No, I'm talking about women in combat roles. You're talking about a highly-gerrymandered, specific vision in which you get to exclude everyone on the basis that all soldiers everywhere may be forced to relive Blackhawk Down at any time. You weren't confusing. You were chauvinist. You argued that somehow, women lack the upper body strength for combat roles, which is ridiculous. More, you were arguing (as is everyone on this page) that somehow, women can't even train to be adequate for combat roles. Which is purest White Man's Burden bullshit considering A) Women are already in combat roles B) "combat roles" are being filled quite adequately by twelve-year-olds all over the world. I'm not sure what universe you live in, but in my universe if a woman wants to pile sandbags, and can prove her ability to pile sandbags, I'ma let the chick pile sandbags and good on her. I'm 6'1 and 195lbs with a fairly athletic build and I've met plenty of chicks that could kick my ass. You haven't? Here's where things get really offensive Our modern military is totally cool with women getting shot at and totally cool with women shooting back but up until last week, wasn't cool with making it official. Which means any woman anywhere could assume all the risks of combat roles, but could not reap the benefits - additional pay, avenues to promotion, etc. My uncle-in-law is vice-commander of a naval base. He'll never be commander for the simple reason that he didn't go to Annapolis, which means he didn't get to command a vessel, which means he'll never get a star, which means he'll never break O-6. And that's cool - there was nothing keeping him out of Annapolis. That was a choice. A vagina or lack thereof is not. So quit triangulating a universe in which women are unsuitable for combat. They aren't. History bears this out. When advancement in the military is determined by suitability for roles, women need to be allowed to do everything they can prove they can do. Period. Full stop. Making up some cockeyed claim about stiff-arming an assault rifle only makes you look like a sexist idiot.