Michelle Thibeau, USMA ’14, served in the U.S. Army Special Operations Command in Afghanistan. As a woman and a soldier, she knows that there are many roles in the armed forces that women can and should fill. Is combat one of them?
Watch what she has to say (video as 1.1 million views since 20 Oct 2025) or read the transcript; at the end read the comments on the video:
TRANSCRIPT
Women do not belong in combat.
I say this as a woman—and a soldier.
I’ve seen war firsthand, in all its ugliness and brutality.
In 2017, I served in the U.S. Army Special Operations Command in Afghanistan. My job was to engage with local women—something my male colleagues were discouraged from doing, because of religious and cultural barriers. That access was critical to our mission.
I saw up close what our warfighters had to do to succeed, to survive, and to protect civilians.
I was as close to combat as you could get. And I thank God I didn’t get any closer.
I’m proud of my military service. There are many roles in the armed forces that women can and should fill. But combat is not one of them.
Until recently, it was conventional wisdom not to put women on the front lines. The principle that combat is a male burden has been nearly universal across civilizations.
There’s an obvious reason for this. Men are, on average, stronger, faster, and more capable of delivering— and withstanding—extreme violence. That’s not a stereotype. It’s basic physiology.
And common sense tells us: a society that places women—the bearers of new life—on the front lines is not prioritizing its future.
Yet in 2015, the Obama administration ordered the full integration of women into all military combat roles, including special operations and mixed-gender infantry units.
At the time, many of us in uniform knew this was a mistake. And we had the data to prove it.
A U.S. Marine Corps study that same year found that all-male units outperformed mixed-gender units in nearly every measurable category. Mixed units had slower times in obstacle courses. Women were six times more likely to suffer musculoskeletal injuries than men. Women took longer to evacuate wounded comrades to safety. Where male Marines could do single-person lifts, female Marines often had to revert to two-person drags, which were slower and less efficient.
In war, those gaps aren’t theoretical—they’re fatal.
Military experts, including those in the Israel Defense Forces, have identified additional concerns: in mixed-gender combat units, the Israelis found, male soldiers often shifted focus away from the mission to protect their female comrades — their natural instinct — even if it risked compromising mission goals.
And there’s another obvious problem: As Anna Simons, Professor of Defense Analysis at the Naval Postgraduate School, observes: “Men and women have been each other’s most consistent distraction since the beginning of time. To pretend that we don’t know what will happen when men and women are thrown together for prolonged periods in emotionally intense situations defies common sense.”
Preparing for battle and battle itself is stressful enough. Why would we want to introduce sexual tension into the mix? Not to mention the strain this places on supervising officers who now have to deal with sexual dynamics in addition to their traditional responsibilities.
Does this sound like a strategy for mission success?
But all these warnings were ignored.
Defense Secretary Leon Panetta famously said, “If [women] can meet the qualifications for the job, then they should have the right to serve…” But when women couldn’t meet those standards, the response wasn’t to rethink the policy—it was to lower the standards.
When two women graduated Ranger School in 2015, it was only after multiple attempts and what military insiders described as “unusual command interest.” At West Point, physical tests have employed gender-adjusted thresholds. In the Army Physical Fitness Test, male soldiers had to perform 84 push-ups in two minutes—women, just 42.
That’s not equality. That’s a compromise with reality that war will never make.
The Pentagon, under President Obama and then even more so under President Biden, prioritized ideology over effectiveness. The military—whose only purpose is to fight and win wars—was turned into a social laboratory.
“Valor knows no gender,” Obama said. Maybe so. But strength, speed, and lethality do.
In November 2024, when Pete Hegseth was nominated for Secretary of Defense, the issue returned to the spotlight. Critics attacked Hegseth for saying, “We should not have women in combat roles. It hasn’t made us more effective, hasn’t made us more lethal, has made fighting more complicated.”
He’s right. And deep down, everyone knows it.
The first job of government is to keep its citizens safe. To do that our armed forces must be governed by biological and cultural realities, not the fictions of gender theorists.
No one wants to go to war, but if it becomes necessary, let’s not make things more complicated than they have to be. Keep women away from combat.
That’s a burden men and men alone must bear.
I’m Michelle Thibeau for Prager University.
Thank you for watching this video. To keep PragerU videos free, please consider making a tax-deductible donation.
What People Are Saying
(Comments on the video)
“Myself a female combat veteran also in SOCOM, I entirely agree. Passed the training with males standards. I was the sole woman of my unit. Felt really proud at the time. Then combat happened. They tried to protect me and when one of us was injured, I couldn’t carry him and I had to protect them at the very risk they’re protecting me. Combatting alongside men, I understood my presence was hindering the unit. I took me years to admit and understand. There’re reasons a woman hasn’t become a Navy Seals. I saw this video and instantly remembered.
I shouldn’t picked a combat role, but I’m still proud of my service.”
“I am a combat veteran, I even have a CAR and I agree with her. I am a woman, I have more direct experience than she does but I am so glad she brought up the Marine Corps testing, those data points cannot be refuted. We are not the same, physically and mentally. Thank you praegu for making this video and having the data points, truth doesn’t care for your misguided ideology. War is ugly, brutal and not for women. Do we have a place in the armed forces? Yes but it should never entail combat roles.”
“Retired Female LEO here. 26 years in the business. It’s a very tough job, some men and most women don’t belong in the profession. I got in before DEI took hold. I had to do everything the men did in recruit class. EVERYTHING. I was on the job long enough to see tides change and women getting in and promoted to fill boxes. It’s wrong, it’s not fair to the women who CAN perform better than some men. BUT I can say, with full confidence, although I could keep up with them I was NEVER better than the best physically. I personally have discouraged women who talk to me about the job from getting in. I have told them if you want a family, if you want children, Don’t do it!. If you can’t keep up with the men, don’t make them worry about you by being there in a weaker way than them. I was good at what I did, I loved every minute. I sacrificed my life and my physical health for the job. In 2016 a OTJ vehicle crash, not of my own doing, but by another incompetent driver took me out. No guts no glory, I just had to take a medical retirement that I am willing to say most men wouldn’t have had to. A whiplash and concussion gave me cervical instability, vertigo, vision issues and chronic pain. It’s been a decade of struggle and seeking proper and alternative medical care. Our bodies aren’t the same as men. I am living proof of it. Women have a place in law enforcement, there are places for them, just not a lot of them. Employing women in LE jobs should be limited to the very best physically. I have never served in the military, but I can say that I would never want to be in a foxhole on a front line, ever. I am sure there’s many roles for the women in the military like the one described in this video. But standards should never be lowered for women to get into any physically demanding and dangerous job. NEVER. Again, I lived it in law enforcement. Personally, no regrets whatsoever, BUT, females think long and hard about what you’re giving up. How much do want to be 47 -50 years old and walking around with a cane, trying to find help after work man’s comp runs out?? If I knew the end game, I may have not done it…who knows, I determined, I was pretty strong willed…and of course it’s too late for me, the damage is done. To the young women reading this…think it through long and hard, pray about it. Weigh all the consequences. Stay safe.”
1980, 17, I joined the Army Reserve as a Pathfinder, 11B1P. The 22 of us in the unit, were interviewed individually, concerning this subject of women in combat. In addition to all the points made in this video. The results touched on our instinct to protect women. We would take extraordinary risks to protect or save a female soldier, where we would not for a male soldier.”
“Until recently, it was common sense to recognize that women couldn’t meet the same rigorous physical requirements as men. Women can still take on effective military roles, but front line combat is not one of them. In order to protect it’s citizenry, a military needs to be effective. Ideology will never change this.”
“Reminds me of the line from the original Jurassic Park: “You were so preoccupied with whether or not you could, you never stopped to think about whether or not you SHOULD”.
“All that is true in the video. However, I might add, that IF captured, a woman would be subjected to things way worse than death.”
“Islamic brutality on captured females breaks her fellow male captives.”
“Unfortunately, Hollywood has valorized women in combat. You have women knocking men flat in fist fights, and women slicing through entire battlefields of men with only a sword; and they get heroic music as they win every fight. BTW, the hero themed music while women are defeating every male assailant is incredibly powerful – much more so than most people realize. Hollywood has literally brainwashed to believe things about women in combat roles that are just not true.”
“I am a 70 year old retired U.S. Army Master Sergeant (E8/1972-1993) and former defense contractor worker bee (2005-2010). The issue comes down to mostly biology. If strength, endurance and height are not an issue, then there is no reason a woman cannot do most military jobs. In no case should standards be “dumbed down”, as they were during the Clinton era, to accommodate women. They either meet the standard for that job, or they don’t, just as it is for any man wanting to do that same job. In the combat arms fields of infantry, armor, combat engineer, artillery and a few others, women should not be on the battlefield doing those jobs. Reasons? (1) There is no privacy of any kind in the field when deployed and there are no separate sanitary or washing facilities available, if any are available at all, (2) Strength and endurance are very important, as soldier combat loads have constantly risen and can be anywhere from 50 to over a 100 pounds or more, and everything you do is darn heavy and hard work (3) Bad things happen on the battlefield, and even worse things can happen to women if they are captured by the enemy, and we have seen that before in almost every war throughout history where women soldiers have been captured. There are other reason as well, but these are key ones.”
“I am a Spanish woman of 53. I served in the Spanish military from 1994-2000. My job was a first line combat position. I participated in two peace-keeping operations in Bosnia under the UN and under the NATO. I totally agree with this video and I totally disagree with feminists. A woman can serve in the military, for sure, just not in the front line. Period.”
“Over 25 years ago an old man told me that he felt that women shouldn’t be in combat because combat hardens a person. The very training is meant to break down humans’ natural disinclination to kill…sometimes brutally…the enemy. This often leaves trauma EVEN IF the fight is for a good cause. The old man said that women needed to be tender, gentle, and nurturing, because they will be caring for tiny babies and young children during the most formative years of life. And while fathers are certainly important, mothers play a pivotal role in very early child development. Of course, we now know that it’s possible that the stress the mother experiences can affect a pre-born child, and certainly a mother who returns with PTSD will have a powerful effect, through no fault of her own, on her children. So, while I understand the financial reasons why some women want a military career that includes combat, we can’t put our heads in the sand about the possible long-term mental and emotional problems this might cause their children.”
“Retrired Army Veteran here, with 7 combat deployments.. I’ll save everyone 5 minutes and 27 seconds of their life…..The answer is NO!”
“As a man I would not want a woman as a partner on the front-line to watch my back because in reality she will drag me down more than she will be of benefit. I am not dying because some feminists needs to prove she can keep up with men and fail. I need to trust someone to have my back that is at least as capable as me in EVERY regard.”
“I am a Veteran, and so is my beautiful wife and mother of my children. This young lady is correct; Women have a great role to play and have contributed very much to the armed forces. But they do not belong in combat, my wife and I agree on this. We as men should cherish our women.”
“There’s a strange idea that women must be in all traditionally male spaces in order to achieve equality. It was good back when women were excluded based on misogynistic stereotypes. But it went to far. Not only are the male-only social spaces dwindling but women are being shoehorned into positions that are dangerous or ineffective for them to be in. It’s the same reason non-Catholics are demanding the Church have female priests. There’s this misguided belief that if women aren’t allowed somewhere or made room for then that group must hate them. As a woman, I see so many women do things just because it’s male-dominated, not because they have any real desire to do it. They take joy in entering male spaces because we’ve been taught to get glory from that and not engaging in any of our innate through traditional desires.”
“They don’t belong in infantry or front line combat. However, I do think they make great pilots. If I’m on the ground surrounded by enemy closing in, and an A-10 Warthog comes in to save my life, I don’t care who’s in that cockpit…male or female.”
“I only served in one mixed gender Army unit. It was a complete daytime soap opera shit show. Luckily for me, my period of service (79 – 2003), Line Army units and US Navy combatant ships were all male. The band of brothers syndrome adds to combat efficiency and is a force multiplier. BTW, thank you for your service, young lady!”
“Former military woman here. I agree 100% We are fantastic in the support roles, in logistics, in medical and technical roles. Even as pilots. Never as frontline infantry, or tank commanders. It is just not our strong point.”
“There should be as many women in combat roles as there are in professional NFL football teams. Zero…either as a discrete number or a percentage. Thank you Michelle for having the courage and fortitude to state the obvious without denigrating the wonderful and irreplaceable role women have in our society and in the lives of every male since the Adam met Eve.”
“Seen this first hand how standards were lowered so women could advance in combat roles. Also, I saw lesser women take leadership roles simply because of their gender. With only roughly 17% of the military being women, it was statically improbable that so many women took leadership roles over men. Thank God the voice of reason is bringing back our lethality as a military.”
“As a retired 23 yr army MSG I can say standards were lowered for females in jump school. Wish I had kept my jump school manual which unbelievably said the standards were lowered for females. I used to fish with a retired ranger school instructor who retired because the upper echelon of the army dictated that women WOULD make it thru ranger school. A social experiment pure and simple. The only woman who competed in the ranger challenge did so with a male partner. Try that with 2 females.”
“The disruption women cause in Direct Ground Combat, these tight knit organizations is real. The additional provisions (for health, hygiene, and privacy) are too expensive and difficult to do just to accommodate a very few women. And let’s also be honest that there is no woman whose contributions would be so great as to eclipse that of a similarly qualified man so she brings no added lethality to a team. Conclusion: This is a fake issue created to virtue signal. You know this to be true because there are ZERO women playing against men in the NBA, NFL, MLB, NHL, Mens Soccer, or any other professional sport that has something as simple as money on the line. Decision-makers won’t lose money on this stupidity but politicians will get Army Rangers, SEALs, Marine Recon, Delta, and SF killed just so they can pretend they are more enlightened than you are.”
“Anyone who disagrees with this has already abandoned reality and therefore should not be making decisions for the military.”
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