Should Woman Be Allowed in Combat
Essay by Stella • August 21, 2011 • Essay • 943 Words (4 Pages) • 2,253 Views
Should Women Be Allowed in Combat?
Should women be allowed in combat? This is an issue that has many people on the fence. For several thousands of years women have played active roles in the militaries throughout the world. Their jobs could be anything to and from flight surgeons, nurses, and even high ranking officers. "Today there are more than 229,000 women on active duty status in the United States Military. The percentage of woman has risen from 1.6 percent in 1973 to 10.8 percent of the armed forces today. Over two million servicemen have served in Iraq and Afghanistan. An estimate of 255,000 has been women. As of January 2011, 110 women and 4,300 men have been killed in Iraq. In Afghanistan twenty four women and 1400 men have been killed", explains Army Sergeant Amber Robinson.
During the Civil war women were not allowed in combat at all. Today women are allowed in a combat zone, but that comes with restrictions. Today women aren't allowed to be assigned to ground combat units below brigade level. However, if you're not assigned to a unit, you can be "attached". That basically means you are informally assigned to a particular unit until the mission is complete or you return home from your deployment. Currently a U.S military panel on diversity in the armed forces said that it may recommend that female troops be allowed to serve in combat units without any restrictions, stating that the current policy is an out of date idea that unnecessarily discriminates against women. If the recommendation is approved it would open front line posts to military women for the first time.
The United States Marine Corp boot camp lasts three months. In those three months, the recruits are put to the ultimate test of both extreme and physical and mental obstacles and activities. The men and women go through the same exact training with only one slight difference: men will be required to do twenty pull-ups and the women are expected to be able to do a seventy second flexed arm hang. After boot camp, there is a whole month dedicated to combat training. This goes into more depth of weapons and the aspects of war and survival. If a woman has to endure the same training as a man, why can't she be afforded the same opportunities?
Woman are absolute warriors.There are several women in Iraq and Afghanistan who day in and day out risk their lives. These women are the ones who are driving hundreds of miles on convoys to deliver necessary supplies to other units abroad. Also these are the women who in are having to walk up to Fifteen kilometers a day securing perimeters and gathering military intelligence, giving other leaders key information to keep the other troops safe.
There are many men who will argue the point that they are not ready to watch a women get hurt or get killed. In reality though, no one wants to ever see anybody get hurt or killed. Emotion
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