Women in Military Service & Combat (not just USA)

[William F. Owen]

The IDF was recently afflicted with yet another "women in combat" debate, as it is every 10 years for the last 60.

The issue is not weather women can fight - they clearly can - It is he negative effects of women in predominantly male units. This is why the IDF formed the Caracal Battalion, and ...to quote the IDF's official position,

Women represent a significant portion of manpower in the combat units that they serve in; in the Anti-Aircraft Division and in the Artillery Corps, women represent 20 percent of soldiers, 25 percent of soldiers in Search and Rescue units, 10 percent of the Border Police, and the Caracal Battalion - a combat battalion - is made up of 70 percent female soldiers. In addition, this year marked the first year in which women are eligible to serve in the Field Intelligence Corps.

....but fact is, almost no men want to serve in Caracal, and the unit has a very mixed reputation amongst infantry officers.

[Ted Rush]

In a nutshell: combat units are closely-knit groups. Introducing sex into the equation is a bad idea.

No fire team leader needs to be adding "did sgt A diddle private B" into his equation when he makes a decision. It's silliness and will only get people killed. There is no up side.