Jodie Shepherd
Professor Briggs
English 2010 TR 10:00 am
26 April 2012
We Have Been Doing This for Years
It was 1940 a bomb went off. The medics were already there at ground zero lifting the
soldiers from the ground, blood everywhere. While shots were coming from every angle, the
medics had no choice but to lift their comrades up, and carry them to safety. The medic being
put in the front line to carry their comrade to safety was most likely a woman. Although women
were not allowed in combat, they were sometimes forced into combat to save a life. The debate
continues to this day. Should women be allowed to fight in combat? Allowing women to serve
in combat is a tough issue. There are many people for and against women serving in such
dangerous roles. Some people state that even though women do not hold rankings to be in
dangerous roles. They are sometimes forced into these dangerous situations regardless.
It might be just old fashion, but many people are against women being in combat. The
main concern people have with women being in combat is their physical abilities. They believe
they do not have enough strength to carry out their missions. In Patrick L. Boucher’s article,
“No Women in Combat Units” points out that many women are in combat units, but this differs
from actual combat. Boucher states, “any civilian off the street can in a matter of minutes be
shown how to use a weapon” (par 3), but in fact, “A combat soldier is an individual who goes
out for days…seeking out…and killing enemy soldiers…These soldiers often carry extremely
heavy combat loads for extended distances in brutal terrain and must still have the strength and
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stamina to effectively meet and destroy enemy forces” (par 4). Most women do not have this
kind strength to do what Boucher describes as being in actual combat.
Robert Maginnis a retired Army lieutenant colonel. He wrote an article supporting
presidential candidate Rick Santorum stating if we continue down this path; then, one day they
will force woman into the next draft. Many people like Maginnis believe if this were to happen;
then, all of the combat missions would be weakened. In the article “Failing Culture Puts Women
in Combat” Maginnis states how Rick Santorum believes, “men might be distracted from their
mission by their “natural instinct” to protect women” (PP #1). In this same article Maginnis
writes how feminist will not stop until there are full equal rights to women. Feminist are known
to be against violence against women, but are wanting to place women in front line combat zones
where they will be guaranteed violence (PP #1).
If a woman becomes pregnant while in combat, then the entire mission may become
compromised. If a male soldier knows a woman was pregnant before they were dismissed from
war, they would most likely be distracted from the mission to protect the women.
All of these points are very valid, but not full proof. In the case were women are not
strong enough to fight in combat. There are many men out there that cannot carry other
comrades because of their strength. Many men are just as weak as some women. In some cases
a women may even be as strong if not stronger than their male comrades. Susan Campbell
states, “this is a new generation…women who are put in harm’s way are trained to defend
themselves. Training is essential” (par 7).
Today many women serve in the military. As you can see from the chart below, women
have been placed in war time after time. Today 14.6% women serve our country. If they did not
complete the training because they were not fit enough then they would not have been placed.
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Women Serving Today
Information courtesy of the Department of Defense and the US Coast Guard.
Data as of Sept. 30, 2011.
Active Duty
Women
Total
Reserve & Guard
%Women
Women
Total
%Women
USA
76,694
565,463
13.6%
USAR
62,473
288,686
21.6%
USMC
13,677
201,157
6.8%
USMCR
5,704
100,453
5.7%
USN
53,385
325,123
16.4%
USNR
20,549
103,015
19.9%
USAF
63,552
333,370
19.1%
USAFR
28,463
106,814
26.6%
Total DoD
207,308
1,425,113
14.5%
Total
DoD
117,189
598,968
19.6%
USCG
6,790
43,251
15.7%
USCGR
1,592
9,526
16.7%
Total
214,098
1,468,364
14.6%
Reserve
Total
118,781
608,494
19.5%
USARNG
53,290
365,166
14.6%
USANG
19,500
105,685
18.5%
Guard
Total
72,790
470,851
15.5%
Figures include Cadets and Midshipmen
(More than 90% of all career fields in the armed forces are
now open to women)
I understand that not all women should or can serve in combat. The fact is that women
do serve in combat, and they have proven to be successful. If women were weakening the
missions, then there would not be such a huge issue of trying to allow women to be in the
military. The government has passed discrimination laws in the workforce telling people they
cannot not hire a person due to age, gender, or race; as long as they can perform the duty they are
being hired for. Why should the government be able to void themselves from this law?
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If You Can Do it I Can Do it Better
Women have been working toward equal rights for decades. We women still have some
huge steps to take to achieve this. This year the Pentagon passed a bill stating women can get
closer to combat, but not actually be in combat. I believe that there is a compromise out there to
allow men and women to fight in combat together without the distractions, and with the same
abilities. War after war women have been forced into combat. Why not give them the actually
training to be in combat and help serve our country? The media always say that women are not
strong enough to be in combat, and we do not have enough stamina. I can tell you that there are
plenty of strong enough women out there to fight for our country alongside men.
The problem we face is that our country does not have
faith that our women are strong enough to fight side by side
with men in combat. I understand not all women are strong
enough to be in combat, but then again not all men are strong
enough to be in combat either. Not allowing women to be in
combat, and not get the same training to be in combat
weakens the missions even more. As I said before women
have been placed in war after war and I can imagine many
have died because of it. If we continue to discriminate
against gender then there will continue to be higher death rates
among women and war. The second problem we face is the
1st Lt. Leslie Johnson boots a
teammate over an obstacle.
Andrew Craft/ for the Washington
post Magazine
pregnancy concerns. We cannot have women in combat pregnant, but this too has a solution to
the problem; birth control.
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The primary reason the country is against having women fight in combat is due to the
way we look at women in our culture. Susan Campbell said it perfectly, “This is a new
generation” (par 9). Women are not the same as we used to be. We want to be independent. We
can be independent.
Allowing women to server in our country can be a good thing. In Josh Gray’s article he
quotes Senator Scott Brown, “’We have an obligation to expand the professional opportunities
available to women.’ ‘Doing so in my view would improve military effectiveness, not detract
from it’” (par 4).
If women want to be true equals, and fight in combat; then, there are ways to make that
happen. First of all, to have the women have the exact same training as men, and even have then
train with men. Have them train separately is not in the best interest for any mission. The
pregnancy worries could be taken care of by requiring women who request to be in combat to be
place on a contraceptive. At least while they are out on active duty.
The first major step is to allow women into combat training. I see in a lot of articles and
pictures that men and women do not train together. This seems silly to me, since men and
women work together. We should combine their trainings, and to have the trainings be equal.
We should not allow the women training be any easier just because they are women. The
second major step we may want to include pregnancy test to women before they are deployed.
To ensure they are not pregnant before they leave. We should also regulate the type of
contraceptives they will use. For example, we would not want them to have to take a daily pill.
I would recommend they use intrauterine contraceptive device also known as IUD. This way the
women would not have to be concerned about taking a pill in the middle of war.
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If we took these steps to allow women in combat, there would be fewer women forced
into combat that do not have the efficient training. I believe that if our country did extend the
combat roles to women that it would improve our military. The benefits of having more peoples
trained for these roles would out way the cost of putting women in training camps. As for the
IUD there would be a small cost for this. Since women would be requesting to be placed into
combat then they would need to meet all requirements even being placed on a contraceptive.
I believe if a woman can be put through the same training as a man, and succeed. With
not giving any slack. Then they should be allowed to fight in combat. I understand that even if
we do extend this offer to women it does not mean that we will have a ton of women fighting in
combat. It would mean that the women who are just as strong as men can fight in combat. If we
were to extend this offer to women, then women in the military would be able to promote within
the government.
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Work Cited
Boucher, Patrick L. “No Women in Combat Units.” Courier-Journal. 28 Feb 2011: A.5. SIRS
Issues Researcher. Web. 14 March 2012.
Campbell, Susan. “Women Serving in Combat? It’s Been True for Years.” Hartford Courant.
09 March 2011: n.p. SIRS Issues Researcher. Web. 14 March 2012.
Desai, S.. "U.s. army special forces selection and training." . Glam Entertainment,08 Aug 2009.
Web. 2 Apr 2012.
Gray, Josh. “Marlborough Patch: Scott Brown Backs Combat Roles for Women in U.S.
Military.” In the News. 23 Feb. 2012. Web. 01 April 2012.
Maginnis, Robert. “Failing Culture Puts Women in Combat.” HumanEvents.com. Eagle
Publishing Inc. 02 Feb 2012. Web. 01 April 2012.
"Statistics on Women in the Military." Women in military service for America memorial. Home
for the Press, 30 Sept. 2011. Web. 1 Apr 2012.
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