Couldn't pass the physical endurance portion.
I should point out that twelve men failed as well. But that's the point. You weed out the people who can't hack it. And the Infantry Officer Course is a bear, because if you pass it, you're going to be in command of a whole lot of grunts who will surely look down at you if you cannot do what they can do.
But women don't have the physical stamina men do. They have lower muscle-mass to body-weight ratios. And they have less cardio endurance than men do. These are basic physiological facts, people. Don't believe me? Take a look at the differences between men and women on the Army Physical Fitness Test.
You want to know why women should not be in a combat arms MOS? Because women as a rule cannot sustain the kind of physical effort those jobs require. Period.
4 comments:
Vimmen Marines fail cardio? You might ask my oldest daughter. She was in Desert Storm as a 2512. She was NCOIC of all 22 other WMs in Saudi/Kuwait. Yes, they went North with the HQ BN of the 2MEF when they jumped off. She speny a few 17-hour
uty shifts in MOPP gear when Saddam shot Scuds at the HQ.
Oh, about that cardio. The Corps does a "graduation run" at the end of "A" school. She ran with her Company, carrying the Guidon (10#), and beat all but 9 men on the 3-mile XC run at MCS Camp Pendleton. She came in 10th out of 250, in under 17 minutes in boots & BDU trou.
BTW the Gunny gave her the guidon because it was the only way she wasn't going to come in first, and he was a Neanderthal, and had $$$ on the run with the CO.
Oh, yeah, forgot to mention: the recruiter signed her up after seeing her run track at a 3-way meet, winning 2 middle-distance events and placing in the 400 high hurdles.
Oh, #2 forgot to mention: She qualified Expert with the M16 on her first try...
One exception does not a rule make. Your daughter could be the next coming of Audi Murphy, but that STILL does not justify changing the standards to suit an extreme few.
If women can, in fact, pass the fitness test as it stands now (as you assert your daughter could), then AND ONLY THEN should they be allowed to serve in combat. Until that time, let them serve in whatever capacity their physical conditioning will allow them to serve, or not serve.
DO NOT lower the standards to meet some social experimentation quota. The US military is an organization whose sole mission is to kill people and break things, not to test out programs put in place by people who have never served.
Period.
(FWIW, I probably wouldn't have passed that test, either, but I wasn't trying out for front-line combat command...)
My point is that any reasonably-athletic individual could train up to that standard, given the proper motivation. My daughter had the motivation. There's no doubt in my mind that other women could, too.
There's no chromosomal magic to physical training. It's all the usual: eating right, thinking right and feeling right. Then you build on that.
Post a Comment