This section includes the "fourth wave" of articles and commentaries that are continuing to question the judgment of Pentagon leaders who are preparing to order women into direct ground combat battalions.  These are the smaller "tip of the spear" Army and Marine Corps infantry, armor, artillery, and Special Operations Forces that attack the enemy with deliberate offensive action.  During a House Armed Services Personnel Committee on July 24, in answer to a question about whether women could "choose" direct ground combat units, Marine Lt. General Robert Milstead confirmed that assignments will not be voluntary.  "That's why we call them orders," said the general.

There is no evidence that anything more than a small minority of military women want to be treated like men in direct ground combat.  The most recent online survey done in August by the Military Times asked active-duty female readers whether they would want to take a combat job once it was open to them.  Of the female respondents, 13% said Yes, 9% were not sure, and 77% of uniformed women said No, they would not take a combat job. (Aug. 19, Navy Times) 

The Center for Military Readiness submitted a statement for the record of a House Armed Services Personnel Subcommittee hearing on July 24, 2013: 

Statement of Elaine Donnelly, Center for Military Readiness

HASC Personnel Subcommittee Women in Service Review

The following are articles by many commentators who have criticized the Defense Department's moves to force women in to direct ground combat.  Additional op-eds and articles are available in Part 3, Part 2, and Part 1.

Jul 29   Lt. Col. Robert Maginnis, USA Ret Wash. Times: Sending Our Daughters to War

Jun 25  Patrick Buchanan: The Pentagon's Surrender to Feminism

Jun 12  Thomas Sowell: Sex and the Military

May 24  Marine Corps Gazette: Let us Fight for You - The Moral Imperative of a Masculine Military

May 22, Front Page Magazine, Daniel Greenfield: A Gender-Neutral Army

Apr 17  Washington Times Editorial: What Warriors Know

Mar. 7   Jack Murphy, SOFREP: The Inconvenient Truth About Women in Combat - Part II

Feb. 25  Maggie Gallagher: Is President Obama Willing to Draft Women Like Julia?

Feb. 23  Harold Hutchison, Soldier of Fortune, New Policy Puts Women Under Fire

Feb 12  Jude Eden:  Part 4: Let the Men Be Heroes - Because They Are

Feb. 8   Jack Murphy, SOFREP: The Inconvenient Truth About Women in Combat - Part I

Feb 5   Jeffrey H. Anderson, The Weekly Standard, Women in Combat Civilizing?

Feb 4  Jude Eden:  Part 3: Women in Combat Units vs. Military's Sexual Assault Problem

Jan 29  Jude Eden:  Part 2: The Problem(s) of Women in Combat - - Careerists v. Mother Nature

Jan 25  Jude Eden:  Part 1: The Problem(s) with Women in Combat

Jan 31  Kevin O'Brien, Cleveland Plain-Dealer: Women in Combat is a Lousy Idea

Jan 24  Washington Times: Chumley: Casting Doubt on Female Fighters

Jan 21  Washington Times, Donnelly: Measuring Risks for Women in Combat

Additional Articles of Interest:

Aug 18  JDNews: MEU Marines Conduct Fast Roping Exercise in Drizzle, Darkness

Aug 7  Wash. Examiner:  Retired Top Marine Hasn't Softened Stance on Women, Gays in the Military

Jul 19  New York Times Blog: Marines Share Frank Views With Hagel on Women in Combat

Jul 3  Marine Corps Times:  Two More Women Fail Marine Infantry Test

Jun 27  Rowan Scarborough, Washington Times - GI Jane: Special Operations Forces Are Worried About Adding Women

May 23  Harold Hutchison, Soldier of Fortune, "Army Considering New Physical Standards"

May 2013  CMR Policy Analysis:

Registration of Women for Selective Service and a Possible Draft

Apr 2013  CMR Policy Analysis:

Defense Department Drive to Force Women into Direct Ground Combat: Why Congress Should Intervene