Due to her awesomeness and aim, she was hands-down my first choice for a gunner during our convoys. Name withheld because I couldn't track her down to ask her permission.

Two days ago, I got online to research the evolution of the Spanish language. My test was the next morning and, because my professor rarely makes much sense to me, my notes weren't helping.

A few hours later I had traveled between "Spanish phonology" to an article explaining what "phonology" was to "English phonology" to the various regional American dialects. Thanks, Wikipedia.org for that informative and time-consuming journey. I somehow then ended up reading the daily blog at askmen.com. One blog asked the question, "Should women be allowed to serve in the military?" This issue has long been a topic of controversy, but with the fifth anniversary of the war in Iraq just passing, the blogger evidently felt the need to reopen the debate.

As you can imagine, readers' comments covered the entire range from supportive to dismissive:

"Absolutely, women can do everything a man can."

"Women aren't generally as physically strong, but they adapt."

"Sure, women can be secretaries or what not, but they shouldn't serve on the front lines."

"Women in combat zones are nothing more than distractions."

"Hell, no! They need to stay at home."

Both sides had both male and female fans. Some were or still are military.

I wondered if the readers of this blog would have a more liberal perspective in light of the town's close military association. I think it's fairly safe to say that everyone in our town has some connection with the military via family or friends.

Adding my own two cents, I'd have to disagree with the last three statements. I've been in the National Guard for nearly seven years now. Those years have seen me through both basic and advanced individual training, several annual training events, and our deployment in '04-'05. Popular rumor held that the female to male ratio of our brigade in country was 1:200. During the 18 months we were all together, I never once was treated like I was a distraction, probably because I never acted like one. I was fortunate enough to work with an outstanding group of people who recognized we were there to accomplish a mission. Further, those people were like my family and any other pairing would have been distasteful.

It can't be denied that there are those females who actively seek to gain attention from their male counterparts. These women set a bad precedent for the rest of us and trust me, we despise their ways, but it must also be pointed out that it takes two to tango.

The other side of that would be the women who receive unwanted attention because they work with a large male population. Males who act dishonorably aren't living up to the values that all of the military branches teach.

As to the alleged inferiority of feminine strength and mentality….well, most females are indeed somewhat physically weaker. That doesn't necessarily mean females can't get the job done. For example, during medic training we had to fireman-carry our partners across a desert path. I was paired up with a tall guy soldier who outweighed me by at least 60 pounds. He had a pretty easy jaunt, while mine pretty much sucked. Would I want to repeat that little trial? Surely not, but I did complete it. I'm not even going to argue the second part. We've all known intelligent people of both genders.

Some have the opinion that women would demand more immediate attention in an emergency or that their deaths would be harder to bear. I saw a slew of injuries and in all cases, it seemed that patients were treated by triage (according to priority), not gender. The death of anyone should be heartbreaking. I went to several memorial services and ramp ceremonies. At each, complete strangers cried. Admittedly the service to hit me hardest was for a girl, but she was also (I believe) the youngest victim and my roommate had been her medic.

I guess I'm really just surprised that we still have such a divide. Shouldn't we be passed all this? Women ARE in the military and they ARE serving on the front line. Wouldn't our time be better spent growing and working as a team then singling out people because of their sex?

All right, I'm stepping down from the soap box. I just get so irked by people making these blanket statements! Politics are not my area of expertise and I promise to return to the issues of an American traveler in the next blog.

See the original blog here: http://www.askmen.com/blogs/news/women-i...