They (the US government) spent millions developing a glass ash-tray that would break into three non-sharp pieces so that people on submarines could smoke without worrying about glass shards during combat. If they will go to that much effort so that people can smoke, they can do this for female soldiers.Eclectic Dreck said:It doesn't prevent them from doing the job; however, the associated problems of not properly dealing with this issue simply mean that a female soldier is vulnerable to a host of maladies men are not from a simple problem of hygiene. This is not an insurmountable problem by any means but, again, the issue largely isn't about resolvability of various minor issues; it is if the measures that would be necessary to solve the problem are worth the effort.
And I call bullshit on that. They said exactly the same thing about allowing African Americans to serve with white soldiers - that it would have a negative impact on unit cohesion and combat effectiveness.Eclectic Dreck said:As I pointed out before the thing that really gets in the way are things like questions about the effects on unit cohesion and combat effectiveness when soldiers are sleeping together (a thing that absolutely will happen) and this long held distaste we in the west have with involving women directly in combat.
Historically, soldiers having sex with one another hasn't weakened unit cohesion - it's strengthened it.
More likely, it will have little to no effect. The men and women in the armed forces are trained professionals. Will they get into relationships? Sure. But I am confident that they can keep that from interfering in their jobs.