I love women.  They are my favorite people.  I have been married to the same one for over 50 years.  However, my experience with women has shown me that men and women live in two entirely different worlds.  This remarkable difference is one of the things that first attract men and women to each other.

The psychology books tell us that women are at first emotional and then physical.  This means that when pressured into a situation, they will hesitate hoping that at the last moment something will intervene to correct the situation.  If that doesn’t happen, then they react.  Men exhibit converse behavior by being physical first and emotional second.

This fundamental difference causes me concern when asking women to enter the combat arena.  While in the sights of an enemy, a mere moment of hesitation in disposing of him may cause her a catastrophic outcome.

In addition, the cries of agony from a wounded woman on the battlefield will seem more urgent than perhaps one of her male comrades. This may impel her fellow warriors to place themselves into hopelessly deadly situations in attempting to rescue her.

As a veteran of the U.S. Army, I think I understand the military service pretty well.  I believe it was good training.  It teaches how to observe, be careful, to be aware of yourself and your surroundings, and stay out of the way.  Sometimes when I see people holding up traffic, holding up the checkout lines or otherwise just getting in everyone’s way, I think, “They should have had military training.” For some of them, I wish I had the authority to say, “Drop down and give me 50 pushups.”

To you ladies who aspire to join the military:  I hope you will attain your goals of furthering your education, of seeing the world, or making an impression on foreign populaces.  But, be aware that your primary mission in all branches of the military is, “To kill the enemy.”

 

Ed Field

Natchez