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发帖数: 29846 | 1 A Pentagon push to mix the sexes ignores how awful cheek-by-jowl life is on
the battlefield.
By RYAN SMITH
America has been creeping closer and closer to allowing women in combat, so
Wednesday's news that the decision has now been made is not a surprise. It
appears that female soldiers will be allowed on the battlefield but not in
the infantry. Yet it is a distinction without much difference: Infantry
units serve side-by-side in combat with artillery, engineers, drivers,
medics and others who will likely now include women. The Pentagon would do
well to consider realities of life in combat as it pushes to mix men and
women on the battlefield.
Many articles have been written regarding the relative strength of women and
the possible effects on morale of introducing women into all-male units.
Less attention has been paid to another aspect: the absolutely dreadful
conditions under which grunts live during war.
Most people seem to believe that the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan have
merely involved driving out of a forward operating base, patrolling the
streets, maybe getting in a quick firefight, and then returning to the
forward operating base and its separate shower facilities and chow hall. The
reality of modern infantry combat, at least the portion I saw, bore little
resemblance to this sanitized view.
I served in the 2003 invasion of Iraq as a Marine infantry squad leader. We
rode into war crammed in the back of amphibious assault vehicles. They are
designed to hold roughly 15 Marines snugly; due to maintenance issues, by
the end of the invasion we had as many as 25 men stuffed into the back.
Marines were forced to sit, in full gear, on each other's laps and in
contorted positions for hours on end. That was the least of our problems.
The invasion was a blitzkrieg. The goal was to move as fast to Baghdad as
possible. The column would not stop for a lance corporal, sergeant,
lieutenant, or even a company commander to go to the restroom. Sometimes we
spent over 48 hours on the move without exiting the vehicles. We were forced
to urinate in empty water bottles inches from our comrades.
Many Marines developed dysentery from the complete lack of sanitary
conditions. When an uncontrollable urge hit a Marine, he would be forced to
stand, as best he could, hold an MRE bag up to his rear, and defecate inches
from his seated comrade's face.
During the invasion, we wore chemical protective suits because of the fear
of chemical or biological weapon attack. These are equivalent to a ski
jumpsuit and hold in the heat. We also had to wear black rubber boots over
our desert boots. On the occasions the column did stop, we would quickly
peel off our rubber boots, desert boots and socks to let our feet air out.
Due to the heat and sweat, layers of our skin would peel off our feet.
However, we rarely had time to remove our suits or perform even the most
basic hygiene. We quickly developed sores on our bodies.
When we did reach Baghdad, we were in shambles. We had not showered in well
over a month and our chemical protective suits were covered in a mixture of
filth and dried blood. We were told to strip and place our suits in pits to
be burned immediately. My unit stood there in a walled-in compound in
Baghdad, naked, sores dotted all over our bodies, feet peeling, watching our
suits burn. Later, they lined us up naked and washed us off with pressure
washers.
Yes, a woman is as capable as a man of pulling a trigger. But the goal of
our nation's military is to fight and win wars. Before taking the drastic
step of allowing women to serve in combat units, has the government
considered whether introducing women into the above-described situation
would have made my unit more or less combat effective?
Societal norms are a reality, and their maintenance is important to most
members of a society. It is humiliating enough to relieve yourself in front
of your male comrades; one can only imagine the humiliation of being forced
to relieve yourself in front of the opposite sex.
Despite the professionalism of Marines, it would be distracting and
potentially traumatizing to be forced to be naked in front of the opposite
sex, particularly when your body has been ravaged by lack of hygiene. In the
reverse, it would be painful to witness a member of the opposite sex in
such an uncomfortable and awkward position. Combat effectiveness is based in
large part on unit cohesion. The relationships among members of a unit can
be irreparably harmed by forcing them to violate societal norms.
Mr. Smith served as a Marine infantryman in Iraq. He is now an attorney.
A version of this article appeared January 23, 2013, on page A15 in the U.S.
edition of The Wall Street Journal, with the headline: The Reality That
Awaits Women in Combat. |
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