"Women in Combat"

Women in combat. That was the topic on the air and the shrapnel was flying every which way but loose on Tuesday morning. I, of course, was being called chauvinistic. It's not chauvinistic..it's realistic. Most callers agreed with me that women have a place in the U.S. military EXCEPT in hand to hand combat. Reasons? Plenty! First, women should absolutely, positively NOT be trained with men. That should be the rule on the obstacle course and in the CLASSROOMS. Why? Simple! Hormones!

First let's take the obstacle course. To "be all you can be" you can't lower physical standards. That's crazy. I don't care if it's Gloria Steinham in a fox hole. If a heavily armed, battle hardened Afghan soldier is charging, bayonet fixed in place, let's see Ms. Steinham jump out of the foxhole with a piece of paper explaining her feminist rights. At that very moment when it comes to kill or be killed, power trumps political correctness every time. Oh, one more sidebar if I may on this subject. With the way the Taliban treats women, it is horrible to even contemplate the unbelievable suffering young American women would experience if captured.

Now, let's get to the hormones. I mentioned to Connie on the air this analogy. Connie was in favor of women in the military because, "It's their RIGHT!" She felt like it wasn't that big a deal. I told Connie I would agree with her if she would answer one question honestly. I mean HONESTLY. If a bunch of girls were having a pajama party and you introduced a boy, same age, to the group, do you think anything would be different? Wouldn't the atmosphere change? Wouldn't the conversation change? YES. Even going to the john would present new obstacles.

During the show we had the lines jammed with military veterans who agreed with me that women in combat could be more of a liability than an asset. Some related that male soldiers would have a tendency of protecting a woman in the heat of battle. I was also surprised by the number of current and retired female military soldiers who also agreed with me. Look, I sincerely believe that women can equal and even outperform men in some military endeavors, but not hand to hand combat, not against a trained, experience, war hardened, woman hating, camel smelling Taliban maniac.

One more thing. To all of us who feel the same way, please don't demean yourself by calling us chauvinist pigs. The truth is we're just the opposite. We hold women to a higher esteem. Throughout history when the land was painted with the blood of so many men, it was the woman who nurtured the next generation in hopes of peace. Where women gave life, men took lives. It's called survival. It's part of natural rhythm of mankind. Women don't make good robbers, serial killers or….combat killers. God gave them the grace of nurturing and for that, we should all be thankful.

Paul Gallo

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