ELISABETH HASSELBECK (HOST): Defense Secretary Ash Carter announcing all combat jobs, including infantry units, will be open to women beginning next year.

PETE HEGSETH (HOST): So, is this really the right move?

STEVE DOOCY (HOST): Fox News correspondent Lea Gabrielle joins us right now with some unique insight. She served as a fighter pilot and intel officer in the U.S. Navy. Good morning to you.

LEA GABRIELLE: Hey, nice to see you guys. Thanks for having me.

DOOCY: What do you think?

[...]

GABRIELLE: I think, you know, if the Defense Department is basically trying to push the belly button of, you know, the services and say if women cannot do this, tell us why, prove it, that's one thing. But I think at this point we really need to give the people in that petri dish, the people who are at BUDS [Basic Underwater Demolition/SEAL], which is where they train Navy SEALs, for example, the room and the space to really assess women if they end up going through BUDS, to determine can they really handle this? Is this going to make our military stronger? Because the real question here is -- it shouldn't be an equal opportunity employer, I don't think. The question is can women make the military, these specific units, stronger? If the answer is yes, OK great. If the answer is no, we really need to take a look at what we're doing here.

HASSELBECK: I'm hearing terms like petri dish. Do you believe this is a social experiment? If so, is this the time?

GABRIELLE: It is a social experiment and I've been in that social experiment. When I became a combat fighter pilot, I was one of the first women to do it. And I had more senior male officers say, you know, we don't know if this was a wise decision or not. And I said, well you know, the decision's been made so I want to be part of this. But it absolutely is. There are dynamics that are intangibles that is very difficult for anyone to understand if you haven't actually served in some of the most elite units.

HASSELBECK: Like what?

GABRIELLE: You know, the interpersonal relationships that are going to happen. Just the way units flow together. And then there's also, you know, when you look at a female body and a male body, the most absolute best physical specimen of a female body compared to the best physical specimen of a male body, there are differences. That's why we don't compete in the Olympics. And when you look at special operations forces, the most elite, the best of the best, these are not people just passing standards. These are people above and beyond standards.

HEGSETH: Well, as part of this process, the Pentagon was supposed to go through service by service to study and review the capabilities. The Marine Corps did just that and found that all male units are more effective. All male units outperform gender-integrated units by 69 percent of the tasks. The integrated teams performed better in two machine-gun related tasks and women had a 40 percent rate of injury compared to 18 percent for men. So, I was an infantryman in the army, served with a lot of women who do incredible things in the military. But, do you feel like in this process the Marine Corps sought some exceptions, they were holding out on this policy because they looked at that study and said there just are differences between men and women but Ash Carter, the secretary of Defense, said end of discussion. Women in all units. Do you think, is that the right way to handle it?

GABRIELLE: You know, this particular study there were some questions that were brought up by this particular study. But, you know, I think that a civilian running the Department of Defense has to listen to the people who spend their lives serving our country, wearing a uniform and if people who are training, people who are assessing are saying this isn't going to work, we really have to listen to that. You know, right now we're talking about putting special operation forces around the world. They're doing our nation's bidding. And they really have to have the room and space. I don't want people who are running the BUDS program to be concerned about their career if they say this doesn't work.

Related:

Pentagon Chief To Military: Open All Combat Jobs To Women

Previously:

Limbaugh Calls Allowing Women In All Combat Roles In US Military “Absurd”

Fox's Tantaros Responds To Women Passing Army Ranger Test: It Seems Like “Men Can't Have Anything To Themselves Anymore”

Fox's Ralph Peters: Women In Combat Will Inevitably “Get People Killed”

Fox Guest On Women In Combat: “You Cannot Violate The Laws Of Nature Without Expecting Some Consequences”