I can't believe this thread has been going on for 6 pages.
Guess what? If the Navy is ordered to allow women to serve on submarines, then every single person in the submarine community is going to say "Aye, aye sir" and carry on with their duties. Period.
And now it's eight. Who cares if we don't make policy, no harm in a civil discussion about the issue.
Most of the female nukes that I knew were already enjoying all of the attention that came with being one of the few females in a mostly male group. Several of them got married just to get the boost in BAH. I am sure that getting knocked up and missing a deployment would just break their hearts.
Can you clarify how it is that you know the intentions of these females? And even if this is what they're thinking, how is this anecdotal "evidence" any better than phrogpilot73's about his wife? Not saying your experiences don't matter in debates like this, but I always understood that the best evidence usually comes from studies that benefit from the law of large numbers, such as a formal survey.
If a young HS graduate wants to join the Navy (roughly 18 years old), then the deal is that the Navy is going to train her in a skill and expect her to use that skill to the benefit of the Navy, it's should not be to much to ask for her to live up to her part of the deal and not require a year off (or more) of sea duty to have a kid. After 5 years (boot camp, A-school, sea tour) she wants to go to shore duty and have a baby (at the ripe old age of 23)..good for her. Same for officers. 5 years is roughly equivelent to flight school + a JO tour. Graduate college at 22, finish your JO tour at 27, be a happy mom by 28 if you want. Anything short of that, is irresponsible.
I see what you're getting at with mission readiness importance, but I think your expectations are bit unrealistic and unreasonable. It seems like you're saying that women entering the Navy should expect to have no aspirations outside of being a successful sailor for that period of time. But first of all, isn't that different from what the Navy really espouses? Aren't we encouraged to have other things to live for, like a family for instance? It seems pretty normal and expected that a male sailor get married and have kids when he so desires, though we're educated to plan for it. Seems a bit unfair that women be expected to put such aspirations on hold for an arbitrary period of time. Secondly, on a practical note, if we do impose that arbitrary restriction, can we really expect it to be effective? As phrogdriver pointed out earlier, as human beings, we're hard pressed to keep those sexual urges at bay for long periods of time; and just because a woman is hell bent on being the best damn sailor going in, doesn't mean she might not get wistful about being with someone or having kids a year or two down the road. Is it better to just regulate everything, or pick and choose your regulations, knowing that inevitable human errors will just jam more paperwork between regulatory hard places?
Personally, I agree with previous comments that integration on the subs is inevitable, and I doubt that it will make the sub force less effective if all other variables, especially training and leadership, remain the same.