OUTLINE

The question of women in combat is a complicated one with strong views coming from both sides of the argument. This is a very relevant issue because in 2013 a directive was issued by the secretary of defense declaring that in 2016 all jobs in the military must be opened to women, or the service must provide a good reason to keep a position exclusively male. Below, a number of the issues that are involved with the debate on women in combat are examined in closer detail.

PHYSICAL ABILITY

Many who oppose women being allowed into combat positions point to the physical differances between men and women as a potential issue in combat situations. This is a valid concern and the Journal of Applied Physiology found in one study that compared to women “men had 40 percent more muscle mass in the upper body and 33 percent more in the lower body”(Cespedes,1). This extra muscle mass puts men at an advantage from the beggining in terms of physical capability and draws to question whether women can overcome the physiological contrast.

UNIT COHESION

Some worry that introducing women into tight knit infantry or special operations units would disrupt the group dynamic that soldiers rely on in combat. This would be a concern considering that the military has been a predominantly male occupation since the birth of the Unites States, and even today women only make up around 14.5% of active-duty personnel.

EQUAL OPPURTUNITY

For many career options in the military, having combat experience is necessary if one hopes to ascend to new leadership positions, but with combat positions closed to women, many are denied opportunity to advance. In one lawsuit questioning the constitutionality of not allwoing women in comabt the plaintiff, “Maj. Mary Jennings Hegar, an Air National Guard helicopter pilot who was shot down and wounded in Afghanistan, said she could not seek combat leadership positions because, in the Pentagon's view, she had not officially seen combat”(New York,1).

SEXUAL ASSAULT

Another very pressing issue is the matter of sexual assault. The Military Times reported that in 2014, “preliminary findings of an extensive survey of 170,000 troops released Thursday revealed that 20,000 service members said they had experienced at least one incident of unwanted sexual contact in the past year, representing nearly 5 percent of all active-duty women and 1 percent of active-duty men”(Kime,1). Some concerns have been raised that putting women in combat may increase the oppurtunity for and likely hood of sexual assault. Alternatively, proponents of women in combat propose that by making women the equals of men by allowing them toserve on the front lines, it would foster a more unbiased envirnoment and reduce sexual assault rates.

DE FACTO VS. DE JURE

Advocates of allowing women into combat claim that the legislature would only be followinf the reality. Capt. Zoe Bedell shared some of her experiences in Afghanistan overseeing female engagement teams attached to ground combat units, but not technically in combat, “‘My Marines supported infantry units,’ said Bedell, who is now a reservist. ‘They patrolled every day. They wore the same gear. They carried the same rifles. And when my Marines were attacked, they fought back’”(Los Angeles,1). Women who are not technically assigned to units that see combat still do engage in some situations. The laws that actually allowed them to see combat in infantry or other branches, would simply be following suit.