Instead, highly specialized hospital corpsman trained to identify medical conditions that would be life threatening or disrupt the boats objectives, are in charge of the health and welfare of every submarine crewmember. Unlike their surface counterparts, they may have up to a four-day wait before an injured or seriously ill sailor can be transferred off. Any sailor with a potentially dangerous or uncontrollable condition is instead medically disqualified from submarine service. An ectopic pregnancy, which is unpredictable and undetectable, requires emergency surgery within 24 hours and would kill a female sailor before she could ever get off the boat. I know that women who want to be submariners would be awesome, but it would be a cruel joke the feminists played on us if to fulfill our potential as women we would have to give up the very thing that makes us female.
Submariners spend months under water away from their families with little or no communication.
The emotional and psychological distraction of having women on board would do nothing to enhance their fighting effectiveness. Forget how much money it would cost to refit the subs to accommodate women. That's not the issue. The basic purpose of the submarine service is to protect our nation, not to be an equal opportunity employer. It may make it easier for recruiters to fill their quotas each month, but it's not worth the problems it would create.