Customer Reviews

Weak Link: The Feminization of the American Military

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As a Navy Officer I have seen first hand the effect of women on ships. Ships have become floating brothels. Officer and enlisted fraternization has skyrocekted, and the chain of command has turned their head. My last ship a female officer who was married had sex with over 10 of her enlisted personnel. Now you tell me does this effect the chain of command, and should this be happening in the Navy. Abortions, illegitimate children are the results of placing men and women together on ships. Basically both man and woman have to be held acountable in these situations. It is a problem we will have to deal with, but unfortunately the chain of command was indoctrinated during the Clinton Political Correctness of the 90's. Nothing is going to happen, and it is becoming official policy on ships to allow fraternization as long as it does not affect the ship to much. Good Grief. Liberals have won this one.

I believe that Mitchell is correct in his assessment of the impact women have on our military force. The net result is a big negative. I am a veteran of combat arms and my modest experiences confirm every wit of his arguments. There are so many levels of impact to consider and I think he covers most of the bases. This is not a female issue, or at least it shouldn't be. This is a matter of national security. The U.S.Army has a handful of problems to deal with, and this is just one. I highly recommend this book.

The "Rumblings From the Far Right" review at the top of this page represents the kind of knee-jerk dismissal that liberals inevitably whip out when faced with the facts in this book. As a former military officer and Desert Storm veteran, I had a front-row seat during Clinton's imbecilic crusade to transform the Armed Forces into a political chew-toy via "initiatives" such as Women in Combat.

Be prepared to be outraged by what you read in this book.

I have read Mitchell's book when it first came out. Since the military's inception of the all-volunteer force, the service has had to market itself as a company with jobs to be had. Thus it now resembles a corporation of employees rather than a fighting force. The information proved true then and continues to prove the same. It's prophetic. One example: the logistical problems due to the differences in men and women. Recently the military announced it will spend a lot of money for cockpits for aircraft suited for females - in essence - his and hers aircraft. "Weak Link" is not a historical account of women in the service nor does it berate women in the service. What it brings to the public's attention is the push to fully integrate women in all the combat services.

As a Navy Officer I have seen first hand the effect of women on ships. Ships have become floating brothels. Officer and enlisted fraternization has skyrocekted, and the chain of command has turned their head. My last ship a female officer who was married had ...with over 10 of her enlisted personnel. Now you tell me does this effect the chain of command, and should this be happening in the Navy. Abortions, illegitimate children are the results of placing men and women together on ships. Basically both man and woman have to be held acountable in these situations. It is a problem we will have to deal with, but unfortunately the chain of command was indoctrinated during the Clinton Political Correctness of the 90's. Nothing is going to happen, and it is becoming official policy on ships to allow fraternization as long as it does not affect the ship to much. Good Grief. Liberals have won this one.

Mitchell's book makes no claim to be an objective or academic study, and it's a good thing. In fact, Mitchell's only stated purpose is "to tell how sexual integration of the military has not worked the way our military leaders say it has." Since Mitchell provides few footnotes or references to support his statements, this book might, at best, be called "one man's opinion." More accurately, this book might be called a collection of patronizing, unsupported, parochial, misogynistic hot air.

Take the title, for starters. The "feminization" of the American military? This is hardly a supportable characterization of the military overall. Apply the same logic to the increase in the number of racial minorities in the service: would anyone agree to publish a book subtitled, "The Blackening of the American Military?" Do people refer to the "masculinization" of the nursing or teaching professions because men have entered these fields?

Mitchell writes with blinders on. He's completely unaware of the historical experience of other countries. Before we make judgments about what we think women *should* do in the military, based on a few years' of peacetime experience, we should know *what has actually happened* in wartime. A study of the Russian experience in the Second World War and of women who fought during the Vietnam War is a good starting point.

As a professional historian and a former military officer, I am appalled that anyone would take this book seriously.

This is a very good book if you're looking for the counter-arguments currently keeping women out of combat. Unfortunately, some of Mr. Mitchell's statements - such as where he argues female cadets should not attend the service academies because they don't like history classes as much as male cadets - ring hollow. As a female Air Force reservist, I found the large majority of this book to be unabashedly far-right-wing, illogical, or just plain wrong. However, I still keep it around to refer to whenever I wonder why almost ten percent of all military jobs are closed to me based solely on what hangs between my legs.