The Defense Advisory Committee on Women in the Services, a tax-funded civilian feminist lobby group that tries to set Pentagon policy, has been pushing for months to get women assigned to duty on submarines. Maybe the news of the Russian submarine tragedy will quiet the feminists awhile, but they won't give up because feminists always push their sex-neutral agenda despite military readiness or even common sense. Women on subs is a terrible idea. The Navy's highest-ranking admirals are strongly opposed, but the powerful feminists in the Clinton administration are trying to get their way by executive order. This would be grossly unfair to submariners, whose undersea life is difficult enough.
Submariners patrol the oceans in cramped quarters that lack fresh air, sunshine and privacy.
Each shower serves 50 enlisted submariners, compared to 25 sailors on surface ships. Junior crew members frequently sleep on mattresses in noisy torpedo rooms. The ship alterations necessary to accommodate women on subs would further reduce living standards or, alternatively, make it necessary to remove operational equipment. These millions of dollars would be spent just to please the civilian feminists in the Pentagon, not to improve readiness or morale. Female sailors of child-bearing age would face particular medical risks on submarines.