...But they simply do NOT have the strength of a man, and that is critical in CQ, infil, and exfil. They WILL slow the squad down, and that risks the mission. So they do not belong in ground combat roles, period...
And that's the bottom line.
Obviously exceptional women are capable of exceptional performance. I see young women in the gym all the time who can run rings around my 62 year old ass, and a very few of them could have probably outdone me in certain areas when I was 21. But even now as an old man only a couple of amazon body builders there can lift as much weight as I can as many times as I can, and only ten years ago at 52 I would have far outclassed them.
But wars are not fought by only the exceptional performers, they are fought by the rank and file. If you take 50 random male recruits and 50 random female recruits right out of basic and throw them into a free for all wrestling match, I will give 99 to 1 odds that when it's all over there will be far more men standing than women, every single time.
If some women can perform exceptionaly, great for them. I don't wish to denigrate their accomplishments. 8 weeks of basic followed immediately by 8 weeks of Infantry AIT followed close on by three weeks of jump school kicked my 19 year old butt so to those who complete Ranger training - a hearty oorah for all of them, male and female.
But mixing a bunch of average (some will be above and some will be below average) 18-21 year old males and females together for extended periods under harsh physical conditions, expecting them to carry the same weight and expecting them to fight and kill a bunch of other tough-ass and dedicated 18-21 year old men, sometimes in hand to hand combat - is a recipe for disaster.
Gunnery, gunnery, gunnery. Hit the target, all else is twaddle!
