Dear Editor,
Recently there was national attention when two women completed ArmyRangerSchool. Congratulations to them as it is a great accomplishment. The debate, however, continues if they should be allowed in this type of military profession.
The average graduation rate for men in RangerSchool, based on statistics from 2010-14, was 42 percent. Two of 19 women at the recent Ranger class graduated, or about 1O percent. Meanwhile, the Marine Corps tried this same social experiment at their Officer Infantry Course, sending 29 women and producing zero graduates while male counterparts completed at a 75 percent rate. Marine female enlisted did fare better graduating 35 percent of the women who attended the Infantry Battalion Course. However their enlisted male counterparts completed this school 90 percent of the time. The Navy just announced women will be attending Seal training, which has a 25 percent completion rate for men. Granted, if you put enough women through, a small percentage will succeed, giving liberal and feminist pundits reason to pound their chest in an attempt to prove women and men are equal in all respects. They ignore the fact that it doesn’t make sense to spend time and tax payer money to find 10 percent of the women capable of doing the job when 25 percent to 75 percent of men can.
As long as there isn’t a shortage of physically and mentally able males to fill the quotas for these types of military professions the Pentagon leaders should oppose political attempts to feminize or water down military readiness.
Major Billy Webb, USMC retired
Pace
This article originally appeared on Santa Rosa Press Gazette: Women in combat