Women Should Be Allowed In Military Combat

Women have been fighting alongside men on battlefields for centuries upon centuries, giving their greatest fight to lead their team to victory. Although women are given this opportunity, direct ground combat amongst women remains against the law till this very day, allowing a gender to define what a female can, or cannot do. The human race continues to evolve every day, yet a simple discriminatory law that decides what a woman’s capabilities are without being aware of just how empowering that specific woman is is the same as it first was. Despite the idea that women do not meet certain requirements in order to take place in combat units, women continue to provide an endless amount of support to men on battlefields, bringing a completely

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 now make up 14 percent of the active-duty military in the United States, which is up from 1.6 percent, 25 years prior. (Christian Science Monitor, 1). In 1948, President Truman signed the Women 's Armed Services Integration Act which created the role of women in the military. This law meant that each branch of the service was allowed to have one female Colonel (Byfield, 12). As of 2015, there are many women who serve as Generals and Admirals. All of these roles are non-combative. Even though some women can do anything a man can do, the vast majority can not, therefore making it an unsafe idea to place these women into combat positions.

Women have been part of the military since the Revolutionary War such as nurses and clerical workers, (Street, Vogt and Dutra, 2009, p. 686). While these women did have typical female jobs for that time period, women were of great help because without them, the men who were wounded may not have been taken care of as well and the paperwork may have been backlogged and unorganized. Since then, women have slowly made more entrances in the military in other areas than just medical and desk work. Currently, women occupy 80% of the military occupational specialties and 90% of the careers offered in the military, which is a huge jump from where women were back in World War II or even just a decade ago, (Weiss and DeBraber, 2013, p. 37). With this

One study (Binkin & Bach) found that many NATO and several WARSAW PACT countries employed women in combat roles during World War II. Russia was reported as using military women on the front lines. In Israel, where they are actually conscripted, women have also experienced armed combat. (Binkin & Bach) found that in the first phase of Israel’s war of Liberation, one out of every five soldiers was female and they shared equality in both offensive and defensive battle situations. Holm found that some 7,500 military women served in S.E. Asia during the Vietnam War. She maintains that these women proved the modern American military woman is fully capable of functioning effectively in a military role in a combat environment, even under direct hostile fire.

Since 1901, women have served in some form of the military, however, dating back to the American Revolution women have had an unofficial role. Women have had and will continue to have an important role in the military, the question is whether women should be allowed to occupy specific combat positions. Traditionally women have not been allowed in combat occupations, but recently these restrictions have been somewhat lifted, making certain occupations available to women. Despite the lift complications arise from women being in combat vocations and it’s not just because of the physical differences, there is also the increased risk of sexual assault. Due to the detrimental impact on the military, soldiers, and society, women should not

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.”

After years of discussion and debate it appears that soon women will be sent into combat operations in the United States military. This is the way it should be because women are ready and competent to be put into combat roles in the U.S. military. Indeed, slowly but surely, the Defense Department and Congress have been inching towards a decision that will formalize the policy; in fact the National Defense Authorization Act, put before Congress in May, 2012 by U.S. Senators John McCain and Carl Levin will in effect order the military "…to come up with a plan to send women into battle" (McAuliff, 2012). Hopes are high that this will be approved by Congress and signed into law by President Barack Obama.

All combat roles are open and available to women, should the men be worried? Whether I agree or disagree with women participating in combat depends on their skill set. One of the main concerns would be how do they react under certain life and death situations. After enough practice, most people will be able to handle a weapon and shoot at a paper target. The question only really gets answered when you are in live combat. Yes, the military practices live combat situations, but that is without live rounds so in a sense you understand that you are protected from danger. What will she do when her comrades are dying all around her? Can she handle trying to deal with friends losing limbs? I think a huge concern of some of the men on the front

Many soldiers are known for getting in and out of situations fast, so they might, in exemplar I-do-not-want-to-leave situations, the soldiers might leave them there. Women are known for “complex” emotions so they may help in these special cooperative situations. Anyways, we might as well let women do these masculine tasks in the military. Women have been given jobs in factories, lumber mills, and box-lifting in grocery stores; so why not the military? Over the past century, women have been able to stand independently in robust careers like authorizing figures like firefighters and police officers. Firefighters and police officers risk our lives for us and some women undertake these professions. So why not on the line of

Women should not be allowed to fight in combat. Primary, in combat woman physicality versus a man’s can make it difficult for woman to occupy commanding situations of services, such as carrying weaponry required in combat. Arguably, woman have to carry the same weight of weaponry as a man. As a result, this heavy armor carried by woman could affect a woman’s true ability to protect herself because of the heaviness of the armory used in combat. Secondly, woman should not be allowed to fight in combat because of the risk of sexual assault if they were taken as a prisoner in a war. Additionally, woman have a higher chance of sexual assault because the opposing party in combat may discriminate against a woman because she cannot defend herself with

Throughout our nation’s history, women have played an important role in the military. It has not been until recently however, that women have been able to fully

Women have fought alongside men in the United States Military in every major battle since the American Revolution. The roles of women in the military have evolved over time to allow the incorporation of women in expanding military career fields. Women have proven themselves to be an asset to the military despite some of society believing women would weaken America’s military effectiveness. Today more than 200,000 women are active-duty military, this is about 14.5% of all military. Currently, women are involved in all branches of the Armed Forces; there are around 74,000 women in the Army, 62,000 in the Air Force, 53,000 in the Navy, and 14,000 in the Marine Corps (By the numbers: Women in the U.S. Military). Military women continue to