I was fortunate, I served when women primarily only had shore assignments...there were a few coastal patrol squadrons I think that had a bunch of gals on it...and I think for smaller craft it's not a big deal...but to your point...even being in the air-wing, once deployed on a carrier everybody takes part in damage control drills...because when the SHTF and fires are raging and things are exploding and people are screaming dying and wounded...people still ambulatory have to have it in muscle-memory and reptilian-brain or all perish. You get to the point where steel is burning and you have major problems. And you have to be able to help tote big-ass hoses, don breathing apparatus and retrieve wounded crew mates. Some can probably handle it...maybe 1/3 I reckon...the rest won't be able to handle much of that...which means more burden on those who can...and if too many of the able-bodied drop...well, might as well don a vest, pop a raft and abandon ship...
IMO it would have been best to limit women to coastal craft and in the blue water fleet cap the number so that these dilution of capability issues can be mitigated.
But, that didn't happen and isn't likely to occur...the genie is out of the bottle and if there is a lesson to be learned it will have to come the hard way...
