With all due respect for the general, who is twice the warfighter I’ll ever be:

In the 2010 Marine Corps Almanac, 6.7% of my Corps was female.  Just under 20% of the Corps was infantry.

Now, let us assume that women joined the infantry at the rate men do. (even though they wouldn’t).  This would mean that the Marine Corps would consist of 1.37% female infantry.

The average infantry battalion consists of very roughly 1000 Marines.  This means that a full battalion of infantry Marines will have 13.4 females.  One Squad.

Now, let us assume that women are not as good at being infantry as men.  This is probably true.  The end result is that women will not sign up for the infantry at the rate men will.  I’ve made this same argument for ending DADT.  But much like with the last conservative argument about the invisible hand I advanced last post with the race example, why too are conservatives abandoning the concept of small government and bottom up initiative in this case?  I believe that your average company commander is better able to gauge the abilities of his Marines (to include the females) than you, I, or Congress.  If a male infantry Marine is a nonhacker, there is still a place for him in the grunts.  He is put in the company office, or he becomes a police sergeant who manages the supplies.  Perhaps that Marine will be put into the armory.  Oftentimes, the people put in that role are either injured, being punished, or are about to leave, but those Marines are rarely given the combat duties of your average infantrymen.

Worst case scenario, a female infantry Marine who cannot handle her job can be FAP’ed out.  (Sorry, I couldn’t help myself.)

Another argument advanced in the video is that it destroys the concept of male bonding.  I don’t buy this argument.  The kind of bonding I have with fellow Marines is the kind that is very rarely able to be replicated by other men.  That bonding can absolutely be replicated when it is a woman shouldering a pack alongside you.  The love and respect I would have for a woman I shared a fighting hole with would easily outweigh the bonding I could have with another man.

This leaves us with the sexual aspect of things.  This will be a problem.  But it’s no reason to deny women equal rights. Now, on the upside of things, the type of woman that IS capable of doing a job men are better at is not going to be a 130lb beauty queen.  On the downside of things, well, Marines don’t always have the highest standards in women.  Additionally, even I would be inclined for fall for a woman I went to combat with.  But, like most Marines, I don’t exactly have a track record for picking my women well.

In the event we are fighting for the existence of the nation, all rules of fairness and PC will go away immediately.  But until that day comes, we must practice those principles we espouse.  We’re Americans.  We’re the good guys.  Let’s act like it.