Women in the World of War

Women have been put second to men in many situations over the years but in the military they should be treated the same.  According to Jake Willens, author of “Women in the Military: Combat Roles Considered,” over 32,000 women have already been serving in the military since 1998.  In 1429, Joan of Arc, at only age 17, carried out a successful battle between the French and the English.  Since women weren’t allowed to fight, many dressed up as men to be able to fight during the Civil and Revolutionary Wars.  Women have wanted this right to combat but have not gotten it. Once women were allowed to enroll in 1948 they enrolled in heavy numbers but they were only allowed to take up 2% of the whole military.  Women in the military should be treated the same unless they are pregnant, have a young child, and/or a single mother.  If they can successfully pass all military tests, then why is the government stopping them?

Women can be just as physically capable as men in boot camp and in a real combat zone.  According to Jane Blair, author of “5 Myths about Women in Combat” and marine officer herself, women have the same treatment in training as men.  Although boot camp is gender-segregated, both groups undergo the same tasks.  Also, women will shoot and exercise with the men just as they do.  Some women may not be able to bench press 300 lbs. but if they can complete the boot camp and all exercises then why would they be excluded from certain duties?  Women train for combat the exact same way that men do.  Units including men and women don’t exclude women for any reasons. “Women will shoot, exercise, plan battles, and conduct military maneuvers the same way as the men do.  They become mentally conditioned the same way as their male counterparts and develop the same combat mind-set.”  (Excerpt from Jane Blair’s “5 Myths about Women in Combat”).

Women and men were created equal and all have the same rights.  Women should not be excluded from any duties just because of their gender.  Although women were allowed to fight in 1948 when President Truman passed the Women’s Armed Services Integration Act, the other men in combat and all parts of the military were not ready to accept that women could legally fight alongside them.   Andrew Tilghman, author of “Time to Let Women Serve in Combat, Panel Says” writes about how women are truly needed to fight, especially in Muslim countries.  Local women and children in Muslim countries are more willing to talk to women because of their shape, size, and understandability of being a woman; and they are more likely to release information or intelligence to someone that she has more trust in.

            One thing that most people don’t know is women have been already fighting, for years!  Women have been serving their country just as much as the men that do.  Since March of 2011, women have made up about 15% of active duty service members, 18% of National Guard and reserves, and 10% of Iraq and Afghanistan combat veterans - according to Department of Defense.  Women have been fighting on front lines of combat but they are not given recognition or credit for it.  Susan Campbell tells about women have pulled their weight in her editorial “Women Serving in Combat? It’s Been True for Years.”  Women have been “integrated in war” since 1948 when Truman passed the integration act but women can be assigned to certain units where they’re not as respected or treated well. 
             Some groups in government or even men here or on the battlefield already believe that women are too fragile for war, too physically weak, and they cannot handle the battlefield as men can.  People don’t know that over 40,000 women fought in Desert Storm, in combat. All of them were physically and emotionally stable enough to be able to fight in a war in another country.

           As you can see, women are fully capable of fighting in war. They have proven themselves in situations like Desert Storm, the current Iraqi War, and you can see the percentage that they make up of the Marines and National Guard Reserves.  These women are strong physically and emotionally.  They are fighting just as hard as the men so we should not be holding them back.  They deserve the right to combat.