Author argues against women in military in Newman Ctr. talk

While women have proven themselves capable in fields such as law, business and academia, Brian Mitchell feels they still have no place with men on the battlefield. Speaking to a small crowd in the Newman Center Tuesday night, Mitchell, a military and foreign affairs writer for Investor's Business Daily, promoted his recent book, Women in the Military: Flirting With Disaster. The speech was sponsored by the Orthodox Christian Fellowship. Father Alexander Webster, the OCF's chaplain, is Mitchell's pastor. Women in the Military is a chronological study of the military's attempt to integrate women into the armed forces. Mitchell said that there were practical reasons why women shouldn't be allowed to perform most military duties, explaining that the costs of having women in the military outweigh the benefits. "[Women] increase cost, sacrifice efficiency, sacrifice safety," Mitchell said, emphasizing that there are no legal, moral or religious reasons for the military to use women. Mitchell explained that his main concern is that of military effectiveness. He said there are several disadvantages of having women in the military: they require more medical attention, are incapable of the same physical performance as men, have a higher drop-out rate and have lower rates of deployment. He also said that women aggravate the military's existing problems of single parenthood and fraternization between soldiers, and negatively affect unit cohesion. "The military attracts a certain type of woman," specifically homosexuals, Mitchell said. "[Lesbians] behave more like men, as much as they can. They never quite make it. They're still women." According to Mitchell, the only advantage of having women in the military is their "better behavior." Drawing no distinction between combat and non-combat positions, Mitchell advocated the use of women in medical positions as their only acceptable role in the military. "[The military] has got to give jobs to women," Mitchell said in the question-and-answer period following his speech. "[It has] got to pretend that they're equal." Audience reaction to the speech was strong. "Needless to say, I don't agree," said Alex Fleming, a College sophomore in ROTC. "I may be inexperienced, but I've met more women I'd want to serve with me than men." Engineering sophomore Tiffany Selman agreed. "I was shocked. I wasn't expecting such views." "His points don't apply to me and the women that I know," added Selman, the ROTC's assistant operations officer. Wharton sophomore Peter Margetis, however, supported Mitchell's views. "I very much agree with much of what Mitchell said.? Keep in mind that military is not society -- [its] job is to protect us." After graduating from the University of Cincinnati in 1980, Mitchell spent seven years serving as an officer in infantry and counterintelligence units in the U.S. Army. He left the Army in 1987 to pursue a career in journalism and covered the Pentagon for the Navy Times until 1990, when he left the job to focus on his book.