I think having all-female combat units would be a better idea. Just so the men don't mess up the plan by trying to do something heroic based on a primal imperative to defend the women.

Having all women combat units are unlikely, Britain learnt this with the Pals Battalions in WW1. When these units go into action then they can wiped out so the casualty rates will climb, it is always best for a good mix so that you never lose to many at once from one area and the same thing would apply to the women

Originally Posted by LeEnfield

Having all women combat units are unlikely, Britain learnt this with the Pals Battalions in WW1. When these units go into action then they can wiped out so the casualty rates will climb, it is always best for a good mix so that you never lose to many at once from one area and the same thing would apply to the women

The US did the same thing with blacks back in the day. And didn't encounter many problems. In fact one of these units was the Tuskegee Airmen and they had a great combat record.

Having an all woman combat unit is not a good idea. Then you get into the school of thought that plays to discrimination. Now having a mixed company with a squad of women in each platoon wouldn't be a bad thing.

I am not a proponent of women in combat arms MOSs by any means. But I do see the other side of the coin.

One of the best midshipmen in my unit is a female - she can beat most of the Marines in pullups, maxes push and sit easily, and destroys the other females (and most of the males) in our runs. Her GPA is in excess of 3.4; and I have little to no doubt that she would be as good as or better than most males in combat arms units.

There are some downsides, obviously, she's naturally more aggressive than the other females in the unit, and almost insanely competitive. There are other, non-physical issues which I won't go into here - none of which have any bearing on suitability for combat.

It takes a special kind of person - male AND female - to be good at a combat MOS. If a female wants to try it, I say let her, but no special treatment!

Easy 8.....The black airmen did do a great job and had a fine record, but when you send an infantry Battalion over the top the losses can be horrific. In some towns in Britain by having all the locals in one Regiment every male was killed in WW1 from some of the towns between the age 17 to almost 70. I was walking around one of the WW1 graveyards in France and on the same day there were the graves of grandfather, the father and his sons three generations destroyed in a day. In WW2 they never allowed this happen again and they mixed up up the people from across the country so that to many people from area would not be all killed together on the same day. Now this is why I think that all women battalions would be wrong

Very good post Le - I was not previously aware of that.

I was. of course, aware of the segregated black units because I knew some of them. Good guys I found them to be.

Originally Posted by LeEnfield

Easy 8.....The black airmen did do a great job and had a fine record, but when you send an infantry Battalion over the top the losses can be horrific. In some towns in Britain by having all the locals in one Regiment every male was killed in WW1 from some of the towns between the age 17 to almost 70. I was walking around one of the WW1 graveyards in France and on the same day there were the graves of grandfather, the father and his sons three generations destroyed in a day. In WW2 they never allowed this happen again and they mixed up up the people from across the country so that to many people from area would not be all killed together on the same day. Now this is why I think that all women battalions would be wrong

Aye. We didn't have entire towns wiped out but we did have the Sullivans as one example of why splitting them up is a good idea.

When I was doing my officer training one of the best tacticians I've ever met was a female. Not only that but she was excellent in the field. I would happily serve beside her in an Infantry Battalion. She ended up as a troop commander in a signals unit as females are not allowed in Australian arms corps units.

However - Recently 3 women have become gunners in Artillery units in a ground breaking change with Australian Army gender regulations. The first major change occurred when the change was made to allow women to serve in Combat Engineer units. The final bastion of men in the Army is now the infantry and armour... but that'll change no doubt.

Actually Nick, RASIGS is the ONLY field force/ arms corps that women may serve.