Equal Opportunity in United States Armed Forces: Minorities and Women

The Armed Services has always been a microcosm of the US people. Nowhere else will you find a more diverse group living and working together in close proximity. It has been seen from history that whatever program and policies that the Army institutes within its ranks, the civilian population eventually follows suit. Racial

The most hardworking people are usually the least recognized. They are generally the least paid as well. There must be some sort of incentive for them to continually work so hard. The United States Army has been the underdogs of the military branch. The United States Army is probably the hardest working branch of the military, but also the least sought after. To the general public they are not considered to be at the top of the spectrum amongst the other branches of military. The government has helped in creating a bias within the branches of military by making the standards to get into the military so low compared to some of the other branches. The Army should be considered the “People’s Army.”

Over the past few years, there has been huge discussions when the topic of equality for women who have joined the military is being brought up. Being that gender equality is a big thing in the military now, I decided to chose this topic and discuss how I feel about it. According to the United States constitution, all men are created equal and this does not exclude women. One of the main things I learned is that equality for women in the military is a major issue. There should be no gender inequality in the United States military period. Most jobs are now open to women that were once allowed for only a man to do but when it comes to something such as the military, it should have always been that way No one should be told they can’t do something when it requires fighting for your country. Even back when men were drafted in the military, women should have been able to get drafted as well. You would think the military would take any and everybody that is willing to fight for his or her country simply because it would make our job easier as a whole. Frequently, women are stereotyped as feeble and incapable of doing certain things. Nevertheless, this should not be applied in any kind of career, particularly in the military.

Thesis Statement: A few females are joining the military, and those taking leadership roles is even small, caused by existence of limited information about the Army and less combat roles, and this can be addressed by lifting ban on women on combat and creating more combat support jobs.

Women hold many diverse positions in the armed forces. The vast majority of women work in areas

Upon the acceptance of the Combat Exclusion Law, each military service was to define their policies to determine where females could and could not serve. What this means to the Army in particular is that “all jobs except those having the highest probability of engaging in direct combat” (Ferber, 1987, p. 4) will be opened to women in the Army. The Navy, Marines and Air Force have all had to evaluate the exclusion laws as well and establish criteria as appropriate.

The U.S. Army will provide EO and fair treatment for military personnel and family members without regard to race, color, religion, gender, or national origin, and provide an environment free of unlawful discrimination and offensive behavior. The assignment and utilization of female soldiers are the only exceptions to our non-biased personnel management process. AR 600-13, Army Policy for the Assignment of Female Soldiers, prescribes policies, procedures, responsibilities, and the position coding

The United States Army was founded on June 14, 1775, and since this day women have helped nurture this great branch into what is known today as the largest and oldest United States Military service. (“Women”) The US Army is consisted of about 452,064 enlisted soldiers and 87,610 officers. This total of 539,675 makes up 37.8% of all of the military branches. ("Demographics”) As time has carried on more and more women are looking to serve the country in the Army. While women have many skills and abilities to offer, there is still a major issue that needs to be addressed. Double standards for women in the Army has created a disservice to not only the females but the entire Army. In order to have a more efficient armed force, standards for men and women should be equivalent.

If we expand solutions to develop the circumstances for the biggest minority group in the Army (blacks), those solutions will furthermore profit other minorities, including the second biggest minority group, Hispanics. Furthermore, stress is placed upon the combat branches for the reason that they provide the principal channel to the senior ranks of the Army. Nevertheless, it is imperative to identify that Congress limits service in the combat arms to men; all women including black women are not allowed to be a part of these branches. As a result, women at present cannot way in this channel. If Congress abolishes the gender constraint on combat arms

Due to the expected integration of women into combat roles, the Marine Corps trained 233 female Marines in Marine Corps infantry and other ground combat schools (Michaels). Of those 233, less than half passed the minimum requirement of pull-ups (AP). In 1994 the “Direct Ground Combat Definition and Assignment Rule” was installed to remove women from direct combat roles (Hovey). In the time since, social justice groups have fought for equality for women, the LGBT community, and minority groups concerning multiple issues. Many issues arose from the repeal of the “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” rule, but the military has not suffered for the decision. The current issue is women in combat roles. The forced integration of women into combat specific roles is detrimental to overall combat effectiveness. The nature of the push to move women into combat specific roles forces those making the decisions into employing whatever means are necessary to achieve the desired level of integration.

“Army’s culture has tended to exclude women and some ethnic groups who are under-represented in our ranks. This will prove unsustainable with demographic change over the next few decades… Harnessing the full potential of our workforce is a capability issue rather than a diversity issue for me and I want to remove any artificial impediments to the best use of all of our people” Chief of the Army 2012

In 1973, the Army (and the noncommissioned officer corps) was in turmoil. Of the post-Vietnam developments in American military policy, the most influential in shaping the Army was the advent of the Modern Volunteer Army. With the inception of the Noncommissioned Officer Candidate Course, many young sergeants were not the skilled trainers of the past and were only trained to perform a specific job; squad leaders in

When it comes to combat assignments and the needs of the military, men take precedence over all other considerations, including career prospects of female service members. Female military members have been encouraged to pursue opportunities and career enhancement within the armed forces, which limit them only to the needs and good of the service due to women being not as “similarly situated” as their male counterparts when it comes to strength or aggressiveness, and are not able to handle combat situations.

Women have been participating in the United States military since the Revolutionary War, where they were nurses, maids, cooks and even spies. They played vital roles in order to keep those fighting on the front lines healthier, and even a more important role in keeping commanding officers informed with private information stolen from the other side. Although the Revolutionary War took play in 1776, the first law to be passed that permanently stated that women have an official place in the military was in 1948, almost one hundred and seventy-two years later. Since that time there has been a lack of true growth when it comes to integration of females in the military. In 1994, a law was passed that tried to prohibit women from being assigned to ground combat units below the brigade level. Women are excluded from more then 25% of active combat roles within the military and only in 2013 was the ban lifted which was the final barrier to allowing women into all active roles. This has been a huge step in the direction for women being considered as being equal but there are still challenges that women face within the military. Ranging from sexual assault, discrimination, bullying, and other tactics, it is clear that for many, the military is still a “boys club.”

I realized that although in theory women in the armed forces seemed like a good idea, there are many obstacles that make that reality very difficult to achieve. In writing this paper I am not proposing that either position is more valid or right than the other. I only hope to present each side in an equal light to help others to understand the issues involved.