The reason women have not been allowed in the army until recently has not been to protect women from harassment. Rather has it been to ensure the squad morals and teawork are as high as possible. If a man has his girlfriend in the squad he will do the most stupid of things to protect her, ruining all tactics and strategy. I believe there have been simulation of war with a "mixed" squad and the men ended up throwing themselves infront of them to take the bullets. The same goes for why homosexuals were left out; loving relationships in the military are disastrous for the squad.
Well we have fraternizing laws to this day that prevent such scenarios. https://www.thebalance.com/army-fraternization-policy-3344585
You really think anybody pays attention to that lol? Fraternization applies to rank structure more than it does to having a relationship. People with ranks close enough to where nobody cares date and fornicate all the time. People with ranks not close enough to make it legal date and fornicate all the time too they just don't tell anybody. Theres like 8 people in my unit alone who are married to each other albeit in different companies. And hell I won't even try to count the number of people dating or screwing around.
You know it's really sad and unfortunate and unfair but having been in the military for quite some time now I have to say that I agree with you. Once again I will say that I am a realist, I don't deal in "right" or "wrong" I deal in what "is", because what "is" is all that matters in the end. There is what "should" happen and what "shouldn't" happen and there is what DOES happen. What DOES happen is what needs to be focused on. In my humble opinion, to which the only credibility can be based on my own experiences as a veteran Soldier, is the unfortunate sad reality that having females in the military causes more issues than it's worth. Oh God, he's a bigot, he hates equality, he hates women, he thinks they aren't good enough, etc. NO, I'm not saying that at all but of course that is the conclusion that a lot of people will make based on the mere fact that I said what I just said. Should women be able to serve their country alongside men without having to deal with being stared at or fantasized about? Yes Should women be seen as nothing more or less than Soldiers who wear the same uniform as their male counterparts? Yes Do these things actually happen? NO. I've seen it all. I see what happens when a new female arrives to the unit. The boys know exactly who she is, what she looks like, how old she is, if shes married, has any kids, dating anybody, etc weeks before she ever steps foot in the door. They get on social media, mainly Facebook and research the hell out of the new girl. When I showed up to this new unit a few years ago nobody knew who I was, I walked around reading nametapes until I found the guy who I'd been talking to on the phone and introduced myself. All they knew was that a new guy was showing up, they had no idea who I was or what I looked like they just knew I what job I was coming to do and that was about all they cared about. About a year later a new female was slotted to arrive in the unit who has the same job as I do. What were some of the first questions asked when a new Soldier arrives? How much experience does she have? Nope. How long has she been in her current position? Nope. What rank is she? Nope. Hell maybe something simple like is she a viable replacement for the slot we need her in? Nope. What do you think the first question was everybody asked? You guessed it! "Is she hot?" What about the second question? Are we gonna get to the job related stuff now? Of course not. Second question! "Is she single"? Woman arrives to the unit and does the normal human being adult thing of introducing herself and telling her new coworkers a little bit about herself and her life. Inside I sit back and laugh because she's telling everybody stuff they already know. Guys launched a full blown social media investigation on her weeks before she ever stepped foot in the new unit. When I got there nobody even recognized me, I had to seek out my sponsor. When she got there half the people in the unit already knew what kind of dog she had and what her favorite color was. THAT is reality. That is what "is", not what it "should" be or "shouldn't" be but what IS. It's not her fault, shes just a woman who wants to do the job like everybody else, but the mere fact that is a woman has caused a lot of tension and stress in the unit. She doesn't do anything, she just goes to work like everybody else, but by her simply sitting in the office she causes a lot of "problems" that shouldn't be problems but are. I can sit here for about 6 hours and type a short story about the amount of "issues" her mere presence has caused. NONE OF WHICH are her fault, at all, not even in the slightest. It's not what she does, its just the fact that shes even there now. Shes actually a really good friend of mine, shes the same girl I mentioned in my other long rant post earlier. But I do often think about how how different life at work was before she arrived. And to be 100% completely honest and stepping outside of the box....as much as I like her, is would be better if she wasn't here. And that is the sad but true reality of the whole situation.
"Fun" might be an overstatement lol. There are no issues with the married people, well not usually...there was this one time when a Private walked in on married couple getting it on in an abandoned building while deployed once, and the woman ended up being well...our Commander a few years later LOL So yeah that created some pretty awkward and funny situations watching this kid interact with his new boss who he saw naked in the middle of intercourse a few years prior...But for the most part the married couples act professional and you wouldn't even be able to tell they were married unless you just knew it, and well the having the same name on the uniform thing. Now the dating/friends with benefits/whatever you wanna call it NON married people....yeah that creates some pretty funny hallway conversations to say the least. It's basically like high school or college for these younger mostly enlisted kids. Put it this way, if there were microphones on the walls then damn near every enlisted man AND woman under the age of 21 would be fired tomorrow lol.
I'm always surprised the Private News Network doesn't get so many people in trouble. No one keeps their mouth shut in the army
Good way to get kicked outta the service... Navy to Separate Sailors Who Share Nude Photos Without Permission 16 May 2017 | Following the Marine Corps' lead, the Navy on Tuesday announced a new policy requiring sailors found guilty of sharing "intimate images" without consent to be processed for separation from the service.