'We don't shower for a month... and we're often naked': Male soldiers warn female comrades of harsh conditions on frontline as Panetta lifts battlefield ban on women
Ex-soldiers tell of how they often have to relieve themselves inches away from one another inside cramped tanks
Other times they are all forced to strip naked and wash with power hoses
Say that it will be awkward having women thrown in the harrowing mix
Defense Secretary Leon Panetta to announce plan today
By Daily Mail Reporter
PUBLISHED: 09:22 EST, 24 January 2013 | UPDATED: 10:54 EST, 24 January 2013
A number of former soldiers have spoken out against the move because of the tough logistical life of fighters on the front line, even though many outsiders see Defense Secretary Leon Panetta's decision to lift the ban on women serving in combat positions as a progressive move.
Some have spoken out about how the move ignores some of the realities of war, like disgusting unhygienic conditions and the way that soldiers are sometimes forced to change in front of one another, in favor of gender equality.
One wrote a letter in the Wall Street Journal describing the conditions he faced on the front line when he was involved in the initial invasion of Iraq in 2003.
Up to 25 Marines at a time were packed into an amphibious assault vehicles intended to hold only 15, with the Marines sitting ontop of one another for long periods of time.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2267652/Mixed-reactions-allow-women-line-soldiers-warn-tough-disgusting-conditions-battlefield.html#ixzz2IuLKzwlx