Earlier this month the Marine Corps decided to delay the low 3 pull-up requirement for women that they had hoped to apply in 2014. The measure was set in preparation for compliance with the Pentagon’s intent to open combat units to women in 2016. Since less than half of female recruits could make the minimum requirement by the end of 2013, this implementation is being delayed.
Advocates for women in combat have mouthed the words: If women can make the standards, they should be able to serve in the combat units and Special Forces. If they are telling the truth, why don’t they insist women be tested on the men’s unaltered standards? Three pull-ups is the bare minimum, it would put a man at the bottom of his unit. Women get 100% for eight pull-ups where men have to do twenty for 100%. Is that equality?
The tiny cabal of feminist officers and NCOs who sued to be able to join the combat units and their far-left backers like DACOWITS and SWAN have been telling America not only that women can do anything men can do, but that they already are. “Women are fighting and dying with men in the combat zone,” they claim. This is lying by omission: Dying in the combat zone does not mean one qualified for the combat units or Special Forces, whose standards are now being “re-evaluated” to justify why they are so high that women can’t achieve them. For women, dying in the combat zone doesn’t even mean they qualified in their support (non-combat) units to the standards their brothers have to meet.
If, as these advocates say, women can do everything men can do, why can’t women succeed by the men’s standard naturally, or even with result-specific training? This is where WIC advocates cut to commercial and cry discrimination. That’s their playbook. The feminists and their lackeys have been doing it since women were fully integrated into the military branches and academies, resulting in overall lower standards and reduced combat readiness. Doing the same to put women into the combat units on a false narrative of equality will have even more disastrous results.
If they were serious about equality, they would demand that no standards be “re-evaluated” and insist that women perform on the men’s standard. That will never happen because on those standards most women wouldn’t be qualified for the military in the first place. Women already have an equal opportunity to compete against men in the military, but every time they are tested, they fail to measure up. It is Nature herself who discriminates. Women were built for something more important than combat.
Even on the lower standard, women have a much higher rate of injury, non-availability, non-deployability, and attrition (separating from the military before fulfilling their contract) than men. These are among the plethora of eternal truths making it impractical to put women into combat, even if they do train like Cross-fitters to improve their performance. When women were integrated fully into the forces and the academies, the same type of feminist cadre said that exposing these facts would hurt morale. Indeed. “Equalizing” standards, “leveling the playing field,” even “providing women the best opportunity to succeed” actually means lowering the standards and discriminating against more capable men.
This issue is not about equality or even equal opportunity. The WIC advocates don’t care about equality, let alone combat readiness. They don’t care that they are subjecting the entire population of able-bodied young women to the possibility of the draft. They care about themselves and their own power, and they don’t care if they have to destroy women, men, the military and by extension the country, to get it.
You know the saddest thing about this, is what it says about the USMC PT program for women. There are thousands of Women doing X-fit, and way more than 3 pullups.
LikeLike
It’s not just the training though. This is currently the highest standard for women compared to any of the branches. Few people (either sex) train like Cross fitters, even in the military, although it would help. Still, there are a myriad of other reasons as I mentioned that make it impractical to put women in combat. The cost far outweighs the benefit.
LikeLike
In fairness, most of these women are coming straight off the street and have achieved only a minimum level of fitness. Not too far off what it would be in a draft situation.
Marine Basic Training is definitely the most intense of the services’ Basic Training, but keep in mind it’s not physical training all day every day. The physical component isn’t even close the majority of training.
In the operational forces, the amount of time available to physically train is substantially less. The work day is long, physically and mentally exhausting, and the physical training at the unit level is usually just enough to maintain a minimal standard.
LikeLike
Jude: You’re always had lots of what do we call it? Guts! And you show it again here. I admire you very much for staring down the barrel of a loaded weapon and saying “fire when ready”. I would expect a female Marine to duck and run for cover. But that’s not your style. I respect you more for looking at this issue without bias than making excuses for dropping short of the minimum performance. You have more character than most, and taking the tough way out will be remembered and admired. You have chosen the high road, and this will show others how to respond. Push-ups aren’t the most important accomplishment of a proud female Marine. Show ’em what is, okay? Proud of you.
LikeLike
Jude, you are right on. I always enjoy your articles.
LikeLike
I think I served with maybe three women in my twenty-year career that could meet the pull-up requirements for men. But even those women couldn’t compete with the average male Marine in the Corps’ martial arts program. I had one that thought she was a bit of a physical bad-ass (she could do 15 dead hang pull-ups, 19 minute 3 mile run, and max crunches on the PFT). I was trying to explain to her that the techniques she was learning in MCMAP were neat and all, but as a woman, she was simply going to be outmatched by even the average male in a survival situation. She scoffed at me.
So I told her to pair up with me while drilling the techniques and that I was simply not going to cooperate as we all normally do during this part of training. Suddenly, she found it much more difficult to execute. Then I told her I was simply going to resist, not fight back. Just resist. She suddenly found it impossible to execute the techniques. As she was futilely struggling, I told her to image a combat situation in which I was actively countering her with the intent to kill her.
Then I paired her up with a guy about her size (who didn’t score as high as she did on the previous PFT) for a grappling match and she lost in less than 10 seconds.
Some people are completely unaware of just how much failure they’re setting women up for with this nonsense.
LikeLike
Exactly right. I did martial arts for years to train for self defense & pairing up with men, they can’t help but go easier on women. When they don’t, women get hurt. But learning to fight involves pain. One exercise I’ll never forget was one to learn to take blows. You stood with your hands behind your head & tightened while your partner roundhouse kicked you in the stomach over & over again. My partner for one of these was a male black belt with legs like tree trunks. The physical fitness test is just a barometer to gauge a basic level of fitness. For combat you do much more on a regular basis, it’s far more demanding. Most women advocating for women in combat have no idea what it really means & what it really takes to fight, let alone what it takes to really be able to fight men who are trying to kill you.
Thanks for your comments!
LikeLike