The NY Times has an interesting piece about women in today’s military. The wars in Iraq and Afghanistan have forced gender integration well beyond what was originally intended — with surprisingly good results.

I’m very glad to see women for the most part doing well in the military. The contribution that women make to the armed forces is absolutely essential and should never be taken for granted.

As The Times article points out, women are increasingly seeing front-line combat action, something that was unthinkable in past wars. Cultural sensitivities require women to be part of combat patrols and other missions so the female soldiers can frisk and search female locals.

It’s not uncommon to see women sitting atop the .50 gun turret in a Humvee ready to shred the enemy at a moments notice. This too, is a good thing.

I think partial gender integration is a sham. Women should have the opportunity to do anything in the military that men do. Women should be allowed to become Navy SEALs or Army Special Forces if they so choose.

If a women can meet the physical requirements to become a special operator, why should she not be allowed to?

The old theory that combat soldiers simply can’t cope with seeing women blown apart on the battlefield is false. The two wars we’re currently fighting have unfortunately seen many women blown apart.

Soldiers don’t like to see their brothers or sisters blown apart in battle, but women have every right to be combat soldiers or special ops soldiers if they so choose.