Why women should not be drafted
By J.F. Kelly Jr. | 3 p.m. Feb. 20, 2016
http://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/news/2016/feb/20/women-draft-military/In 1978, while commanding a guided missile cruiser deployed to the Middle East, I wrote an essay for the Naval Institute Proceedings expressing the then-controversial view that any qualified woman should be allowed to fill any officer or enlisted billet in my or any Navy ship. Indeed, they should be allowed to serve in any operational billet in the armed forces short of hand-to-hand combat, I said. The essay won me an author of the year award but also a lot of criticism from some superiors and peers for a recommendation that would profoundly change the all-male seagoing and aviation Navy culture.
The rest, as they say, is history, and today women serve proudly and capably in nontraditional, operational roles including combat and, probably soon, special forces. With two daughters and a granddaughter, I remain an ardent advocate for removing barriers to women who wish to serve in any role for which they are qualified, including combat. But let’s be clear about some implications.
There are very different levels of combat. In air or sea combat, for instance, you are not likely to be engaged in hand-to-hand, direct combat with an enemy. Indeed, you may be miles away from him in battle. In ground combat, on the other hand, you may be up close and personal to him. It’s one thing to fight an enemy from afar. It’s quite another to fight him face to face, say, with bayonets in a fight to the death.
There are undoubtedly some women who are physically and emotionally prepared for this type of battlefield warfare, but they are probably a small minority. For most, it would be a very unnatural experience with which our culture has not prepared them to deal. In my view, they should not be forced into this role because of some misguided notion of inclusiveness or fairness.
Ground combat is dirty, savage and terrifying, involving lengthy periods in the field under unimaginably horrible conditions with no toilet facilities or privacy. It is very different from aerial or shipboard combat. Would you be comfortable with the idea of your daughter, granddaughter, wife or mother being drafted and involuntarily assigned to a ground combat role? This could happen if women should be required to register for the draft, as some propose, and compulsory military service were reinstituted.
If a woman wants to volunteer for such an assignment and meets the qualifications, she should, by all means, be allowed to so serve. Women have as much right as men to suffer and die or be wounded or maimed in the service of their country. And I don’t buy the argument that it would destroy the male warrior culture. That culture is changing anyway and today’s youth don’t really seem to have much problem with change that promotes equality. But I am concerned about forcing young women into a role for which they may not be emotionally prepared; essentially an intensely violent, aggressive one for which most men tend to be better suited than most women.
This debate came about because of the recent decision to open up all combat assignments to qualified women (over the strenuous objections of many military leaders). The decision raised the question of whether or not women should be required to register for the draft, as men are, now that combat assignments are open to them. Many argue that women should not be allowed a double standard and that fairness dictates that they should now face the same draft requirements as men. This would be a triumph of inclusiveness and political correctness over common sense and military requirements.
The entire debate may, in any event, be moot. We are not likely to reinstitute compulsory military service. The all-volunteer service concept, in effect now for nearly half a century, has produced a highly professional force. There has been no shortage of volunteers; indeed, there has usually been a surplus.
The services are far more technically complex today and the eligibility standards for military service are now so high that probably less than half of the draft-age population would qualify. Moreover, the services would have to be significantly restructured to even accommodate and train large numbers of draftees. At present there is no foreseeable need for massive ground forces to fight large-scale expeditionary wars. While there will always be a potential need for some boots on the ground, they will likely be largely limited to training, logistical and special forces. If volunteers should prove insufficient in some future emergency, male draftees could easily satisfy the shortfalls. If, in some dire future emergency, even more military personnel were needed, the issue could be revisited.
Requiring women to register for the draft now, just because men are, would do nothing to enhance military readiness, which is the only reason for a draft in the first place, and it would force many women into a role that most of them are not, by nature or socialization, suited for.
Kelly, a resident of Coronado, is a retired Navy captain who commanded three San Diego-based ships and a naval laboratory. He writes on military and defense issues.
