text: the question is too simple... there are pros and cons.  i think it is great to afford women in this country as many of the same opportunities to serve as we can.  but i do think there are some differences that we as a society must be ready to accept if they are going to be on the front lines.  it was hard for americans to see the desecrated bodies of american soldiers in mogadishu-dragged by the locals-how hard will that image be when its a woman? i will agree that women can be as aggressive and intelligent as men when called on to fight. i have seen a lot of impressive things from women troopers-ladies who can keep up with me on a march, and i'm not slow. who can shoot as well as me- and i shhot excellently. but combat involves a lot of "hurryup and wait" and boredom sets in...if i was in a foxhole with a female for days waiting for an attack that might never come, what happens when things get sexually heavy? will we be punished? yep. is it a natural instinct to find comfort with the opposite sex? yep. does it screwup the good order and discipline? yep. read robert heilein's starship troopers- or watch the crappy movie- you'll see that american society presently has a lot of gender hangups that make this a flawed effort.  we have some successes, but we have a long way to go.  presently they require seperate showers, berthing, and toilet facilities...which means some navy ships have to be expensively refurbished and welded to provide those spaces... also, it can be a distraction- it just is... as a soldier you train hard to mostly shut off that sexual need, and concentrate on the misery of your life while deployed- the scent of a woman is terribly distracting at those times and requires an even higher effort of selfdiscipline.  if you think the rules for sexual harassment are tough on cvillians-you have no idea what it is here.  also, consider the following tactical scenario... a flight crew gets shot down behind enemy lines and there are only 2 survivors- a male intelligence officer who has tactically important knowledge, and a female grunt who is a lower level iportance to the overall mission.  they hae been trapped in a POW camp for 8 months, and after being raped by her captor she is now pregnant. however, the rescue gets botched and there is only enough room to evacuate one of the prisoners-the intel officer is of tactical advantage, but he (in my opinion) must be left to save the innocent infant-further damaging the mission. i know its a stretch of the iagination, but i think it- and the public's horror and dismay at the jessica lynch episode, demonstrates that in our society's eyes a women captive is of more value than a man, and that gives me pause. and don't tell me about women aren't on the front lines- that's dated WW2 war theory- the front lines in a guerrilla war/ terrorism fight are constantly moving so that nowhere is safe...