Combat Ready
Lorrie Daniell
ENC 1102
Dr. Neidbalec
06 December 2012
Combat Ready Whether it is as enlisted personnel or as a commissioned officer, everyday more women are signing up for the military. Women want to serve their country as much as men do, despite all of the hardships and roadblocks they will face on their chosen career paths. Women in any job face harassment and denials for certain job positions but especially in the military. Women in the military get denied for combat positions and because they can’t get these types of jobs, they sometimes can’t be promoted past certain ranks. Women in the military also have to face the risk of rape and other sexual harassments, not just from their male counterparts but from the enemy as well. In one case study conducted on West Point cadets and non-military students, attitudes of women in combat positions were studied to determine where their views lay on whether women can handle the physical and physiological stresses of combat. It has been over thirty years since the first class of women cadets entered the United States service academies (Matthews 242). A lot of changes have occurred since then. The U.S. military has eased some of the restrictions that have kept women from the more dangerous operations and now allow them to be in the more perilous support roles (Ablow 1). At the end of 2005, only 15% of active duty military members were women (Matthews 241-242). Currently, women can be pilots, military police, and maintenance crews, and although women are no longer restricted to nursing or administrative positions, members are still not allowed in combat. Military students more than the non-military students from the study seemed more likely to agree that the presence of women in combat would be detrimental to combat effectiveness (Matthews 243). Of course, not everyone will agree with this view and many have lobbied congress for a change to the current policy. The history of women in the U.S. armed
ENC 1102
Dr. Neidbalec
06 December 2012
Combat Ready Whether it is as enlisted personnel or as a commissioned officer, everyday more women are signing up for the military. Women want to serve their country as much as men do, despite all of the hardships and roadblocks they will face on their chosen career paths. Women in any job face harassment and denials for certain job positions but especially in the military. Women in the military get denied for combat positions and because they can’t get these types of jobs, they sometimes can’t be promoted past certain ranks. Women in the military also have to face the risk of rape and other sexual harassments, not just from their male counterparts but from the enemy as well. In one case study conducted on West Point cadets and non-military students, attitudes of women in combat positions were studied to determine where their views lay on whether women can handle the physical and physiological stresses of combat. It has been over thirty years since the first class of women cadets entered the United States service academies (Matthews 242). A lot of changes have occurred since then. The U.S. military has eased some of the restrictions that have kept women from the more dangerous operations and now allow them to be in the more perilous support roles (Ablow 1). At the end of 2005, only 15% of active duty military members were women (Matthews 241-242). Currently, women can be pilots, military police, and maintenance crews, and although women are no longer restricted to nursing or administrative positions, members are still not allowed in combat. Military students more than the non-military students from the study seemed more likely to agree that the presence of women in combat would be detrimental to combat effectiveness (Matthews 243). Of course, not everyone will agree with this view and many have lobbied congress for a change to the current policy. The history of women in the U.S. armed
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