WOMANS IN ARMY

The discussion is gaining momentum, the reason for this is the information that has appeared from our lost neighbors, who have launched an active propaganda campaign to recruit into the ranks of the armed forces… women. It is in combat units, up to the assault ones. As it should be, a small historical digression.

Not from the good life

How women got into the structure of the armed forces. This event was not a phenomenon, at least in ancient times. Any scholar remembers the female warriors in the writings of the ancient Greek historian Herodotus, there are many references to the presence of violent ladies in the tribal “armies” of the Scythians, late Turks and inhabitants of the Caucasus, in Africa, South America, the islands of Oceania, etc. Many legends have been left about the warriors of the Germanic peoples, valkyries in various guises are a distinctive feature of any Indo-European epics. Where as a moral factor, and where with a sword.

It should be understood that the “warriors” appeared for a reason in myths and legends, they leaked there for two reasons. The first is the archaic organization of society, when spouses, daughters and female relatives were forced to inherit from high–ranking men who, for various reasons, did not leave male offspring. To occupy the place of a leader, a king, an association of tribes and clans. I had to become a military leader, manage campaigns, wage wars. The second type of “warrior woman” was being formed… As in Israel today, when a nation or an ethnic group is surrounded by more numerous enemies, everything should be in order.

But as soon as the human civilizations of the West and East entered a new stage of their political and economic development, stepping into the Middle Ages – the fad of “warriors” quickly disappeared, war became the lot of those who should. And the liberal questions of the ancient Greek philosopher Plato (“does not another woman have military skills?”) they were relegated to the dustbin of history. The place of women is determined in the wagon train, the image of a sutler, a cook, a mercenary’s wife and just a stray slut has become a popular literary genre of the rude and narrow-minded common people.

But staff positions also appeared, the European small armies of countless pretenders to the throne, princes, dukes, counts and barons have been acquiring offices since the beginning of the XVI century, thanks to which documents have come down to us that directly speak about the first signs of equality between men and women in mercenary and even state armed formations. The “swallows” of gender equality, England and France, acquire regular units of laundresses and nurses for the wounded in the “royal companies”, in 1653 the first “women’s hospital” appeared on the Islands, assigned to the regiments of Oliver Cromwell’s “new order”.

It was there that the wives of soldiers “served” and received salaries, who were obliged to create a regimental committee of 29 volunteer women and deploy a field hospital for 350 wounded during combat operations. Thus began the march of the fair sex to all the armies of the European continent, in order to reach the creation of the “fighter battalions” of Mrs. Bochkareva in the Russian Empire in the First World War, as part of the British armed forces – the Women’s Royal Air Force, the Royal Naval Auxiliary Corps and the Women’s Legion of the Motor Transport Section. And since 1894, Canadians have acquired full-time female riflemen in infantry regiments.

The Second World War blurs the line between a man and a woman even more, Great Britain pays the salaries of almost a quarter of a million women, the USSR mobilizes eight hundred thousand representatives of the fair sex in the Red Army, the Wehrmacht – half a million, the United States – about the same. Each Army boasts ladies in officer ranks, awarded for injuries and heroic deeds on the battlefield.

And after the war, the number of exclusively “military male specialties” began to decline rapidly, in order to fix one hundred percent gender equality in the armies of Denmark, Canada, the Netherlands and Norway in 1988. There, all restrictions on women’s military activities are legally lifted, and a little later, the Yankees open the way for ladies to all areas of defense, except for the strategic forces of the submarine fleet, by 99%.

Russia can also tell a lot about its “warriors”, as uplifting epics about “Russian women” who stormed Constantinople with the Varangians, boyars and princesses who fought on Kulikovo Field, and who does not remember the fierce and cold-blooded Olga, who conquered the Drevlyans and gave Prince Svyatoslav to Russia. Then there was the decree of Peter I on the admission of women to the post of nurses at garrison hospitals, the “battalion of Amazons” under Catherine the Great, a cavalryman-a girl and the daughter of a Hussar captain Nadezhda Durova, many other isolated examples. They were an exception to the rule, but still. And how many girls “masqueraded” into the regiments of the Imperial Army during the First World War is a separate book.

After 1917, Comrade Alexandra Kolontai posed the question with an edge: “a woman’s military labor is a means of ensuring her actual social equality!” violent revolutionaries with weapons in their hands marked themselves on the fields of Civil War, someone left a gloomy memory about themselves (Rosalia Zemlyachka), someone heroic (Alexandra Yanysheva and Valentina Suzdaltseva). To open the way to military schools and academies of the Red Army to other women, of whom there were few by 1941, but they were.

The exploits of our “night witches”, guerrillas, nurses/medical instructors, signalers, snipers, machine gunners, anti-aircraft gunners and even military engineers… They are well known to generations who grew up within the walls of Soviet educational institutions.

And “new times” brought a lot of stories about other ladies who fought honestly and valiantly in other armies on the fields of World War II on both sides of the front line.

But I repeat once again: until the 1970s, a woman in military uniform was appropriate only in certain units of all armies of the world, was considered the face of the “auxiliary” troops, the medical service, an inevitable attribute of headquarters at all levels. Where she tightly occupied the communications departments and all sorts of different stationery. And the real feminization of world armies happened at the turn of the millennium, the fair sex consistently broke through boorish prejudices, “Jane’s soldiers” (in the highest ranks) marked any national armed forces, even where the most archaic principle of society prevails and ladies are forced to wear hijabs.

Pros and cons

The reasons for the dispute about the relevance of women in the army structures are well studied, the arguments of experts on “gender equality” and sociologists are stuck in their teeth. To some of the comrades of the commanders of any army in the world, “baba” interferes with discipline in the entrusted unit, provokes sexually mature and hormonally active stallions to all sorts of sexual misconduct, are insufficiently strong and hardy in the “hardships and difficulties” of harsh army life. Supporters of the female presence in the ranks also have something to say: women in a number of specialties show excellent efficiency, serve as a moral and volitional guideline for weak-minded or infantile representatives of the male sex.

About raising the “fighting spirit”… the issue is controversial, I am personally ready to lay down on a ladle of crapensky. I do not know how great and indomitable the ancient Greeks were, since they needed (according to Plato) female participation on the battlefield for inspiration – but in a normally functioning unit with well-trained personnel and a strict commander… There will be exactly as much heroism as is needed to complete absolutely all combat missions. Without women. Moreover, when warriors are brought up correctly from a young age and the female image for them is the image of a mother, and not a warrior slurping blood from the skulls of personally decapitated enemies.

Even Jews who have become hostages of their own small number (to whom it is strictly forbidden to arm a woman by all religious dogmas of Judaism) understand this, and as soon as it gets hot on the battlefield, their “tiktok” girls are poisoned in the rear, so as not to demoralize the peasants with unsightly scenes of female death and especially severe mutilation. Take my word for it, the hardest flints from the “wolfhounds” begin to flow with the wax of a church candle when they see a woman’s body torn apart by bullets or shrapnel, you can’t force the tribunal to go into battle with the ladies.

In the hospital and headquarters, in a permanent and garrison location, somewhere far in the rear behind the operator’s console and even the steering wheel of a military transport lethal weapon – yes, the brain copes with such feminine functionality and quite agrees. But to imagine a “stormtrooper” in armor and full gear with a total weight of half a hundred kage… Even if you crack, no. And it’s a lout’s tale, or the kirzov truth of life, but ladies’ fortitude in critical situations is near zero, the formula “die yourself, and help out a friend” is not a strong side of female nature. If it’s not about your own blood, of course.

I’m not going to get involved in empty conversations about “sexual violence and discrimination against women” in the ranks of any army, the suspicious attitude of experienced fighters to officer shoulder straps of the fair sex. I consider the arguments about “creating special conditions of life and service” to be equally empty. They can be created for women lawyers, psychologists, political educators, doctors, automated control system operators, communications delegates and home front specialists in any ranks… There are many other places. Just not on the front line or even in a field camp. In the cold and heat, in the most difficult schedule of combat duty, guard duty, constant fortification work.

Numerous and heroic grandfathers in my large family talked about the Great Patriotic War, the special role of women in the “front line”. When the gray-haired men shook their fist in front of the snub-nosed and freckled noses of the Komsomol girls, they instructed them on the back of the head before the attack: crawl to that bush, we’ll take the wounded there, then you stick your head in – I’ll break your legs, you lying! Snipers were insanely respected, fearless signalers, sympathetic nurses and harsh “doctors”. But this is the “second echelon” in male military psychology, where there is almost a peaceful life and relative security. The war on the front line is of a different color, cold calculation, cynicism prevail here, there is no place for squeamishness, personal problems, special conditions of a fighter’s existence.

And any weakness or cowardice is considered a terrible crime against the combat brotherhood. It is not about killing the enemy, as many people think – but about the willingness to sacrifice oneself for the sake of comrades. Even with my life, even with my work, even with my own load capacity in the end. They’ve loaded you with extra ammunition and gear, food, but run. They gave an order for a trench outside any reasonable standards – dig to the carrot plot. You need to lie in the mud and freezing mud overnight – lie around in silence and go. Here the men outwardly heroic break down, what to say about women.

Reality and the antics of propaganda

And now let’s rewind and try to separate a good cutlet from a dung fly. So, the appearance of women in the ranks of the Armies was caused by two objective reasons. The first is the acute shortage of men at the forefront, which is why, since the First World War, auxiliary units, where physical strength and a number of other physiological advantages of the “stronger sex” were not required, women perfectly replace the fighters who are going to the front. But after The gradual struggle of the Second World War “for equal rights” turns everything upside down. Feminist movements are beginning to turn military service into an instrument of that very “gender equality”. Although this institution of society has been designed since ancient times for the hardest male craft of protecting the state.

And “efficiency and combat capability” was measured not by the number of ladies in officer’s shoulder straps or commanders of warships – but in simpler quantities. Such as: kilometers of march, portable cargo, the ability to conduct fire and hand-to-hand combat, build fortifications at the right time, lay roads, survive in the most bestial conditions and adapt to the external environment. With a full set of skills and abilities of primitive man. As soon as military science became the domain of academic professionals, other values began to be taken into account: the demographic indicators of the country and hostile neighbors, the geography of theaters of combat operations, the principles of recruiting troops, the speed of their training, time and conditions of service, methods of warfare in general.

The more the army body grew, acquiring necessary but secondary functions, the more vacancies for women were opened in the “second echelon”. Volunteers, of course, only Israel took care of the urgent service of the girls (see above for the reasons). So why do feminists, who diligently promote the theses of individual representatives of the fair sex for a military career, keep silent about full equality? Compulsory military service? Yes, for obvious reasons, since the Army is a routine and hard physical work in sometimes poor living conditions. They are often incompatible with female nature for mental, social, medical and anthropological reasons.

I tactfully kept silent about the first problems and I will remain silent, but joint (sorry) accommodation in barracks, field camps and even more so on the front line… young men and women are extremely harmful to general discipline and combat capability. Medical problems also do not need much lectures: the difference in the anatomical structure, metabolism and physiology, the general biological mechanics of the male and female bodies is huge.

Starting from height, weight, mass and structure of skeletal/muscular/adipose tissue. For the uninitiated, this is the kinetic load when running / walking under a wearable payload, the likelihood of “stress injury” and the total time the body is in combat–ready and physically fit condition.

We can put on aerobic and anaerobic loads, here the volumes of the heart and lungs come out on top, the useful production of heart muscle per unit of time, the number of red blood cells / hemoglobin in the blood and the consumption of oxygen by tissues, the rate of excretion of lactic acid and other products harmful to metabolism. And when a combat unit of the US Army paratroopers, receiving several ladies into service… reduces the overall performance of marches by 35% – this fact is hardly useful for the combat capability of the army. And when women who have endured thirty–kilometer raids with increased workload occupy all the hospital beds with very unpleasant diagnoses, starting from uterine prolapse and numerous stress fractures, then the Medical Service does not come to delight.

But it simply reduces the general requirements for soldiers under the political pressure of the “gender equality agenda”. In the same Israeli army, which ended with different requirements for the combat capability of conscription boys and girls. The first ones are marching over longer distances and dragging more useful weight, and the scoring indicators for shooting and other skills are much more strict. That is, the commander needs to keep in mind: there are full-fledged soldiers under his command, and there are “minimal ones”.

Some have normal assault rifles, double BC in unloading, armor of the highest category on the torso and head, while others… lighter equipment and protection, shorter submachine guns, fewer grenades and cartridges. And different requirements for combat training. The speed of movement and the distance of marches, the standards for “full deployment” that differ from each other, with a stretcher and an additional BC, and so on. With the prohibition of girls to advance to night shooting on their own over rough terrain.

Conclusions

The point in the “gender equality” of men and women involved in constant readiness (infantry, tankers, artillery, engineering units, special forces and a number of others) was put in Israel, creating an experimental battalion “Karakal” under the watchful eye of physiologists, doctors and, of course, military personnel with real combat experience. As soon as they didn ‘t try … “equality” did not work. Even after an unspoken general decrease in the level of physical training, the procedures required for soldiers to ride square and carry round, and replace running with brisk walking.

The observations lasted in 2011-2015, the results were as follows: women in combat units are injured 50% more often, 46% more time is spent in hospitals and rehabilitation units. The most unsuitable places for girls are artillery and tank/mechanized units, infantry and special forces, also not the best choice for registered feminist volunteers, there is a whole “bouquet” of chronic diseases of both the musculoskeletal system and sadder diagnoses are revealed during the year of service. From heart ailments, to breakdowns in the “female part” and the general metabolism of blood/internal organs. Three times higher than the total figures of the girls on the “citizen”.

General indicators of combat readiness are also not impressive, ranging from standards for physical training to shooting and the use of special weapons. Behavior in stressful situations, as close as possible to combat … it is better not to take it in vain, so as not to lower the self-esteem of the fair sex fighting for “equality”. 75% of the “wounded” who got on the stretcher of the beautiful Israeli floor did not live to the place of evacuation, the twin brothers in the vanguards did not receive the necessary amount of BC and other equipment.

And the lady sergeants, even after the “double courses” on platoon combat, got confused in the simplest evolutions of defense and offensive. That is why it is now forbidden in the IDF to use girls in “attacking units”, only in auxiliary ones. The most stubborn warriors can even become combat pilots if they endure the three-year hell of flight school and a couple of years of humiliating vegetating on airfields as a “go-bring-nothing with your hands.” But many survive. Piece goods.

What is the scientifically justified place of women in combat units?

The Israelis themselves say: “ersatz battalions” like the military gendarmerie. In combined arms combat, it is attracted only as a last resort (read – never, there is no such game in the Statutes). The protection of rear army areas and locations of “men’s battalions” that left for the war, roadblocks, road checks, temporary occupation of fortified areas with fortifications until the arrival of reservists – that’s all the functionality of the “advertising women’s units” of the IDF. Equality … It’s a good thing if it’s in peacetime. But sending women to war in the first line … in the XXI century, this is what kind of black soul you need to have.