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women in armed forces paragrap
women in armed forces paragrap
women in military
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Many argue that Special Forces can improve with women in the ranks. Activists protest that women and men are equal. Some officers declare that for women to reach top levels of command, the opportunity to serve in Special Forces is a necessity. Scientifically, there are statistics and studies that reveal that there are some women capable of enduring the stresses and endurance required of Special Forces soldiers. I agree that women should hold positions in Special Operations Forces (SOF) and can augment certain missions, but I do not believe women should be included as CMF-18 on a Special Forces Operational Detachment – Alpha (SFODA). Many of the arguments and statistics focus on best case scenarios that lack consideration regarding deployments to austere environments with associated health risk, seem to ignore active-duty female experienced-based opinions and disregards studies on physical and mental stress that contradicts the suggestion. Many austere environments Special Forces deploy to initially lack infrastructure supportive of females needs. “Optimally, soldiers should have access to a shower or bath every day, or at least once every week for good personal hygiene.” The recommendation to shower weekly is for males and females, but goes further to explain female soldiers should, at a minimum, sponge bathe daily to prevent yeast or urinary track infections. A friend’s first trip to Jolo, Philippines in 2005 did not afford his SFODA the capability to flush our toilet, much less take weekly showers. Only after they hung rain gutters on every piece of corrugated steel, built a 50’x250’ water catch and transitioned into the rain season were they able to ensure enough water for first drinking and cooking needs, second f... ... middle of paper ... ...ffering Post Traumatic Stress Disorder at a substantially higher rate and of a more serious nature than men, despite the fact that they are exposed to substantially less combat danger. Thus, women may be less likely than men to kill and more likely to pay a heavy psychological cost for it when they do." In closing, female soldiers will have a difficult career as a Special Forces soldier. Although many women have a strong opinion and stand on their rights, if given the opportunity not many women would volunteer to be Special Forces. Special Forces often deploy to austere environments unsupportive of female requirements. Additionally, studies, statistics and first-hand opinions offer accurate assessments of females in combat roles. SOF should continue to employ female soldiers, but should not include them permanently on SFODAs as CMF-18 Special Forces soldiers.
In the military physical strength and endurance is a major element to nearly every task. Having endurance and sustainable strength is very vital in many instances but most importantly in the combat zone. Men are physically stronger and can tolerate more than women naturally. Hypothetically if there was a situation where a troop was injured and needed to be carried out of a fighting zone it would make more sense for a man to carry the troop out because they can tolerate the weight more easily then a woman. Women are built to have children, and while they are capable of heavy lifting and have remarkable endurance, it is a different level than men. Looking back men have always been hunters, gatherers, ultimately being the ones who do all the physical work. After decades of these physical life styles that men have endured and the homemaker life style women have come to obtain it is clear that the order of nature has spoken. The normality of women being the only ones that can produce children and men gain strength more easil...
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.
The Nineteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution guaranteed women the right to vote marking what was to become the beginning of the equality movement for women in our nation. Gender equality in the military is a recurring debate. This issue is to much debate and disagreement, it is my opinion that women should be allowed the opportunity to compete for the elite positions available in our nation’s Special Forces. In addition, women should be allowed to be on the front line serving as combat soldiers provided that they satisfy the same requirements as set forth for their male counterparts. The pursuit of equal rights for women began long before this current issue of the right of women to fight in combat zones or the opportunity to compete a position on our nation’s most elite fighting force. With ongoing wars in the Middle East, many have began to question whether a double standard exists for women in the military versus women in the private sector. Are women equal or not?
Statistics from a poll that was took from USA Today/CNN/Gallup Poll in 2005, 27 percent of citizens think women should be able to serve anywhere in Iraq, 32 percent think that they should serve as support for ground combat units, and 44 percent think women should not be assigned to infantry units (“Attitudes Toward Women in Combat” #10). Many people are concerned that the women will be used as a prisoner of war, lack physical strength that will disable them in a mission, or wouldn't be equipped to handle stress situations. Women have proven themselves otherwise. Data from the 2011 class at West Point shows that 50 percent of female Cadets, a select group, passes the Army Physical Fitness Test (APFT) using the male standards. A percentage of women are just as efficient as men. New research suggests that women can enhance combat performances of the military without disrupting...
The gender integration in the military has always faced questions of social acceptance, weather society can accept how women will be qualified and respected in the military as today. As of today, the decision has been made and allowed women to fill about 220,000 jobs that are now limited to men which includes infantry, armor, reconnaissance and some special operations units. The recruitment numbers of women have been increasing since than which reflects the importance of severing as role model for future women to join infantry and other ground combat jobs which they have been prohibited from. Women have extensively served in combat in Iraq and Afghanistan, but discrimination still continues till today. The military requirements are physical tests and standards such as long deployments aboard ships, exceptions for infantry which male units perform better than women. Women’s acknowledgement has not really changed which stated by Carter “ He said there are “physical differences on average” between men and women and that “thus far, we’ve only seen small numbers of women qualify to meet our high physical standards” for some units “ (Bradner, p. 3).There are not many exceptions for women fulfilling the needs to open opportunity jobs in the military but with little hope which men inhale the endurance and strength that are not viewed towards
The problem of women fighting in combat along with their male counterparts is not a one-sided problem. Elizabeth Hoisington has earned the rank of Brigadier General in the U.S. Army, leads the Women’s Army Corps and believes that women should not serve in combat because they are not as physically, mentally, or emotionally qualified as a male is and that ...
This is due to the fact that there are actually very few women who question why they are not allowed in these combat units. One woman remarks that, “I certainly wouldn’t want to be in the infantry. A normal woman can’t carry a rucksack that the guys can... And, let’s face it, we would probably make things harder on everybody all around. No Way” (Moskos). This woman states from personal experience, that women are probably not a good fit for the infantry for several different reasons and there are not many women who disagree. Women make up fourteen percent of all soldiers, and out of that there is maybe a percent or two who have considered the direct combat units; therefore the question becomes “Where is the twenty percent that would join the elite groups?”
Jane brings up an issue of equality that has been a topic of discussion for decades: whether or not women should be allowed to serve in military ground combat and special forces roles. A history of women in the United States military dates back to the American Revolution. It was not uncommon for women to disguise themselves as men and fight alongside the males. More women served in World War I and World War II, primarily in nursing, administrative, and communications support roles (McGraw, et al., “Women in Combat: Framing the Issues of Health and Health Research for America’s Servicewomen,” 7). In 1948, the Women’s Armed Services Integration Act was signed, allowing women to serve as permanent members of the military, though in gender segregated units with a majority of occupations still closed to women. In 1976, the Department of Defense began gender integration of the service academies. (Wechsler Segal, et al., “The Role of Leadership and Peer Behaviors in the Performance and Well-Being of Women in Combat: Historical Perspectives, Unit Integration, and Family Issues, 28). In 1993, women were allowed to serve as fighter pilots, but in 1994, the Department of Defense excluded women from ground combat roles. The topic of gender integration continued to be a heated issue, sparking the release of G.I. Jane in 1997. The role of women in combat has drastically changed during recent conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan. Modern warfare no longer has a true “front line,” and many women have actually been “in combat.” This has necessitated recent changes in the military. Women were allowed to serve on board submarines beginning in 2011. In January 2013, then Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta removed the 1994 ban on women in combat, with intentions for full integration as of January 2016 (McGraw, et al., 8). Current Secretary of Defense, Ash Carter, declared in December 2015 that all combat roles would be open to women beginning in January 2016. Despite the move
Since the creation of the Selective Service Act of 1917, the role of a woman has evolved from the common role of a housewife, teacher or nurse. Now women have access to and are equally able to join many different career fields that were once gender based. The case Rostker v Goldberg 1981 debated whether or not women should be excluded from the Selective Service Act. Congress came to determine that “since women are excluded from combat roles in the Armed Forces, then they are not similarly situated for the purpose of the draft (Rostker, 1981)”. According to the Army Times in 2012, “The Army will start placing women in as many as 14,000 combat related jobs (Tan, 2012)”. So now, women are able to pursue combative careers in the military.
Lastly there are some concerns that society has about women in combat. It is implied that men can endure a lot of strenuous physical activities were as a woman may not. For example, there may be an issue were a fellow solider may need to be carried to safety, a woman opposed to a man will probably not be able to handle this strenuous task, and because of that standard may have to be lowered to accommodate female applicants, therefore making it easy for anyone who might not be fit to fight in combat roles accepted into those positions. There is also a fear that women can be captured by the enemy and be tortured. This a fear of both men and women but because women are at risk of encountering a misogynistic enemy the chances of rape goes up.
War has been a part of humanity almost as long as humanity itself. However, women at war have not been. History has many stories about exceptional women serving honorably on the battlefield. In many cases Women on the battlefield are liabilities. During World War II both the Soviets and Germans tried placing women on the front lines when they were desperate for fighting soldiers. Male troops forgot their combat responsibilities in order to protect the women fighting beside them. This made their units less effective and exposed them all to greater risk. Both the Soviets and the Germans later barred women from serving in combat. It is man's role to risk his life on a battlefield not a woman's. A woman's role is to support the man fighting in combat, whether it is serving as a soldier herself in a supporting role or staying home and caring for their family.
One of the most important factors that shows how women are not as effective as men in combat situations is the obvious fact that they perform on different physical levels. Other important points are the fact that women are much more susceptible to injury than men. These factors could weigh heavily for th...
Skaine, Rosemarie. “Properly Trained Servicewomen Can Overcome Physical Shortcomings.” Women at War: Gender Issues of Americans in Combat (1999). Opposing Viewpoints Resource Center. Thomson Gale. University of South Alabama Library. 15 July 2006 .
As claimed by Major Eleanor Taylor,” Women have to be able to be given the same opportunities as men...in order to have the same opportunities they have to be exposed to the same risk.” In other words, Major Eleanor taylor asserts that women in the army should be put into the same danger as men while in combat especially front line duty. Even though some people believe women are not physically or emotionally stable, women should be allowed to fight in combat because women who are physically capable of serving in the military are easier to recruit and a gender force makes the armed forces stronger.
For instance, women get scared easily. Some women are scared of mice, insects, and other things. Those are nothing compared to the battlefield. Blood, dead people, and screams of death. Would that not scare the women on the battlefield? Even if they are trained for an apocalypse or even the end of Earth, women will eventually lose their wits and run off. Women might think of something that reminds them of home during a battle and lose track of thought of what their orders were. Men are not like that. They focus on one thing and one thing only.