited, but I was very disappointed. Most women in 'combat roles' aren't. They are serving in ways that do not typically place them toe to toe against someone else who is trying to kill them. We had a female canine handler with us for a while and she embarrassed herself when we got in our first real fight with her. After leaving her at the local fire base for the next couple firefights we were told to take her along again and that we were being sexist. We got in another fight and she almost shot one of our guys because she was shooting with her weapon over her head and being afraid rather than aggressively trying to deliberately line the gun up and kill people. Oh, and her dog ran the show...she had very little control over him and she refused to allow her dog to be put at risk instead of a soldier because she valued him as much as a human.
I have had to run and fight while wearing 90+ pounds of kit at altitude. Ruck 130 pounds all night long. Muscle jammed machine guns back into working order. Man handle people I didn't want to shoot. Pee while driving because we couldn't afford to slow down. Carry injured soldiers and detainees out of a fight. Etc.
The army has had to drastically lower the PT standards for women because they are simply not competitive with men physically. Sure, there are exceptions, but they are too few and far between to base policy on.
Also, what Crompsin was trying to get at is that men will try to protect a woman to the detriment of the unit in combat. It is just a part of male culture and Israeli officers would lose control over their units when a woman was injured...
But, for what it's worth, I fully support women in roles where they can compete (or out compete) men. Such as aviation. I have had a female Apache pilot shoot people just yards away from me when my vehicle broke down in an ambush. She would engage when we really needed it but others were reluctant because of the possibility of a mishap. I am friends with a bunch of fantastic female Kiowa pilots and I have seen them do some amazing things.
As for gays, I don't particularly care about someones sexual orientation...unless I am going to be naked around them in communal showers/toilets, spooning to stay warm in the cold, etc. Then it is an issue for me.
-----Added 19/1/2009 at 09 : 07 : 10-----
Quote:
Originally Posted by Baraka_Guru
Really?
Now I know that between the U.S. and Canada, our armed forces are like night and day, but we have females serving in all of these roles. I'm sure we aren't the only ones. Are you sure there aren't any in the U.S. forces, or are you speaking in generalizations?
Oh, and I'm sure there are homosexuals everywhere; they're just hiding, as per their orders.
|
Canada can get away with it because they are not actually fighting. Come the next real war and the policies will change real fast.
Additionally, with open recruitment and equal standards for men and women, women comprise less than 2% of combat arms branches in the canadian military. If they were just as capable as men, there would be more of them in the more demanding fields.