From the mouths of babes

Well, not little babies, as my daughters are 11 and in their teens, but they were discussing the possibility of women in combat yesterday, and asked their father how much full pack weighed for a soldier.  When I informed them that it often exceeds 100 lbs, they instantly clued in that being an infantryman would more or less have them carrying one of their friends all the time--and I then chimed in that they would be carrying them for many miles, with a firefight and some hand to hand combat at the end--against their bigger, male friends.


My daughters aren't wimps by any stretch of the imagination, but it was instantly apparent to them why they would not want to serve in combat.  They role-played how the hand to hand combat would go--it was more or less like the jokes people tell about the French Army (women's infantry rifle for sale....never used, only dropped once).  Now if only our government leaders were as smart as kids still in high school.