Do Women Belong in Combat? | 5-Minute Videos | PragerU
Michelle Thibeau served in the U.S. Army Special Operations Command in Afghanistan. As a woman and a soldier, she knows that there are many roles in the armed forces that women can and should fill. Is combat one of them?
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Transcript:
Do Women Belong in Combat?
Presented by Michelle Thibeau
Women do not belong in combat.
I say this as a woman—and a soldier.
I’ve seen war firsthand, in all its ugliness and brutality.
In 2017, I served in the U.S. Army Special Operations Command in Afghanistan. My job was to engage with local women—something my male colleagues were discouraged from doing, because of religious and cultural barriers. That access was critical to our mission.
I saw up close what our warfighters had to do to succeed, to survive, and to protect civilians.
I was as close to combat as you could get. And I thank God I didn’t get any closer.
I’m proud of my military service. There are many roles in the armed forces that women can and should fill. But combat is not one of them.
Until recently, it was conventional wisdom not to put women on the front lines. The principle that combat is a male burden has been nearly universal across civilizations.
There’s an obvious reason for this. Men are, on average, stronger, faster, and more capable of delivering— and withstanding—extreme violence. That’s not a stereotype. It’s basic physiology.
And common sense tells us: a society that places women—the bearers of new life—on the front lines is not prioritizing its future.
Yet in 2015, the Obama administration ordered the full integration of women into all military combat roles, including special operations and mixed-gender infantry units.
At the time, many of us in uniform knew this was a mistake. And we had the data to prove it.
A U.S. Marine Corps study that same year found that all-male units outperformed mixed-gender units in nearly every measurable category. Mixed units had slower times in obstacle courses. Women were six times more likely to suffer musculoskeletal injuries than men. Women took longer to evacuate wounded comrades to safety. Where male Marines could do single-person lifts, female Marines often had to revert to two-person drags, which were slower and less efficient.
In war, those gaps aren’t theoretical—they’re fatal.
Military experts, including those in the Israel Defense Forces, have identified additional concerns: in mixed-gender combat units, the Israelis found, male soldiers often shifted focus away from the mission to protect their female comrades — their natural instinct — even if it risked compromising mission goals.
And there’s another obvious problem: As Anna Simons, Professor of Defense Analysis at the Naval Postgraduate School, observes: “Men and women have been each other’s most consistent distraction since the beginning of time. To pretend that we don’t know what will happen when men and women are thrown together for prolonged periods in emotionally intense situations defies common sense.”
Preparing for battle and battle itself is stressful enough. Why would we want to introduce sexual tension into the mix? Not to mention the strain this places on supervising officers who now have to deal with sexual dynamics in addition to their traditional responsibilities.
Does this sound like a strategy for mission success?
But all these warnings were ignored.
Defense Secretary Leon Panetta famously said, “If [women] can meet the qualifications for the job, then they should have the right to serve…” But when women couldn’t meet those standards, the response wasn’t to rethink the policy—it was to lower the standards.
When two women graduated Ranger School in 2015, it was only after multiple attempts and what military insiders described as “unusual command interest.” At West Point, physical tests have employed gender-adjusted thresholds. In the Army Physical Fitness Test, male soldiers had to perform 84 push-ups in two minutes—women, just 42.
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source
Obama wanted our military to fail.
only as the last line of defense along with the elderly and young when a society is fully mobilized
Women in administrative and support roles are absolutely necessary. Female snipers helped the Soviet Union win WW2. But on the frontlines? Never. It's a burden.
No
No, absolutely NOT! Next dumb question!!!!!
No
Female can be excellent snipers, in a full-female sniper team. There should be gender segregation in the military.
When we used to run field radio ops in the army, we would always dread getting a female on the team.
No, it wasn’t sexism, it was pragmatism; when doing those ops, you have to carry not only personal gear (usually around 80lbs), but you also have to split up the radio gear, which is around 20-30 more pounds per person. Every single time a female was on the team, she would always end up sucking wind and the other members on the team would have to split up her gear just so that she could keep pace with us.
Having a female on the team impacted the mission negatively and made the other members of the team have to work even harder to compensate for it.
Females should only be in combat if they are held to the exact same physical standards as men. Because wether male or female, all soldiers are expected to be able to perform the same soldiering tasks.
The term gender is made up a pedophile called John money, stop using that stupid term
I want to see feminists be brought to the frontlines of Ukraine and never see them come back😂
The draft should be coed but also for separate positions
If any woman wants to join the army and fight for their country; just show them Battlefield 5: War in the Pacific trailer
inject testosterone in women 🤣
When a woman is brutally injured, it lingers in the minds of many of the men who were forced to witness it. It could become distracting. When a man is hurt, men are more likely to be more passive towards it. It’s just in our nature to not want to see a woman being hurt in any way, most of us anyway. It can drive us mad.
I was a combat medic in an israeli search and resucue unit and the amount of life long injuery women got is insane
No
Next
They don't, but if they want equality they must do it for fairness sake but as a man I requested man only team so my servival rate isn't go down, VVVV III is coming btw.
Women need to get to know how men suffer.
Historically, when women are forced to fight, that means something has gone horribly, horribly wrong.
When Artificial Uterus are Available, Then Countries could sent their Women into Combat without need to worry about demographics problem
I absolutely agree with you! Logistics? OK! Combat? NO!
Hey, Born male here. While in my track and field did I see patterns of males being stronger in the male division, but in mixed there were very close and I saw that I was on par with a lot of the girls so debunked!
No. Obama said "We are just days away from fundamentally transforming the United States of America" – Nobody 'fundamentally transforms' something they like. His goal and the goal of the DNC is to destroy the USA.
Next question?
LoL you woman voted for equality here it is get back on the front lines with the boys
No , they don't . Feminism is evil .
In reality NO
In Feminist voting equality, YES
NO PRIVILEGES WITHOUT RESPONSIBLITY
UNPOPULAR OPINION: Women DO NOT belong in combat-Not hating on Women but tbh its the man's job to protect. And it's the woman's job to cater for the family.
Women do not belong in any job where physical force upon a hostile other is part of the job description. Combat, police, bouncers/security…none of that.
There are some men who don't belong in combat. There is a tiny, tiny number of women who can be successful in combat. During World War II, the USSR successfully employed small numbers of women in combat but in specific roles that were not close-contact grunt infantry. These roles all involved putting physical distance and/or some form of technology between the women soldiers and the enemy close-contact infantry. These roles included long-range snipers, tank drivers, antiaircraft gunners, and combat aircraft pilots. In the present day, drone pilot is a combatant role that could be successfully filled by a female. A totally remarkable and exceptional case is Sergeant Leigh Ann Hester of the U.S. Army who was awarded the Silver Star medal for valor for leading her troops in assaulting an enemy position in Iraq. She killed three enemy combatants with her rifle at up close and personal range.
Viking women disagree …
It's pure logic and common sense that of course women who are the ones that birth each new generation should never be at the brunt of combat its painfully obvious why.
Do women belong in Combat…? Only if we want to be conquered, and our species die out! Now that raises the question, should women be allowed to vote to send men into combat…?
After watching many videos of the Russian/Ukrainian war, I have yet to see one female combat soldier on either side. With the desperate need for manpower, you would think that both sides would be now drafting woman for front line duty but they don’t. Maybe they know something Western governments are ignoring.
When I was in the army I spent half of my time carrying the whole team
No!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
If ever captured she becomes a $#x slave and will never really recover even if she does have a " drive "
It's strange how people are obsessed with what's "fair" when it comes to the sexes. Life is absolutely not fair especially in this regard. Is it fair that only women have to bear the burden of pregnancy and childbirth? 9 months of sickness with risk of death to create new life? Is it fair that women are vulnerable and men historically have been required by duty to protect women to preserve the human race? Is it fair that women are weaker? Is it fair that men have weaker immune systems? Nothing is fair about life. We work with nature to increase Human flourishing, regardless of what that looks like or how unfair it seems.
This equality narrative was a lie from the beginning. Even among men their are hierarchies and inequalities.
Did it mention the inevitable rapes and concluding pregnancies on the lines which then incapacitates the woman? How will they deal with that? Dismantling female fertility. Abortions? Men are less likely to be raped and wont be incapacitated by the concluding pregnancy.
Also imagine 2 battlefields – 1 all men. The other half women. The one with women will be wiped out. Women on the battle field is so impractical and stupid.
Combat is as much a male burden as pregnancy is a woman's
Do we really want shell shocked mothers raising kids?
Men like Trudeau and Obama don’t see any difference between themselves and women. And regarding themselves, they are right in the combat department. Except women are useful in ways they are not.
Not in the frontlines they don't belong!
I think they belong in combat, because they cry a lot about equality. I say let them have it! Why should I risk my life while some woman sits around and eats bon bons?
Tf is that question?? It was never about : do they belong there
It was ALWAYS AND ONLY ALWAYS : they want equal rights . So go to war also . End of discussion
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