That’s really interesting, thanks!

As far as I understand, it’s more on the physiological side. My late grandfather-in-law trained marksmen for the military. He always said that women were able to steady their breathing, lower their heart rate, and hold steady in one position (often uncomfortable) for long periods of time.

Can you elaborate on the “woman make great snipers” comment? Are you saying women are just as suited to achieving great sniper skills as men are, or that women make particularly great snipers because of some difference between us and men? No snark, I’m genuinely curious.

I also read recently that women may have, on average, less muscle then men, but have a quicker recovery time from muscle fatigue! Why did I never know all this before?! Now I feel like Super Woman!

Yeah, but, if dudes could get pregnant you KNOW they'd be doing the same thing.

Women make better pilots than men. They can take more G’s and have faster reaction times.

I have a relative who was in special forces in UK and they spoke about how friendship is key and isolation is death. Surviving in isolation is one thing. Cutting yourself off and being a dick is suicide apparently. Sounds like what your pops went through. And he is also the opposite of a misogynist so the idea that…

I think the physical requirements need to be questioned. The way that special forces are used in urban environments is very different from when they were articulated in WWII. Little has changed about the physical requirements since then, even though the combat theater calls for less physical demand.

It’s far more about psychology and leadership than most people think. I mean the physical requirements are not nothing; I couldn’t have met them, ever, if my life depended on it. But all kind of physically tough men have flunked out because they lacked the necessary mental and social skills. I gather - and it would be…

Yes, women have more physical endurance, greater resistance to disease, a higher pain threshold, and are less easily dehydrated. In my mind, all of those qualities would be of greater value in a survival situation than raw physical strength.

The sniper training comes from Russia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lyudmila_…

When I was in Basic trainning I asked the drills about this - whether the men or the women had the harder time qualifying with the weapons - they all said that the women were better - more accurate, better shots. The one drill thought that was becasue women did not have any ego attached to the outcome and the men were…

As a kid in a conservative right wing world with guns o’ plent, it was always shocking to my brother/dad/cousins that I could out shoot them all. Well, until the navy seal in our church saw me shoot and said “of course she’s better than the boys, women’s are always better at shooting!” and then they stopped letting me…

When I enlisted years ago my dad was really positive about it but now that he’s older he’s getting weirdly more republican as time goes on and has said he doesnt think women should go into armed combat. It’s a fight to the death with us if the subject comes up.

I’m glad that a Ranger is thoughtful about this. I spoke with a recently retired Army soldier who never went special forces but made a big show of how our periods prevent us from serving. I was like, “Did you tell that to your daughter’s face? Your daughter you told me was active duty?” I can’t.

I’ve been arguing those points for years... among many others.

*waves*
Female police cadet here. I think it’s very important that we have diverse police departments, women and minorities included. Do we have a lot of work to do to improve our current departments? Yes. But we can do this!

It would make sense for them to be included from a strategic standpoint as well. Women make great snipers and do well running on little to no sleep for days on end.

It was interesting hearing Griest speak pretty emphatically (as emphatically as she did at any point) during the press conference that she would be *very* interested in actually serving in Special Operations. I cheered.

My father went through Ranger school when he fought in Vietnam. I talked to him about these women and he is very impressed by them. He thinks it great that they made it through because he knows how hard it can be. A thing I found interesting is he talked about how important it was to develop relationships with others…