Woman and Pogues in the Army

I'm sure 90% of you see the title and are thinking "huh?" Well, Infantrymen like myself call support unit soldiers Pogues or Pogues. We always like to joke about "pogues" and how they can't shoot or have never been in the field and never really suffered from the cold, wet, and all the other stuff that goes along with it. Where this comes into Iraq is there are not enough Infantrymen in the Army to do all the patrols, raids and all that. So, alot of units like Field Artillery and many others have been cannibalized and turned into trigger pullers. Having been on several raids before, we had 1st Armored Division Field Artillery pull security around the house while we assaulted. At first, I thought to myself "oh great, pogues, and worst, they're 1st AD." So, I thought they would be all ate up and not know what's going on. I was surprised though, they actually did what they were supposed to do. However, my other friends weren't as impressed as I was. My girlfriend is a Medic, and from what I understand, sometimes they are having to send female medics on patrols because of a medic shortage. This is what really worries me and upsets me. Which must seem weird, because when I did raids or patrols I was focused and didn't think about getting hurt or killed. After a few times going out, you learn to put it aside in your brain and not think about it. And despite this, I still worry that my Girlfriend might get hurt. Even though, all our raids were flawless and without a hitch, with the except of 3 separate occasions we shot and killed the people running away after giving them warning shots. So, Woman are not supposed to be on the front or doing all this stuff, but because there is not enough Infantryman to do it. They have had cannibalize alot of units to do this and help compensate for the short numbers.