Predictably, there’s still the usual sort of worry about “lost morale” in the military should many women find their way into attack forces. But recent studies have shown—including within the U.S. Marines, a group that especially protested the change—that mixed-sex combat groups exhibit high levels of group cohesion and loyalty. In fact, mixed-sex military groups’ feelings of “belonging” are as high as, and in some cases higher than, single-sex groups’. What’s more, the rate of sexual assault is no higher in mixed-sex groups than in male-only ones.[*19]
