Girls with guns

I imagine you’ve all gotten fairly immune to the news coverage of the war. Statistical analysis of progress, death, and set backs. I’m hoping to give you all a little different view of the day to day warrior’s life to show you a new perspective. That perspective is decidedly mine, but it’s the only one I’ve got, so I hope it works for you.
In all the time I’ve been associated with the military, I’ve never seen anything like what I experience on this base everyday. Girls with guns. Not just one or two, but about 20% of our total population. Oh, I’ve seen female MPs in full uniform with side arms stateside...but there is something ponderous about seeing hundreds of women walking around the compound in anything from camouflage to gym shorts and a t-shirt with an M-16 slung to their backs.
As women were being assigned more and more to combat roles during my career, I’ve had to ask myself how I felt about it. Would they be up to the job? Would they be a distraction? Would it create new challenges? The answers I’ve discovered are yes, yes, and yes.
By and large the folks we work with are true professionals. The women toting those guns are every bit as capable of using them as their male counterparts. They proved that to me at the Udari Range. Women carrying M-16 are NEVER subjected to cat calls or inappropriate behavior. It makes me wonder if we shouldn’t start conspicuously arming teenage girls.
Distractions…yes. It is almost comical to watch some of the girls walk into the chow hall. The men are all in “warrior mode” but like the cavemen we can be, that hint of perfume impacts them like a loud bang from across the room, even if she is approaching from behind them. You can see them catch the scent and suddenly stop eating to search for it’s origin. Table after table of men repeating the process in a pattern not unlike “the wave” in a football stadium.
New challenges. Definitely. Where once a soldier at war only had to worry about his hometown sweetheart being true to him, because she knew there was little likelihood of him being untrue to her in a war zone…now we hear stories of marriages and relationships ending simply due to distrust…sometimes justifiably but often unfounded. Morale amongst the troops is a huge consideration, so that particular challenge has a big negative impact.
Camp Bucca made national news a couple of years ago when several female soldiers became the main event of a mud wrestling contest. Soldiers trying to blow off steam and create a spring break type atmosphere were suddenly accused of creating the Army’s version of “Girls Gone Wild”. Despite groups of bikini clad entertainers making the rounds with the USO, that sort of behavior is apparently frowned upon by the soldiers themselves. As is true with any incident like that in the military, the repercussions changed the rules overnight.
The party atmosphere that once made this camp legendary is now somewhat subdued by comparison. When on the job, the soldiers and sailors have always been professionals, so in my mind that is all that really matters. The real difference now is that most of them have to store all that pent up exuberance for life until their next leave period.
As for my opinion as to whether a war zone is the right place for women…I’m still trying to figure that out. I’ll let you know in 6 months.