**sighs**

Okay, ladies.

I have served...and most of the women I served with were fit enough to serve in frontline combat. Whether or not they could be infantry I am not totally sure (I was smart enough to go Navy, after all); although given the size and stature of some of them, I wouldn't be too surprised if they held their own in a firefight. (I've seen a few of them in a barfight--No way would I want to get into that scrap! ;D)

Your quote, Stevie:
...and the menstrual cycle.
Holds little water with me. Case in Point: My S.O., in "that" time, is b*tchier than I ever am...and is likely to rip your head off and deficate down your windpipe if you really irritate her. I'd be afraid to put a tommy gun in her hands...and if what they say is true--women that hang togther start matching cycles--I'd feel for the "bad guys".

Draft women? H*ll yes. If they can draft the lads, they can bloody well draft the lasses. If we believe in "equality", then all genders should have the same chance at being drafted--and shot at.

TG/Bi/L/G? Shouldn't matter. Some of them fight more (and better) than I can/could. Get a squad of bears out there and see what's left of an enemy. Get some of these leather and biker types, and there won't be much to clean up; those bad boys are tougher than steel. A totally TG company would literally be H*ll on Wheels. (Or, maybe that should be H*ll in Heels...)

If we are going to have a draft, then draft 'em all.
If we are going to have a fighting force, then everyone should have a chance to play...right out of high school, for at least two years. (Then Uncle should pay for their college.)

Dis-missed!

OM3 Jayne Sakura, USN, Ret.

Cool. http://mywebpages.comcast.net/fashionlab/Images/Smileys/Smile01.gif

Hi Stevie  :)

In my country all males must either pass the military service or the civil service. I served normally in the military, even in the officers´school for reservists. I considered my task in the military to keep my guys alive and as happy as possible. I succeeded in that quite well.

After my official change of gender in my documents they will relocate me into the female corps in reserve. We have those, too. And some of my ts friends are already there...

:)

Laura

The question remains, "Is there a good reason?"

People should be evaluated for military service according to their abilities, not according to gender or sexual orientation.  Since there are physical differences between men and women, it will turn out that statistically men may be better for some jobs than women, and women may be better for some jobs than men, but in all cases there will be some overlap.  It potentially hurts our national security if we reject people for no good reason.

Heather H.

Ricka, I'm with you on the gays in the military issue. You said it well enough for both of us. I don't see that a real problem exists in allowing individuals of all sexual preferences serve together.

Regarding the females in combat issue, I have the highest respect for the Israeli armed forces, but I still have reservations about whether it's practical to utilize female soldiers on the battlefield. Given the nature of our modern equipment, I'm sure females have little, if any, disadvantage in flying planes or driving tanks, or doing various jobs on ships, but what about being typical infantry soldiers?

I'm certainly not sexist, and I love females, but in the military, you can't afford to do what's popular, nice, or politically correct, you have to do what works. As someone who's been a civilian all my life, I simply don't know enough from personal experience, and I'd have to rely on military experts if I were making policy on this issue. Like I said, I'm open to input on this one, but I still think females do have a major disadvantage in direct combat situations.

This is an issue on which I have some room to rethink my opinion. I voted "Males for Combat, Females for Non-combat (Straight & Gay)" because females have a definite physical disadvantage on the battlefield. The two obvious factors are physical strength and the menstrual cycle. Do you think placing female soldiers in combat situations creates a liability for our forces, or can females do the job? There are usually exceptions, but I'm talking about the majority of female soldiers.

Oh, here's a side poll: click here. The board wouldn't let me include two polls in one topic.

So, what do you think about military service, with regard to sex and sexual preference? I'm using the terms straight and gay to save space, and for purposes of this poll, gay includes bisexual.


Straight Males Only
Straight Males for Combat, Straight Females for Non-combat
Straight Males and Females for Combat
Males Only (Straight & Gay)
Males for Combat, Females for Non-combat (Straight & Gay)
Males and Females for Combat (Straight & Gay)