trapdoor:

As a veteran, I'm not opposed to women in combat, with one proviso -- the women have to meet the same physical fitness standards as the men serving in those combat units.

Currently, for a male Soldier age 17-21 those standards are (Minimums, to pass the physical training test):

I agree that women should be able to meet the physical standards necessary to perform their jobs, but I disagree that the performance standards need to be the same for men and women. The physical standards are in place partly because a certain minimum level of physical fitness is required for the job and partly to motivate soldiers to train hard. I think the main reason why men have to do 59 pushups in two minutes instead of 19 is because the average man could probably do 19 without any physical training. The real question is how much strength (as indicated by the number of pushups the soldier can perform) is necessary for the soldier to be effective in combat? As long as both men and women meet that minimm level of strength, I think it is okay for men and women to have different physical standards. In other words, it's possible that 15 pushups is the minimum required to be combat effective for both men and women, but a 59 pushup standard forces 99% of male soldiers to train hard and a 19 pushup standard forces 99% of female soldiers to train hard. I think that would be okay.