I was initially against women in the squadron. Now, I am kind of neutral, based upon feedback from current pilots. The reason I was against them was mainly one of squadron chemistry. An all-male squadron was like the coolest frat-house ever with the best toys in the entire world, and you are paid to do it all. I'll never be able to describe it properly. It is little different from the male bonding in other combat units. "Tight" doesn't begin to describe the friendships. When you engage in immensely dangerous things together, and trust each other with your life, the bond is immensely strong.
As males, you could be yourself. You could be crude if you needed or wanted to. Let a fart rip and everyone laughs or punches you. You could stick a Playboy magazine in your drawer. You could say certain words. But then, inject a single woman into it, and suddenly there is tension... sexual tension, protectiveness, "don't want to hurt any feelings," guys are no longer themselves. They become a different person.
Post-mission debriefings tend to be harsh. As leader, you analyze everything, and criticize as guys do. "You formation out to the area sucked today. You were constantly behind the 3-9 line, and too low. FIX it!" Or, as you watch video, you can laugh and poke fun at some feeble effort to gun track someone. When women first came, I had a buddy call me up. "It's unbelievable. You can't say F--- anymore. And they cry in the debrief! I had a girl start to sob when I criticized her flying!"
It sounded pretty grim. But as I mentioned, apparently they are doing fine. Things have calmed down, and they (the women) are doing well. The very best women pilots act (and essentially become) "one of the guys" and is tough, can handle criticism, can take it and dish it out. Hopefully, the training process weeds out the bad ones, men and women both.
And no, women cannot handle more G than men. That is a myth, the same myth that says women have more endurance than men. When women marathon runners beat the men, I'll eat those words. A visual fight is very much like wrestling in the muscles and endurance needed. Those who wrestle know that there's not a ton of motion, but a lot of power is being expended. Men have thicker muscles and are better able to do BFM.
