I write this post based on my personal experience as a paratrooper (airborne infantry). I was 18 when I went into the infantry. It was a dirty, heavy business. Upper body strength still counts for a lot when you're carrying equipment that can weigh upwards of 100 pounds for many miles a day. There probably aren't many women who could carry that kind of load, so what are the alternatives? Should we reduce her equipment load, perhaps by making everyone else carry more? Infantry is about as far from "push button warfare" as you're going to get. Similar arguments can be made for artillery (those shells aren't light) and tank crews, who not only ride in the tanks but have to keep them in service. A tank tread weights somewhere around 60-80 pounds per link.

I'm 44 today. There's virtually no way I can do the same things I did when I was 18, but I'm still stronger than most women. I don't think the argument that "a woman should be allowed in the infantry if that's what she wants to do" is valid. In wartime, especially in a draft situation, men aren't given choices.

I also worked many jobs in the military where strength wasn't an issue. Women did at least as well as men in those jobs. A few years ago, Clinton ordered the Navy to launch some cruise missiles at a target (I forget if it was Iraq or bin Laden). The news made a big deal about the woman who actually pressed the button to launch the missiles. It was supposedly the first time a woman had done that in a real combat mission. I doubt pressing that button took a lot of strength. Using that as a guideline, I don't see a major problem with women serving in MLRS or Patriot missile batteries.

Women did serve in combat in large numbers in WWII, especially in the Soviet Union. The movie "Enemy at the Gates" shows but one example - one of the main characters is a woman sniper. They also served as pilots to a lessor degree and in many other positions. In the US, women weren't allowed in combat roles but some of them were exposed to danger. Dozens of Army nurses were captured by the Japanese when the Philippines fell. They spent over 2 years in captivity and were pretty harshly treated. Other women served as ferry pilots and in other non-combat aviation roles. Quite a few died in the line of duty, too. The history of what happened to the WASPs would take too long to go into at the moment, but just let me say that Jacky Cochran's all or nothing approach was a big reason why there were no women serving as US military pilots for the next 30 years.

Many people like to point to Israel but a closer examination of the facts don't really support the notion. Women did serve on the front lines in the 1948 war but the results were poor. Men, chauvinists beasts that we are, took unnecessary risks to try to protect the women. As a result, casualties were higher than necessary. From that point on, Israeli women have not served in combat positions. They continue to serve and do very well. "60 Minutes" had an episode a few years ago about how the Israelis use women as instructors. It seems the male ego just can't stand being beaten by a woman, so the men become very proficient in a shorter time when trained by women. Damned cleaver if you ask me.

The US military has allowed women as pilots since the 1970s. Until the 1990s, they could only serve as trainer or transport pilots. Fighter cockpits were opened to women in the early 1990s. In fact, I went to Squadron Officer School with Sharon Pressler, who went on to become the Air Force's first F-16 pilot. She had been selected for pilot training when we were at SOS together. She was sharp as a tack so it didn't surprise me when I read she'd been selected for F-16s.

There is one thing that really can't be discounted regardless of feminist objections, though. Most men will try to protect women whenever possible, it's just part of our psyche and upbringing. A woman POW can be used to get to the men. I know something about the POW experience because my uncle Paul was a POW in Korea and I've known several other POWs from WWII and Vietnam. It was hard enough on a man to see a friend being tortured. It'll be a lot harder if it's a woman being tortured. You can call that sexist if you wish, I call it reality.