U.S. special operations forces have a singular message to women who hope to join: You're not welcome here. According to a survey of more than 7,600 men in the U.S. special operations forces, women have no place among the commandos, reported The Associated Press. The voluntary survey, which was conducted by the RAND Corp., found that respondents believed that women serving in the Navy SEALs or Army Delta would hurt unit effectiveness, lower their standards and drive men away from special operations.
Among other things, those who took the survey cited women lacking the physical strength and mental toughness required of those in special operations.
The release of this survey data comes on the heels of the announcement by Secretary of Defense Ashton Carter that the Pentagon would open all combat roles to women.
"There will be no exceptions," Carter said at a news conference, reported The New York Times. "They’ll be allowed to drive tanks, fire mortars and lead infantry soldiers into combat. They’ll be able to serve as Army Rangers and Green Berets, Navy SEALs, Marine Corps infantry, Air Force parajumpers and everything else that was previously open only to men.”
Following Carter's announcement, a panel of federal judges in California heard arguments on whether or not the court should weigh in on the male-only military draft, Stars and Stripes reported. Under the Military Selective Service Act, men must register within 30 days following their 18th birthday with the Selective Service System, which could call upon them for compulsory military service in a time of war.
Some survey takers said that having women in the special forces was an inevitability and that it was better to integrate sooner rather than later.
"This integration will happen eventually and we might as well embrace it while we have current solid leadership and incoming solid leadership at the top to facilitate the transition," said one respondent.
However, the overwhelming majority those who answered the survey were totally opposed to women serving in the special forces, citing a variety of reasons that include women being distractions, the inability to be trained properly for mission preparedness, and the treatment of women in foreign countries where special ops conduct missions.
"The atmosphere of a SEAL platoon is that of aggression, and a no-fail attitude capable of achieving any task, which is NOT complemented with the introduction of females to the platoon. The mere presence of a woman would negatively alter the mindset of SEAL operators," according to a respondent.
Another said: "I think having women in a SEAL Platoon is a bad fit and will degrade the combat effectiveness of a unit, but I do not think that means women cannot work with SEALs. They do not have to have a Trident (certification) to be effective in low visibility operations and I do think that it is beneficial to use them to break up the profile of service members working abroad."
"Gender equality is not an option when the bullets are flying. Most males in the area of the world I work in would rather back hand a female than listen to her speak. There is a reason we send men to do these jobs," said another respondent.
And some respondents went so far as to say they would leave the special forces if they allow women in.
"I will get out as soon as my contract is up if women serve in Special Forces," said one respondent. "You've spent tens of millions training us, we have a good thing, please don't f--k it up."
