From: Brian D Williams (talon57@well.com)
Date: Thu Jan 17 2002 - 08:12:54 MST
>From: "Tom Cowper" <tcowper@capital.net>
>I am curious as to any other armies of the world that are fully
>integrated along the lines of Starship Troopers. As a former
>military officer I'm not aware of any. It "seems to work out
>MUCH better..."? If there are any and they do work MUCH better,
>I'd love to know about it. I'd also like to know their
>demonstrated combat effectiveness or reputation for success on the
>battlefield. Because the fundamental issue here is not whether
>women can fight. They certainly can and do. The issue is how
>well a fully integrated infantry or combat-arms unit would fight,
>as a unit, over a period of time. Sexual tension injected into an
>otherwise highly emotional situation under dire and strenuous
>circumstances that put young men and young women together in very
>close and sometimes intimate relationships would seem to me to
>have a significant impact on combat effectiveness. No? As far as
>I'm aware it's the main reason that it hasn't been adopted in the
>US, political rhetoric aside. It's more than cultural
>indoctrination, and it's not something that will simply go away as
>society or people get used to it. Combat effectiveness is hard
>enough to attain and maintain without the turmoil of the sexual
>factor on the frontlines. And it will be a long time before we
>condition men and women to simply ignore or suppress at will our
>evolutionary sexual impulses enough to where they don't negatively
>impact unit fighting capability, transhumanism notwithstanding.
>IMO.
Thanks for the interesting post.
There are many situations where men and women working together
learn to deal effectively with "sexual tension" and I see no reason
why the military should be any different.
The military has it's own double standards about sex (male officers
may date female enlisteds but not vice versa) and is highly
resistant to change.
But the fact is many (including myself) see it as morally wrong to
exclude homosexuals from service to their country. As a former
Marine (1975-1979) I know I wasn't too fond of the concept when I
served, but I was also young and had a lot to learn. I learned to
deal with it at the YMCA and I'm sure others could. Those who can't
or won't, should be the ones excluded.
The only fair solution I've seen was a fully integrated unit as
portrayed in "Starship Troopers." "Starship Troopers" was the book
that convinced me to join the USMC and I was delighted to learn
it's now on the boot camp recommended reading list.
Change can be difficult, and so is progress, but essential.
Brian
Member:
Extropy Institute, www.extropy.org
National Rifle Association, www.nra.org, 1.800.672.3888
SBC/Ameritech Data Center Chicago, IL, Local 134 I.B.E.W
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